On March 20, 2023, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced  that it will open the certification period for its second annual certification cycle shortly on March 31, 2023. As previously reported, beginning in 2022, supply and service federal contractors and subcontractors (contractors) are required to annually certify the status of their annual affirmative action plans (AAPs). Like last year’s schedule, the OFCCP Contractor Portal is intended to be open until June 29, 2023. 

Existing contractors are required to use the OFCCP Contractor Portal for the second year to certify that they have developed and maintained AAPs for each establishment as applicable, and/or for each functional or business unit. Existing contractors that did not otherwise certify last year are also required to register (if not done previously) and certify compliance. New contractors have 120 days to develop their AAPs and must then register and certify compliance through the Contractor Portal within 90 days of developing their AAPs. 

The OFCCP’s resource landing page includes FAQs, pre-recorded certification webinar, how-to videos, a user guide and one-page guides for registration and certification. According to the agency’s announcement, the Contractor Portal’s certification feature has been “enhanced,” including a new requirement that contractors must now also provide the start date of their AAP Coverage Period when certifying.

The OFCCP repeats its warning that existing contractors that do not timely certify compliance will be more likely to appear on OFCCP’s s Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL) for an upcoming audit than those that have certified their compliance with AAP requirements. As previously reported, the OFCCP most recently published CSAL notified 500 supply and service establishments that they had been selected for upcoming audits because they failed to timely complete their mandatory annual certification in the OFCCP Contractor Portal as of December 1, 2022.