The Three Certification Layers Every Federal Contractor Must Know

“VERIFY BEFORE YOU CERTIFY” — 3-MINUTE BRIEF, PART 2 OF 4 Part 1 covered what changed. This brief: the three layers contractors certify today. Recap: Executive Orders 14173 and 14398 replaced the old EO 11246 affirmative-action framework with a certification-based model, enforceable through the False Claims Act. Here’s how that model actually works, layer by…
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The New Rules: How Federal Contractor Certification Changed Twice in 18 Months

“VERIFY BEFORE YOU CERTIFY” — 3-MINUTE BRIEF, PART 1 OF 4 A quick-read series on how federal contractors certify nondiscrimination today. This brief: what changed, and why. Federal contractors don’t certify nondiscrimination through a single document anymore. As of 2026, compliance runs through three separate layers — and this series breaks down exactly what each…
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Opinion | Abandoning EEO Data Collection Will Not Eliminate Discrimination, It Will Make It Harder to Detect

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) recent proposal to rescind the EEO-1 through EEO-6 reporting requirements marks one of the most significant shifts in federal equal employment policy in decades. The Commission argues that these reports are inconsistent with equal employment law, potentially unconstitutional, unnecessarily burdensome, and no longer needed to enforce anti-discrimination laws. While…
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Breaking News: EEOC Reaffirms the Importance of Applicant Demographic Data Collection for Title VII Compliance

EEOC’s Uniform Guidelines Survive: Why Employers Should Continue Collecting Applicant Demographic Data In a development that may surprise many employers, the federal government has quietly reaffirmed one of the most important—and often misunderstood—compliance frameworks in employment law. On June 24, 2026, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) approved, without change, the…
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Part 2 – Why Workforce Analytics May Matter More Than Ever: The Rise of Merit-Based Compliance Under EO 14398

As federal contractors adjust to the rapidly evolving compliance environment surrounding Executive Order 14398 and FAR 52.222-90, many employers are asking an increasingly common question: Should we stop conducting workforce analytics altogether? For some organizations, concern surrounding DEI enforcement has created hesitation about reviewing hiring, promotion, compensation, or workforce demographic data. That reaction may be…
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