Twenty-six women applied for machine operator positions at Rolls-Royce’s Prince George, Virginia facility in 2017. They were not hired. Now, Rolls-Royce will be paying them $135,000 in back wages plus interest and will give four of the women jobs at the plant, with seniority from the date they were denied employment.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, argued that the women were wrongly denied employment. On Monday, November 16, 2020, a conciliation agreement between OFCCP and Rolls-Royce was made public. The agreement was made in September 2020.

The OFCCP’s compliance evaluation of the British company showed that in all of 2017, Rolls-Royce discriminated against 26 women based on their gender. This discrimination violated Executive Order 11246, an order that prohibits hiring discrimination by federal contractors.

In 2018, OFCCP created procedures to allow federal contractors a grace period while they get their corporate policies into line with regulatory requirements. These procedures are evident in the conciliation agreement; as part of the agreement, Rolls-Royce says that it will evaluate its hiring practices in exchange for five years without Labor Department compliance audits.

Rolls-Royce commented, “We are eager to begin the important work of strengthening our hiring practices.” They further noted that the issues were “specific to one job classification at one facility, and relate to hiring in 2017 only,” even though they have “significant operations” in 27 states. According to the OFCCP, Rolls-Royce denies the allegations of discrimination.

The regulations in Executive Order 11246, together with the Vietnam Era Veteran’s Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1974, all fall within the enforcement purview of OFCCP. These laws prevent entities who are doing business as contractors with the federal government from engaging in discriminatory employment practices. Rolls-Royce is a contractor for the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, FAA, NASA, and the Navy, according to the Department of Labor.

Although four of the women in this case will be getting jobs as a result of the conciliation agreement, there is some question as to when they will be allowed to work. The settlement payments won’t be issued until May. If the women who will receive jobs are to go to work at the same time the settlements are issued, they might not be able to work at all. Last August, Rolls-Royce announced that it will be closing the Prince George plant by the middle of 2021 because of the reduction of global travel due to the pandemic.

The conciliation agreement expires in 2025; if the plant opens its doors again before that date, Rolls-Royce’s hiring obligations will still be in place. However, if they keep the plant closed beyond the expiration date, Rolls-Royce will not be required to employ the four women. In a Department of Labor “Class Member Locator Case Summary,” the jobs for the four women are called “job opportunities.” Nothing is said about them obtaining the jobs for which they once applied.

On Monday, an OFCCP Regional Director issued this statement: “Companies that accept federal contracts must monitor their hiring processes to ensure applicants are not rejected based on unlawful practices.” Rolls-Royce spokesperson Donald Campbell acknowledged their plan to work collaboratively with OFCCP in an email, saying, “Though no confirmed findings were assessed, and as we remain fully compliant under the law, Rolls-Royce embraces the opportunity to work collaboratively.”