OFCCP Eliminates Self-Identification Requirement And Other Disability-Related Affirmative Action Mandates Under Section 503

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has finalized a rule which will significantly modify the implementing regulations to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. The revised regulations, which streamline federal contractors affirmative action obligations under Section 503, will go into effect on Sept. 21, 2026.

The most significant change is the rescission of the requirement for federal contractors to invite applicants and employees to voluntarily self-identify as individuals with disabilities. Federal contractors have been required to use OFCCP’s self-identification form, Form CC-305, to meet this requirement. The new regulations retire OMB Form CC-305. To be clear, OFCCP has not decided to do away with their mandated self-identification form and left employers to develop their own form. The new regulations have ended the voluntary self-identification practices under Section 503 altogether. The DOL takes the position that the disability self-identification framework conflicts with the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA’s) restrictions on disability-related inquiries. The ADA generally prohibits an employer from asking about an applicant’s disability status prior to the employer extending the applicant an offer of employment and only allows post-employment inquiries when they are job-related and consistent with business necessity. The rescission of Section 503’s self-identification requirements means that federal contractors no longer have a statutory or regulatory basis to solicit disability status from applicants or employees. Federal contractors should take steps to eliminate their disability self-identification prompts and prepare to sunset any electronic or paper pre-offer disability inquiries to correspond with the Sept. 21, 2026 effective date of the new regulations. This will require an inventory of disability self-identification prompts that may be embedded into contractors’ compliance systems, including applicant tracking systems, onboarding processes, AAP templates and any recurring five-year self-identification reminders to current employees.

Employers have always had the ability, and remain free, to state in their application that applicants are welcome to request reasonable accommodation if needed to allow the applicant to participate in the application process. These federal regulatory changes may raise questions, however, for contractors who have state contracts that include affirmative action requirements. The new rule suggests it does not outright ban disability-related inquiries so long as contractors’ practices moving forward are consistent with the ADA’s pre-offer ban and post-employment business-necessity standard. Since contractors will no longer have a statutory or regulatory basis to solicit disability status from individuals under Section 503, employers should consult with counsel regarding the complicated interplay between any such state requirements and the current enforcement positions at the federal level.

The revised regulations also do away with the mandates, which had originally been implemented in 2013, to measure the workforce against OFCCP’s 7% utilization goal and remove the data collection and utilization analysis requirements. The rule also updates the basic coverage threshold from $15,000 to $20,000. While the new rule narrows contractors’ disability affirmative action obligations, Section 503 itself remains in effect, including its disability nondiscrimination protections, reasonable accommodation requirements and outreach assessment obligations. Contractors with 50 or more employees and a federal contract or subcontract of $50,000 or more must continue to maintain a written affirmative action program (AAP) for individuals with disabilities.

The Section 503 final rule is part of a broader set of changes that also modifies regulations implementing the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act and rescinds regulations implementing Executive Order 11246, which President Trump revoked in January 2025 under Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.”

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