OFCCP Hires New Ombudsman and Launches Contractor Assistance Portal

---

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced the appointment of Marcus Stergio to fill the Ombudsman roll in the agency’s national office. The same day, OFCCP also announced the launch of the Contractor Assistance Portal, an online help desk. OFCCP Director Craig Lean noted these two steps focused on OFCCP’s broader initiative to improve transparency and their compliance assistance activities.

Stergio brings a breadth of experience, having served as the primary administrator of the dispute resolution process for several multi-national organizations and institutes. His first order of business is to work to resolve disputes raised by contractors, in conjunction with regional and district OFCCP offices. As such, he will work to assure that OFCCP is treating stakeholders fairly and in a consistent manner, while providing an independent perspective and facilitating communication between external stakeholders and OFCCP.

The launch of the Contractor Assistance Portal is a move to provide contractors and stakeholders more access to compliance assistance resources. The portal is an online help desk that helps federal contractors with laws and regulations enforced by OFCCP. The Portal was created in coordination with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Compliance Initiatives to allow users to ask questions freely and access valuable reference materials. 

OFCCP expects that contractors and stakeholders will find both the Ombudsman and the contractor assistance portal useful in assessing and implementing affirmative action compliance obligations.