Affirmative Action Notices

To comply with Federal regulations, some vendors must be notified of their affirmative action requirements with regard to individuals with disabilities. The Accounts Payable program tracks defined contracts and total annual invoice payments by vendor to determine which vendors must be notified. The program also generates notices and provides audit reports that show which vendors received notices and when those notices were produced.

Background

Every Government contractor required to implement an Affirmative Action Program must include an Equal Opportunity Clause (§60-741.5, Equal Opportunity Clause) with each contract in excess of $10,000 (§60-741.1, Purpose, applicability, and construction). This includes indefinite contracts that exceed $10,000 over the course of the year (§60-741.4, Coverage and Waivers). Vendors without such language in their contracts may be notified by mail of the requirements to comply with the Equal Opportunity Clause. For complete details, refer to Title 41, §60-741 AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND NONDISCRIMINATION OBLIGATIONS OF FEDERAL CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS REGARDING INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.

Defined Contracts

Defined contracts are manually entered via the Contracts Form found in the Utilities Menu.

Indefinite Contracts

For the purpose of determining whether to provide Affirmative Action notices to vendors, the program considers all paid invoices to a single vendor to be part of an "indefinite contract." If the total amount of the invoice exceeds the threshold ($10,000 as of 2014) in a given year, then that vendor is considered one which is required to receive an affirmative action notice.

Determining Which Vendors Must Receive Notices

The program determines which vendors must receive notices based on a variety of factors. If the vendor meets any of the following criteria, the vendor must receive a notice:

Vendor has a contract in the Contracts Form that satisfies all of the following:

has no listed amount OR an amount greater than $10,000

has no listed end date OR an end date greater than the start of the current or previous year

the contract does not include the required Affirmative Action language (AA Lang? is unchecked)

Vendor has been paid over $10,000 in total invoices during the current year

Vendor has been paid over $10,000 in total invoices during the previous year

This selection happens when you click on the Generate New Notices button on the Affirmative Action Notices Form.