HR Dive: Federal contractor civil rights watchdog places staff on leave amid layoff threat

April 18. 2025

National Campaigns Director Deborah Vagins is featured in an HR Dive article about the shuttering of most OFCCP regional offices.

“OFCCP is tasked with monitoring and enforcing civil rights protections for employees of federal contractors, which make up approximately one-fifth of the American workforce,” Vagins said. “By gutting this office and halting investigations, compliance reviews, and preventative guidance, this administration has created a dangerous accountability vacuum.”

In an interview with HR Dive, Vagins said that employers must nonetheless continue to comply with civil rights laws such as Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. She noted that Trump’s executive order did not address certain areas within OFCCP’s purview, such as anti-discrimination provisions for veterans and people with disabilities, and that employees of federal contractors may continue to bring legal challenges against their employers despite enforcement cuts.

“Our civil rights laws are still in place,” Vagins said, and federal contractors “still must comply with them.”

Read the article.