The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has issued a revised directive on compensation compliance, addressing concerns federal contractors had about a previous directive issued earlier this year. Some contractors were concerned that the prior version of the directive intruded upon communications protected by attorney-client privilege.

OFCCP Director Jenny Yang said in a blog post issued on the same day the revised directive was published that a top priority for the OFCCP is combatting agency pay discrimination.

"Contractors therefore should review the directive and ensure they are engaging in compensation analyses as required by the regulations and be prepared to respond to questions regarding those analyses that are detailed in the directive," said Guy Brenner, an attorney with Proskauer in Washington, D.C.

"Federal regulations require contractors periodically—or OFCCP interprets now as annually—[to] review their compensation systems to determine whether there are gender, race or ethnicity-based disparities in compensation," said Sheila Willis, an attorney with Fisher Phillips in Columbia, S.C.

Attorney-Client Privilege Concerns

The main point of the revised directive is that contractors would not have to provide a self-audit when that information is privileged, said Craig Leen, an attorney with K&L Gates in Washington, D.C., who is a former head of the OFCCP. The OFCCP heard contractors' concerns and modified the directive on compensation analysis...

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