Two Berkshire Clients Get Certificate of Merit for Section 503 Reviews

Earlier this month, OFCCP identified 10 federal contractors whose Section 503 focused reviews reflected an exceptional commitment to disability inclusion, awarding them an OFCCP Certificate of Merit. Of the ten awardees, two of them were Berkshire clients! 

To put this achievement into perspective, approximately 500 contractors were under review during this period, placing awardees in the top 2% of their pool.  

The merit was awarded based on the following criteria: 

• Achieved the 7% disability utilization goal in 50% or more of their AAP job groups, or for the workforce as a whole if the contractor had the option to measure the representation of individuals with disabilities in its entire workforce; and 
• OFCCP found no violations during the focused review. 

In other words, the OFCCP Section 503 review findings showed that awardees had gone above and beyond compliance to create an inclusive work environment for individuals with disabilities.  

For Berkshire, this distinction is a testament to the great work that our consultants do every day, not only to protect our clients from audit risk, but to help them stand out as leaders in their field.   

"It’s an incredible accomplishment for our clients to have received this Certificate of Merit from OFCCP,” said Lynn Clements, Director of Audit and HR services at Berkshire. “Our job as consultants is to make sure that our clients’ data reflects their diversity initiatives, and we are just thrilled to have several of our clients recognized for their efforts during this Section 503 audit.” 

The Section 503 Focused Review Program seeks to increase the labor force participation rate (21 percent for individuals with disabilities compared to 68 percent, generally), decrease the unemployment rate (typically double the general unemployment rate), and eliminate the significant wage gap (more than 30 percent) for individuals with disabilities in employment, according to the OFCCP website.