OFCCP NPRM RIN 1250-AA09 Religious Exemption Letter from Civil Rights Groups to Extend Comment Period

View this letter as a PDF here. 

August 28, 2019

Patrick Pizzella
Acting Secretary
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20210

Craig Leen
Director
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20210

RE: Implementing Legal Requirements Regarding the Equal Opportunity Clause’s Religious Exemption (RIN 1250-AA09)

Dear Acting Secretary Pizzella and Director Leen:

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the undersigned 92 organizations request that the Department of Labor extend the comment period for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking under the RIN number 1250-AA09 and titled Implementing Legal Requirements Regarding the Equal Opportunity Clause’s Religious Exemption. We request the comment period be extended for a minimum of 60 additional days beyond the current deadline of September 16, 2019. The proposed 30-day comment window is insufficient to receive meaningful public participation in the rulemaking process.

The proposed changes are far-reaching and impact approximately one-fifth of the U.S. labor force.[1] If finalized in their current form, we believe they will significantly and negatively impact the rights of employees, applicants, and others who work for federal contractors all across the country. The proposed rule and its Regulatory Impact Analysis could have numerous legal implications and costs and benefits for employees, applicants, current and prospective contractors, federal agencies, state and local agencies charged with enforcing their own civil rights laws, taxpayers, and the economy as a whole. Our organizations and many others need sufficient time to fully understand this proposal, including its costs and benefits, relevant legal authorities, social science research, and economic data in order to compose well-informed comments.

As a result, it is imperative that the public be given sufficient time to evaluate the potential impacts and costs of this proposal, including its potential to contribute to discrimination and restrict opportunities for workers to provide for themselves and their families. We believe providing a longer comment period is consistent with OFCCP’s stated mission to “protect workers, promote diversity and enforce the law.”[2]

Advocates, contractors, employees, and all stakeholders deserve a meaningful opportunity to be heard on this important rulemaking. We ask that the Department affirm its commitment to a wide-reaching notice-and-comment period by extending the deadline by a minimum of 60 days. Doing so will ensure that the communities we serve who will be affected by these proposed changes are given the opportunity to engage and give the Department the benefit of a robust rule-making process.

For questions, please contact Gaylynn Burroughs, Senior Policy Counsel at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, at (202) 466-3311 or [email protected].

Sincerely,

[1] https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/about/50thAnniversaryHistory.html

[2] https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/aboutof.html