OFCCP Compliance for Recruiting: What to Know

Recruiters have enough on their plates without having to learn the ins and outs of complex OFCCP compliance laws. With Lever’s OFCCP compliance support, they don’t have to worry about forgetting a step or making a mistake in their candidate sourcing efforts.

While most applicant tracking systems support OFCCP compliance only for applicants, Lever supports compliance for other types of candidates — including those who are sourced and referred — so our customers can focus on what they do best: growing world-class teams.

OFCCP guidelines for recruiting: Everything business and talent leaders need to know

Why should I care about OFCCP compliance?

For starters, it’s the law for U.S. federal contractors. Contractors who are not compliant can be sued, audited, and face serious consequences.

Traditional ATS automatically survey applicants who arrive via a careers page or job board. However, they leave a dangerous gap in accounting for candidates who never apply.

According to our 2022 Talent Benchmarks Report, such applicants are more than common: Sourced, referred, and agency prospects represent roughly half of all hires.

Back up: What is OFCCP compliance?

The OFCCP (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs) holds federal contractors and subcontractors responsible for complying with the legal requirement to not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

As part of their compliance, contractors must meet certain EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) requirements, including keeping records on their candidates. 

How does Lever help with OFCCP requirements?

Lever automates the solicitation of self-identification for OFCCP compliance purposes.

We have capabilities to solicit race, gender, disability, and veteran status, depending on the needs and obligations of your organization. This flexibility allows for compliance with OFCCP regulations, and can even support a diversity and inclusion program.

  • With Lever, federal contractors don’t have to worry about manually surveying — and potentially missing — vast swaths of their candidate pool.

Every applicant has the option to answer EEO questions when they apply, and companies can automatically send an EEO survey to non-applicants — like sourced and referred candidates — when they enter the interview pipeline.

This saves TA teams valuable time and ensures that, when federal contractors are called upon for their hiring records, they can rest easy knowing they have the info they need.

  • Lever’s EEO and OFCCP features and functionality support compliance for the way companies recruit candidates today — not decades ago.

Organizations are increasingly looking beyond applicants to find their next hires. If winning passive talent and generating quality referrals are key parts of your recruiting strategy, it’s important to have an applicant tracking system that has you covered.

Request a Lever demo to learn more about how we equip federal contractors to meet their obligations for OFCCP compliance and help non-contractors support their DEI initiatives.

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