employee. Executive Order 13672 prohibits federal contractors from discriminating against applicants or employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Executive Order 13673 requires employers seeking new federal contracts to disclose whether there have been any administrative or judicial judgements against it for labor and employment violations in the past three years. In addition, in March 2014, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance issued final rules implementing amendments to the Rehabilitation Act and the Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act. The effect of these was to impose on federal contractors an obligation to establish annual hiring benchmarks for individuals with disabilities and veterans with a utilization goal of seven percent of the workforce. Under Minn. Stat. § 363A.36, vendors who intend to bid on any purchases or contracts exceeding $100,000, and have had on any single working day in the past year more than 40 employees in Minnesota, must apply for a Certificate of Compliance from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. State agencies cannot accept bids or proposals on purchases or contracts exceeding $100,000 from Minnesota vendors unless the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights has received the vendor’s affirmative action plan for the employment of minority persons, women, and disabled individuals. State agencies cannot make awards exceeding $100,000 to Minnesota vendors unless the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights has approved the vendor’s affirmative action plan and issued a certificate of compliance to the vendor. Vendors who have more than 40 employees in the state in which their principal place of business is located, will be required to certify that the business is in compliance with federal affirmative action requirements in order to receive awards exceeding $100,000. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights charges a $75 fee for each certificate of compliance issued. In addition, under the Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA), an employer with 40 or more full time employees in Minnesota must obtain an equal pay certificate from the State if it does business with the State in excess of $500,000. This certificate is good for four years. The Minnesota Department of Human rights is responsible for enforcing compliance. The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have city ordinances which require compliance with their specific affirmative action requirements. The Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights and the St. Paul Department of Human Rights are the agencies which enforce the respective city ordinances. Other cities or counties in Minnesota also may have affirmative action or equal employment opportunity requirements for businesses who contract with them. The entity awarding the contract should be able to inform the business of its affirmative action requirements.
IMMIGRATION LAW COMPLIANCE
The federal Immigration and Nationality Act (18 U.S.C. § 1324a) requires employers to verify that all persons they hire are legally authorized to work in the United States. The law also prohibits employers from knowingly hiring or continuing to employ persons not authorized to work in the United States as well as knowingly contracting for work by someone not authorized to work in the United States. The law applies to all employers, regardless of the number of employees they have, and to all individuals hired after November 6, 1986. Note that merely because a person holds a visa authorizing entrance into the United States, that person does not necessarily have authorization to be employed in the United States. It is the employer’s responsibility to determine
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