Data collection and statistical analysis are important elements of an effective OFCCP compliance program for Federal contractors. It reveals information on the size of the applicant pool from protected groups, such as veterans, people with disabilities or specific minority groups, along with the rate of hiring of such candidates with useful insight on efficacy of the tools used during the selection process such as applicant test results, resumes, disposition records among other things. Such data analysis can then be used by Federal contractors to adjust their recruiting efforts and selection strategies to ensure that appropriate programs are in place to meet the goals for equal opportunity hiring, and the hiring of candidates from the protected groups.

Recently, the OFCCP has expressed its intent to further increase emphasis on data collection and analysis to ensure that appropriate measures are being taken by Federal contractors in their recruiting efforts of the protected groups. Merely listing jobs with state agencies and in websites that primarily cater to protected groups is no longer sufficient, and contractors must track the source of the candidates as well as their progress through the contractor's application process. Contractors must also analyze the percentage of protected groups in all job categories. The OFCCP uses this data to determine if the contractor is not only making proper efforts to hire protected groups, but also uses this information against the latest US census data to ensure protected groups are adequately represented demographically compared to the latest local census information.

This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of the application data collection requirements, and some practical approaches that Federal contractors can take to implement a comprehensive data collection and analysis program as an important component of their overall recruitment related compliance requirements.