Contractors Should Not Guess or Assume Applicants' Gender or Race/Ethnicity
In an apparent response to demands from some compliance officers for contractors to guess applicants' gender and race/ethnicity, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Director Charles James signed an OFCCP Policy Directive on April 21, 2004. Directives are used by the OFCCP to establish policy and guidance within the agency and the new Directive describes how the OFCCP expects contractors to obtain gender and race/ethnicity data of applicants.

OFCCP policy is now clear that "contractors should not guess or assume" applicant gender or race/ethnicity information. The new Directive also establishes that voluntary self-identification by "tear off sheets, post cards, or short forms" is the preferred method of applicant data collection but that visual observation may be used. The Contractor Data Tracking Responsibilities Directive is available in HTML and PDF formats from the OFCCP Policy Directive Index at www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/ofccp/directives/dirindex.htm.

If you have any questions about the Directive or the effect of this Directive on your applicant information collection procedures, please give us a call.