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ESA News Release: [12/28/2007]
Contact Name: Loren Smith or Richard Manning
Phone Number: 202-693-4676
Release Number: 07-1953-NAT

U.S. Department of Labor announces record-breaking FY 2007 federal contract worker wage recoveries

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs sets record for third consecutive year

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) today announced its enforcement data for Fiscal Year 2007, highlighting a record number of workers helped. For the year, the agency obtained $51,680,950 for 22,251 workers who had been subjected to unlawful employment discrimination. These numbers represent substantial, steady growth over the course of this decade, with financial remediation up 78 percent over Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 and the number of workers helped up 145 percent.

"We believe our actions demonstrate our commitment to workers being appropriately compensated under federal law," said Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Charles James. "This is the third consecutive record-breaking year for both workers helped and amounts recovered, and we are proud of these results. The government must ensure that the contractors it employs are following the rules, and our ongoing efforts are a step in that direction."

The number of workers helped had topped 10,000 only once in the 1990's, but that benchmark has been cleared now four times in this decade. The period from FY 1994 to FY 1999 saw 41,500 workers helped through our agency, while the period from FY 2002 to FY 2007 showed 85,230 workers, more than double the comparable period in the 1990's.

This success is the result of a new focus on systemic discrimination — cases involving a significant number of workers or applicants subjected to unlawful discrimination. During the past six years, OFCCP has shifted its focus and resources to target employers using discrimination as their "standard operating procedure." This concentration on the worst offenders is designed to give the greatest protection to the largest number of workers. Of the record recovery in 2007, 98 percent was collected in cases of systemic discrimination.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is part of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Standards Administration. OFCCP is responsible for ensuring that employers doing business with the federal government comply with the laws and regulations requiring nondiscrimination and affirmative action in employment.

A fact sheet on agency results is available on OFCCP's Web site, www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp.