Agenda Highlights

An in-depth review of E.O. 14173 and the new framework for assessing workplace compliance programs

Strategies for auditing DEI Policies, Programs, and Practices for risk

The new role of the False Claims Act in enforcing civil rights obligations

Presentations from state officials on their state-specific workplace compliance laws

Practical considerations for maintaining talent acquisition compliance and managing risk

The future of applicant and employee self-identification

Agenda

   

Wednesday, 05 March 2025

Description
Welcoming and Opening Address
CWC President Joe Lakis welcomes attendees, provides an overview of the agenda, and sets the stage for a conference focused on the current and future challenges for affirmative action compliance and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Time
10:00 AM - 10:15 AM
10:00 AM

A New Risk Landscape for Compliance and Diversity Programs
Our opening session surveys the new risk landscape for affirmative action compliance and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The discussion will trace the real-world impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 decision striking down race-based affirmative action in college and university admissions, examine the flurry of legal and political challenges that have followed, and highlight the major changes now being made to federal workplace compliance policy in the early days of the Trump Administration, including the rescission of Executive Order 11246. Attendees will also learn how some leading employers are reshaping their compliance and diversity programs to drive progress while minimizing systemic legal and reputational risk.
Time
10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
10:15 AM

The Purpose, Intent, and Real-World Impact of EO 14173
On the first full day of his second term, President Trump signed Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, which revoked the nearly 60-year-old legal authority requiring federal contractors to refrain from engaging in unlawful discrimination and take affirmative action to ensure such nondiscrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. Going beyond the (sometimes misleading) headlines that followed, this session will thoughtfully explore the purpose of the new Executive Order, summarize its principal underlying policy goals, and offer a balanced perspective on its near-term and long-term implications for both federal contractors and the broader employer community.
Time
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
11:30 AM

What's Next for OFCCP; Will 503/4212 Enforcement Continue?
Until recently, the Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs was responsible for auditing and enforcing contractor compliance with three separate legal requirements under three separate legal authorities. Now that one these authorities has been revoked, however, legitimate questions are being raised about how -- or even whether -- OFCCP will continue to audit and enforce compliance with the other two. This session will explore some of the possibilities for OFCCP --or perhaps some other federal workplace regulator(s) -- to continue auditing and enforcing compliance not only with existing disability- and veteran-related affirmative action requirements, but also the new compliance requirements being ushered in under Executive Order 14173.
Time
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
1:30 PM

EO 14173 and the False Claims Act: What you Need to Know
President Trump's Executive Order 14173 does much more than simply revoke the requirement for federal contractors to take affirmative action with respect to women and minorities. Going forward, they'll be required not only to agree that "compliance in all respects with all applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws is material to the government’s payment decisions for purposes of" the False Claims Act, but also to certify that they do "not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws." This session will offer an introduction  to the False Claims Act and explain in practical terms why human resources compliance practitioners need to be more familiar with its requirements and the potential for damages far greater than what's typically seen in OFCCP discrimination cases.
Time
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
2:30 PM

A Survey of State and Local Affirmative Action Requirements
Contrary to what some organizations have been reporting, President Trump's recent Executive Order on Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity does not render unlawful all affirmative action programs pertaining to race, ethnicity or sex. Nor could it have, as federal, state, and even local laws allow or in some case require employers to take reasonable -- and lawful -- steps to ensure compliance with applicable nondiscrimination requirements. In this session, we'll survey the landscape of existing state and local affirmative action requirements and offer a few predictions about how and where these requirements are likely to change in the months and years ahead.
Time
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
3:30 PM

Open Forum Daily Debrief
At the conclusion of each conference day, attendees will have the opportunity to join CWC Staff and other attendees to engage and interact with one another. These daily “debrief” sessions will give attendees a chance to ask questions and explore the practical implications behind existing and anticipated workplace policy and regulatory requirements in an off-the-record setting.
Time
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM
4:30 PM

Thursday, 06 March 2025

Description
Day Two Opening Address
CWC President Joe Lakis highlights key takeaways from day one and provides an overview of the conference’s day two agenda.
Time
10:00 AM - 10:15 AM
10:00 AM

The EEOC in 2025: Changing Policy and Enforcement Priorities
As the nation’s chief workplace civil rights enforcement agency, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission plays a central role shaping – and enforcing – the fundamental nondiscrimination requirements affecting employer compliance, diversity and inclusion, and workplace risk management programs. This session will feature a discussion on how the Commission's policy and enforcement priorities are changing in the Trump Administration, and explore what these changes will mean for employers going forward.
Time
10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
10:15 AM

Auditing your DEI Policies, Programs, and Practices for Risk
Executive Order 14173 has taken square aim at illegal DEI programs — those that test and cross the boundaries established by the nation’s longstanding civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of characteristics such as race and sex. It does not, however, prohibit all employer DEI policies, programs, and practices; those that were lawful before the Executive Order remain just as lawful after it. That said, DEI program risks have certainly increased, and these risks are likely to remain elevated for the foreseeable future. In this session, we’ll lay out a practical and effective framework for auditing DEI programs for both legal and reputational risk, and offer some suggestions for modifying existing programs to reduce those risks.
Time
11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
11:30 AM

2025 Business Meeting
2025 Board of Directors Elections
Time
12:20 PM - 12:30 PM
12:20 PM

An Update on Key State and Local Compliance Developments
It’s hard enough trying to stay on top of the compliance requirements established by federal workplace regulators. But over the past several years, an increasing number of state and local governments have complicated enterprise-wide compliance by enacting new laws on a host of workplace issues, including pay data reporting, paid leave, LGBTQ protections, pay transparency, non-compete agreements, mandatory promotion postings, and limits on the kinds of tests and technologies employers can use to support their recruitment and selection process. This session will highlight the most important state and local developments affecting employer compliance and risk management programs, identify what else might be in the works, and discuss the resources available to help members successfully navigate the changing state and local compliance landscape.
Time
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
1:30 PM

The Future of Applicant and Employee Self-Identification
For more than five decades, employers have collected and used applicant and employee demographic data as the “raw material” for a variety of compliance, DEI, and risk management analyses. Whether used in the numerator, the denominator, or both, these data have allowed employers to carefully examine and understand the impacts and outcomes of their employment-related decisions. But now that one of the authorities requiring the collection of these data has been revoked, some employers have begun to ask whether they should continue to do so, and what the risks of shutting down their applicant and employee self-identification mechanisms might be. In this session, we'll identify both the legal and business factors employers should keep in mind as they begin the process of reevaluating their applicant and employee demographic data collection programs.
Time
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
2:30 PM

Managing TA Compliance and Risk in a Post-11246 World
From EOE taglines, to ensuring compliance with targeted outreach and “internet applicant” requirements, talent acquisition professionals have carried the lion’s share of federal contractors’ OFCCP-related burdens for many years. But now that Executive Order 11246 has been revoked, affirmative action for women and minorities is no longer required, and the internet applicant rule is no longer valid. So what does this mean for the talent acquisition function? Can employers continue to engage in targeted outreach and recruitment? Should they change or even abandon any of the policies and practices developed over many years to ensure compliance and manage risk? This session will explore these and other critical questions as federal contractors begin to adapt to the post-11246 world.
Time
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
3:30 PM

Open Forum Daily Debrief
At the conclusion of each conference day, attendees will have the opportunity to join CWC Staff and other attendees to engage and interact with one another. These daily “debrief” sessions will give attendees a chance to ask questions and explore the practical implications behind existing and anticipated workplace policy and regulatory requirements in an off-the-record setting.
Time
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM
4:30 PM

Pricing

CWC Members   $499
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Non-Members   $699
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Contact

Event Staff

Jake Mason

Membership Operations Specialist

(202) 629-5605
jmason@cwc.org

Event Staff

Constance Richardson

Team Lead, Membership Operations

(202) 629-5686
crichardson@cwc.org

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