July 01, 2025
DOL’s OFCCP Proposes to Rescind UGESP for Covered Contractors
Yep, that’s a lot of alphabet soup. If you are a covered federal contractor, I suspect you might already know about the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures or UGESP. If you are not a federal contractor and employ at least 15 employees, the UGESP applies to you, too!
The UGESP applies to tests and other selection procedures used to make employment decisions – like employee or candidate tests, assessment, and – yes- background checks. Covered contractors are required to monitor the results of those procedures for adverse impact. That is, do the results appear to discrimination based on race, sex, or ethnic group? DOL is proposing to rescind the portion of the federal regulations as they apply to affirmative action for women and minorities.
Not a government contractor? Enforcement of the UGESP for non-government contractors is administered by the EEOC. I find it noteworthy that the DOL’s proposal reads, “This action does not impact other agencies’ interpretation and application of UGESP.” So, will the EEOC propose the same? Will we see a proposal to rescind the UGESP for non-government contractors, too? It’s hard to say. The EEOC currently does not have a quorum. Until they do, they cannot issue any proposed rules. Stay tuned.
Tip. If you are not already familiar with the UGESP and monitoring the results of your employee selection procedures, click here for more information and talk to your company’s employment counsel. In the interim, the deadline for the notice and comment period on the DOL’s proposal is September 2, 2025.
