As almost all Government Contractors are aware, the recent flurry of Executive Orders from the Trump Presidency has caused a seismic shift in the order of business. In addition to the suspensions on funding and shifting focus of policy, several Executive Orders directly impact internal policies in the area of employer human relations policy and practices. Although it is only the second week of the new administration, it is expected that future guidance will be coming from the various impacted federal agencies in addition to brewing court challenges.

Under the guise of “ending illegal discrimination”, the administration has attacked Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies of contractors insisting that government contractors abandon them. Forcing the issue, federal agencies are to police the use of continuance of such policies and efforts are being undertaken to provide employees and applicants a means to directly attack their employers under the guise of the False Claims Act.

If properly implemented, such DEI policies were never objectively illegal and remained compliant with federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination. Importantly, state laws protecting various characteristics and prohibiting discrimination have not been changed or impacted by these EO’s and contractors must continue to comply with applicable State laws.

The most important thing to keep in mind is to ensure that you remain compliant with any contractual obligations. Although the EO directed changes, the contracting officers should be issuing mods to remove obligations. If in doubt about submitting required filings, obtain documented clarity from your contracting officer first. Here are some suggested tips for becoming compliant with the EO titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” while remaining faithful to anti-discrimination laws:

• Review and scrub your internal policies and statements for references to DEI, while continuing to maintain your commitment to your workforce values and adherence to laws prohibiting discrimination.
• Review and scrub any external facing statements, including websites, job announcements, promotional materials, applications, etc., for similar statements highlighting DEI and return to a simple strong statement that the employer is an equal opportunity employer.
• Revisit employee training modules to ensure that the language and policies remain consist in their messaging which promotes anti-discrimination policies.
• Reinforce to your employees that you remain committed to the enforcement of hiring and promotional practices which adhere to federal and state law.
• Although affirmative action plans and EEO-1 filings may be going away in the future, you must continue to comply with the filings if contractually obligated; we are awaiting further direction from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs whether such reporting will be reconstituted in another format after the 90 day period imposed.
• Protection will continue to exist for veterans, servicemembers, and disabled individuals so relevant information of efforts to recruit and retain such individuals must be maintained.
• Although pay equity audits may be coming to an end, continuing to collect the information and analyze it internally is still important to assure there is no illegal discrimination in pay practices.
• Keep an eye out for new contract clauses and unilateral modifications requiring compliance with the new requirements.

If you have questions or need help in navigating this new frontier, please reach out to RKW to assist you through these changes.