DOL pulls plug on America’s Job Bank

The Department of Labor closed America’s Job Bank- a national online job board- effective July 1, 2007. The decision was somewhat controversial leaving some government contractors with no good alternative to comply with OFCCP regulations mandating job posting.

The Department of Labor has not published a final rule for compliance with Mandatory Job Postings Requirement under VEVRAA. Regulations for government contractors (41 CFR § 60-250.5) require contractors to list job openings with the appropriate local employment service office. Listing openings with America’s Job Bank is expressly recognized as a method for satisfying the obligation.  As an alternative, OFCCP recommends that contractors take the following affirmative steps:

• Create partnership arrangements with local and national recruiting sources for referral of qualified covered veteran applicants;
• Establish a relationship with the Local Veterans’ Employment Representative or his or her designee;
• Recruit covered student veterans at educational institutions;
• Create partnership arrangements with veterans’ service organizations to employ qualified covered veterans;
• Establish relationships with the Veterans Administration Medical Center job placement programs;
• Advertise job openings and recruit qualified covered veterans during company career days and/or related activities in the local community;
• Encourage subcontractors to seek qualified covered veterans for employment opportunities; and
• Contact the Local Veterans’ Employment Representative when new Federal contracts are obtained, or when significant hiring will occur.

There are other solutions mentioned in Kurt Ronn’s Business Week article. An alternative for Pennsylvania employers is to post with Pennsylvania CareerLink. Pennsylvania’s Comprehensive Workforce Development System (CWDS) is scheduled to launch in September of 2007. The CWDS will allow employers to post profiles and job orders on line.