Contractors Don’t Want to Trade Stats for Settlements

A Labor Department enforcement agency is offering federal contractors a five-year moratorium on compliance audits as part of workplace discrimination settlements. Seems like the offer of a lifetime, but not so fast.

To cash in on the deal, federal contractors would have to turn over biannual data reports on companywide hiring and compensation data to the agency, something that immediately chills excitement, management attorneys told Bloomberg Law.

The agency audits contractors based mostly on location, not by pooling companywide data. Some employer representatives are worried that agreeing to companywide exposure only increases the chances of adverse findings, instead of focusing ...