Table of Contents

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents.......................................................................................................................... ii

TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview .................................................................................. 1

Mission........................................................................................................................................ 1

Authorizing Legislation .............................................................................................................. 1

Organizational Structure ............................................................................................................. 1

Organizational Changes During the Past Eight Years................................................................ 4

Key Leaders................................................................................................................................ 5

TAB 2: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play.......................................................................................... 6

Key Meetings, Decisions and Announcements .......................................................................... 6

Key Agency Stakeholders........................................................................................................... 6

TAB 3: Initiatives.......................................................................................................................... 8

Policy and Regulatory Issues...................................................................................................... 8

Enforcement.............................................................................................................................. 10

Audits and Reports.................................................................................................................... 12

Management.............................................................................................................................. 12

Calendar.................................................................................................................................... 13

TAB 4: Budget............................................................................................................................. 14

TAB 5: Agency Performance ..................................................................................................... 17
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

1

TAB 1: AGENCY ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

Mission

The mission of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is to enforce, for the 

benefit of job seekers and wage earners, the contractual promise of affirmative action and equal 

employment opportunity required of those who do business with the Federal government.

To achieve this mission OFCCP conducts compliance evaluations of the employment practices of 

approximately 3,000 Federal contractors and subcontractors annually, conducts complaint 

investigations, provides outreach to employees of Federal contractors to educate them about their 

rights, and engages Federal contractors to inform them of their non-discrimination and affirmative 

action obligations provide compliance assistance. These major activities advance the agency’s 

purpose of bringing remedy to victims of discrimination, ensure equal opportunity and good jobs 

through the enforcement of affirmative action requirements, and prevent workplace discrimination 

through activities that facilitate proactive voluntary contractor compliance. 

Authorizing Legislation

OFCCP enforces Executive Order 11246 (EO 11246), Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

1973 (Section 503) and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974

(VEVRAA). These laws, as amended, make it illegal for contractors and subcontractors doing 

business with the federal government to discriminate in employment because of race, color, 

religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected 

veteran. In addition, contractors and subcontractors are prohibited from discriminating against 

applicants or employees because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their 

compensation or that of others, subject to certain limitations.

Organizational Structure

OFCCP is comprised of a national office headquartered in Washington, D.C. with four divisions 

and six regional offices with 48 area and district offices distributed nationwide. The regional

offices are located in Atlanta, Georgia (Southeast); Chicago, Illinois (Midwest); Dallas, Texas 

(Southwest and Rocky Mountain); New York City, New York (Northeast); Philadelphia, 

Pennsylvania (Mid-Atlantic); and San Francisco, California (Pacific). OFCCP’s authorized fulltime-equivalent (FTE) staff positions is 615. Presently, there is one key vacancy for the Director of 

Program Operations position.

During the Obama Administration, OFCCP filled all six SES-level Regional Director positions with 

personnel representing a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, skill sets, and strengths. Two were 

external hires and four are seasoned, career federal professionals who advanced their way up the 

management ranks. Additionally, the agency also has four career SES-level Division Directors in 

the national office. OFCCP’s ten career Senior Executives form an expert group that mentors, 

teaches, and engages their staff better than ever before.

TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

3

Workforce At-A-Glance
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

4

Organizational Changes During the Past Eight Years

On November 8, 2009, the Department abolished the Employment Standards Administration

(ESA). The four major program components of ESA – OFCCP, Office of Labor Management 

Standards, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs and the Wage and Hour Division – became 

stand-alone programs reporting directly to the Secretary of Labor. The purpose of the 

reorganization was to improve the efficiency of all four programs by eliminating a layer of review 

and decision-making, which allows DOL leadership to more quickly attend to policy matters in 

each program without having an added organization component review between the program heads 

and senior leadership.

Since 2009, OFCCP strengthened its civil rights enforcement program by shifting focus from 

compliance assistance to an active case enforcement approach that enhanced the remedies obtained 

for discrimination violations, clarified agency enforcement priorities, increased accountability by 

monitoring timeliness and quality, and empowered managers to lead. In fiscal year (FY) 2010, 

OFCCP’s budget increased by $22.9 million for additional staff to rebuild the program’s 

enforcement capacity. As part of the rebuilding of the enforcement staff, OFCCP’s actual FTE use 

increased by 119 in FY 2010 and reached a total of 755 FTE in FY 2011. Since FY 2010, the 

number of actual FTE has decreased substantially each year down to its current level of just under 

600 in FY 2016. Over the last several years, OFCCP has strategically allowed the actual FTE to 

decline with attrition. This reduction of staff has allowed the agency to spend more financial 

resources on supporting the agency’s enforcement priorities and initiatives. As part of this strategy, 

over the last several years OFCCP has focused intentionally on fewer cases, but ones that touch a 

wide variety of industries, occupations, and employment practices that make up today’s complex 

and fast changing labor market. 

In FY 2016 OFCCP completed the fewest number of compliance evaluations in a decade – just over 

1,800 – but remedied as many victims of discrimination as it had in prior years, on average, with 

half the cases. Also in FY 2016, OFCCP obtained over $10.5 million in financial remedies for these 

victims, nearly double the $6 million in financial remedies obtained in FY 2015 with one-third the 

cases – and nearly as much as the $12 million obtained in FY 2014 with only half the cases.

Prior to 2009, outreach was largely limited to compliance for federal contractors and close 

relationships with employer organizations. There was little or no engagement with workers’ rights 

groups, state and local service providers, community-based organizations, or the civil rights

community. Therefore, in August 2010, OFCCP established the Regional Outreach Coordinators 

Network to help raise the agency’s profile and connect the agency with important stakeholders, 

vulnerable workers and their families.

In March 2013, OFCCP established the Indian and Native American Employment Rights Program 

(INAERP) to strengthen workplace protections and expand employment opportunities for qualified 

Indian and Native American job seekers and workers. INAERP provides compliance assistance and 

outreach to tribal leaders, community organizations, individual workers, federal agencies, and 

companies that hold federal contracts and subcontracts. In December 2014, OFCCP and the 

Council for Tribal Employment Rights (CTER) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to foster 

cooperation and support a mutually beneficial working relationship. Through the MOU OFCCP 
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

5

and CTER agree to identify job opportunities for Indians and Native Americans with federal 

contractors.

Looking ahead, OFCCP seeks additional funding to create two Skilled Regional Centers, a key 

proposal to transform OFCCP operations. These centers would be located in the regional offices in 

the Pacific (San Francisco) and Northeast (New York) regions. These resources will support the 

agency’s training of existing compliance officers and recruitment of new highly skilled personnel to 

handle more complex cases. 

Key Leaders 

OFCCP’s senior leadership team includes three political and twelve career senior executives. 

Political Appointees

Patricia A. Shiu

Director, OFCCP (until 11/06/16)

Patrick Patterson

Deputy Director

Claudia Gordon

Chief of Staff

Career Executives

Thomas M. Dowd

Deputy Director

Acting Director (effective 11/07/16)

Donna Lenhoff

Senior Civil Rights 

Advisor

Marika Litras

Director, Division of 

Enforcement

Vacant

Director, Division of 

Program Operations

Debra A. Carr

Director, Division of Policy 

and Program Development

Michael S. Jones

Director, Division of 

Management and Administrative 

Programs

Diana S. Sen

Regional Director, 

Northeast Region

Michele Hodge

Regional Director, 

Mid-Atlantic Region

Samuel Maiden

Regional Director, 

Southeast Region

Bradley A. Anderson

Regional Director, 

Midwest Region

Melissa L. Speer

Regional Director, Southwest 

and Rocky Mountain Region

Janette L. Wipper

Regional Director

Pacific Region

TAB 2: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

7

• veterans’ service organizations (e.g., Paralyzed Veterans’ of America);

• groups representing the LGBT community (e.g., the Human Rights Campaign, National 

Center for Transgender Equality, Williams Institute – UCLA School of Law).
TAB 3: Initiatives

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TAB 3: INITIATIVES

Policy and Regulatory Issues 

The new Administration will face several major policy decisions within the first three months. 

These policy decisions and actions are below. 

• Propose new, or revise existing, regulatory agenda items for the publication of the 

Administration’s Spring Regulatory Agenda; 

• Create stakeholder engagement plans and timelines supporting the agency’s regulatory 

agenda; 

• Review and implement recommendations from a GAO report on the agency’s operation that 

was issued in late FY 2016;

• Oversee the completion of a second GAO study started in May 2016, or create an 

implementation plan if the study is completed, on diversity in the information technology 

industry; 

• Engage the National Council on Disability on its progress and any draft findings and 

recommendations resulting from a study started in late FY 2016 on Section 503 

implementation; and

• Finalize Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Transportation to strengthen 

information sharing that supports OFCCP’s Mega Construction Project program. 

While OFCCP will have no ongoing regulatory actions with deadlines pending in first 3 months of 

the new Administration, the agency will have to issue two information collection requests (ICRs) 

for public comment. The renewals of the VEVRRA and Section 503 ICRs would be ongoing 

within this period. 

Policy Work Over the Past Eight Years

Sound policy is the cornerstone of strong enforcement. At the beginning of the Obama 

Administration in 2009, OFCCP had profoundly outdated regulations designed to implement EO

11246, Section 503, and VEVRAA. The regulations did not achieve their intended goals and failed 

to reflect the realities of modern workplaces. So, OFCCP embarked upon one of the most 

ambitious regulatory agendas in the Department of Labor. 

• Creating Employer Accountability for Progress with New Disability and Veterans’

Employment Regulations. In September 2013, OFCCP published game-changing updates to 

the regulations implementing Section 503 and VEVRAA. For the first time ever, there are 

specific, aspirational metrics for the employment of qualified workers with disabilities and 

protected groups of veterans. These regulations create accountability and support data-based 

decision-making by employers. 
TAB 3: Initiatives

9

• Implementing New Protections Based on LGBT Status. For the first time in more than 40 

years, the protections enforced by OFCCP expanded to include two new classes of workers. 

On July 21, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13672, directing DOL to issue 

regulations prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating in employment on the basis of 

sexual orientation or gender identity. Less than five months later, OFCCP published a Final 

Rule implementing the President’s order and establishing the first federal regulatory 

protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers in the private sector. 

• Providing Pay Transparency so that Employees Can Safely Discuss Their Pay and 

Timely Pursue a Remedy. In too many workplaces around the country, women and people 

of color do not know what their counterparts are earning for the same work. On April 8, 

2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13665 directing DOL to issue regulations 

prohibiting federal contractors from discharging or otherwise discriminating against 

employees or job applicants because they ask about, disclose, or discuss pay. On September 

11, 2015, OFCCP issued a Final Rule implementing that Executive Order. As a result, 

workers have access to more information about their pay and that of their coworkers and can 

advocate for their rights, including reporting possible pay discrimination. This information is 

particularly important for women and people of color because of persistent pay gaps that still 

exist between them and White male workers. 

• Collecting Pay Data to Focus Enforcement Resources, Encourage Voluntary 

Compliance, and Narrow the Pay Gap. Although laws protecting workers from pay 

discrimination have been in effect for more than 50 years, pay discrimination still exists and 

continues to plague American working families. Looking at annual earnings, there are large 

gaps in pay, with women working full-time earning approximately 79 cents to the dollar 

compared with men, as well as substantial disparities along racial and ethnic lines. In 2014

OFCCP published a proposed rule requiring the collection of federal contractor pay data by 

sex, race, and ethnicity. Meanwhile, EEOC was developing its own pay data collection 

proposal. After reviewing hundreds of comments on OFCCP’s proposed rule, OFCCP and 

EEOC decided to work together to develop a joint proposal for a single collection tool that 

would add summary pay data to the EEO-1 employment report that employers have filed for 

decades. OMB approved and the final revised EEO-1 report was published in September 

2016. Beginning in March 2018, private employers with 100 or more employees, including 

federal contractors, will annually file the revised EEO-1 report with pay data. Collecting the 

summary pay information, and analyzing it by race, gender, industry, and job category, will 

improve the efficiency of civil rights enforcement activities. It will also encourage contractors 

to be proactive in reviewing their pay data and practices and remedying any issues that they 

find. 

● Replacing Outdated Sex Discrimination Guidelines with Regulations that Reflect 

Today’s Workplace Realities. Women are a vital part of our workforce and economy. 

Moreover, most women today are financially responsible for themselves and their families. It 

is vital that women have equal access to jobs and equal treatment while on the job. In June 

2016, OFCCP published a Final Rule replacing its outdated 1970’s Sex Discrimination 

Guidelines with new regulations that reflect the current workforce and workplaces. The Final 

Rule addresses many of the barriers to equal opportunity and fair pay that workers face in the