Layoffs canceled at federal contractor oversight office, but questions remain about employee reassignments

Updated at 9:30 a.m. ET Aug. 14 

The National Council of Field Labor Locals, an American Federation of Government Employees-affiliated union that represents Labor Department employees, said on Tuesday that widespread layoffs at an agency that oversees federal contractors will no longer take place. 

Instead, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs employees who were slated to be removed under reduction in force procedures will be reassigned to other DOL agencies. 

OFCCP is responsible for enforcing, with respect to federal contractors, anti-discrimination laws that protect workers with disabilities and who are veterans. The agency used to perform investigations under a 1965 executive order that established equal employment requirements for government contractors, but Trump repealed that directive on the second day of his second term. 

As a result, the office’s work was largely halted. An OFCCP employee told Government Executive in May that the work stoppage paused progress on several hundred audits and investigations. The individual also said that new complaints have not been processed. 

Rather than conducting reductions in force, DOL will pursue a “distribution of force strategy” at OFCCP, according to an NCFLL press release. Brent Barron, the union’s president, told Government Executive by email that 155 employees who were slated to be laid off will instead be reassigned to similar jobs at other DOL agencies, or possibly OFCCP again, at the same grade level and in the same local commuting area. 

“This decision sends a powerful message that the department values its people and understands that our employees are not just numbers on a spreadsheet, they are public servants whose expertise directly impacts the lives of millions,” Barron said in a statement. “Maintaining that workforce is essential to meeting our nation’s labor challenges head-on.

Barron said by email that DOL hopes to have the assignments complete by Sept. 1, but he is “very doubtful” about that timeline given the number of affected employees. 

A DOL spokesperson said that the department, through voluntary departure programs and attrition, has already achieved its goal of shrinking its workforce by 20%. 

“After right-sizing OFCCP under the president’s executive order, we are restructuring to support critical roles within the department, maintaining continuity without adding government bloat,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Government Executive.    

OFCCP employees have received a notice that they will be reassigned to a new position in their local commuting area that is aligned with their “knowledge, skills and abilities,” but it did not say when that would occur.

DOL on May 6 sent out RIF notices to many OFCCP employees, however, those removals were delayed by a court ruling that blocked layoffs at most departments. While the Supreme Court overruled that order on July 8, Tuesday’s announcement means those job removals won’t go through. 

AFGE previously reported that, between RIFs and separation incentives, OFCCP’s workforce shrunk from nearly 500 to about 50. 

In a March email to staff, OFCCP’s new director, Catherine Eschbach, warned that the agency would be “right-siz[ed].” She also said that remaining employees would examine contractors’ previously submitted affirmative action plans to determine if there’s evidence of “longstanding unlawful discrimination” and, as part of an effort to deter DEI programs, identify potential civil compliance investigations of corporations, non-profits and higher education institutions.

This story has been updated with additional information from NCFLL.