Sheri Buchanan

Sheri BuchananSheri joined Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. in December 2012 as a Human Resources Consultant. She provides HR consulting services to our customers on a wide range of issues, from specific projects to an ongoing outsourced solution of the human resources function. Sheri has two decades of experience in providing a comprehensive assessment of all areas of HR, including establishing and implementing policies and practices, contract transition efforts/onboarding, and investigations. Sheri’s experience covers a broad spectrum of compensation planning and analysis for total compensation projects, reasonableness assessments including executive compensation, compensation philosophy development, total reward strategies, benefits analysis, market pay and pay equity evaluations. She regularly supports clients with the analysis and mapping of labor categories and the preparation and analysis of wage calculations and supports clients in pricing disputes with DCAA. Sheri has a wealth of experience in navigating the many compliance challenges associated with Service Contract Act and Davis Bacon Act. She has been a valuable resource to our clients in all these areas. She stays abreast of the various requirements of the Department of Labor and, of great importance to government contractors, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, as well as other federal and state regulations impacting human resources. Professional Experience Prior to joining Redstone Government Consulting, Inc., Sheri served in various roles in the Human Resources arena. While employed by a mid-size government contractor she assisted with database development, recruiting, affirmative action planning and contract proposals. Sheri later became an Employment Specialist with one of the largest employers in Huntsville, where she assisted and led managers in the interpretation and documentation of the progressive disciplinary process, conducted employee investigations and allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge and employee disputes, conducted unemployment hearings and conducted new employee orientation. Sheri developed and presented management training, administered facility compensation plan, monitored staffing budgets and wrote job descriptions and handbook revisions.

Recent Posts

Why a Comprehensive Compensation Plan is Key to Driving Organizational Success

This article is under review as a result of EO 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, signed by President Trump on January 21, 2025. As we await further information from OFCCP and the courts, please reference this article for current status and action items.

Over the last few years, with the uber-competitive labor market and evolving landscape of remote and hybrid work arrangements, I've had many conversations (some feeling more like counseling sessions!) with clients who had become very tired and frustrated with the rising compensation and work-related demands of candidates. These conversations included questions like: When will we see the labor market settle? How can we be profitable when paying rates such as this? What makes sense? Is there any way this would be considered reasonable? Will that be fair to my long-term employees? What we found is those with established and well-structured compensation plans were able to respond to these questions and the challenging scenarios they faced much more efficiently and effectively than those who did not.

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Topics: Employee & Contractor Compensation, Human Resources

Are You Ready if Chosen for the Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL)?

This article is under review as a result of EO 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, signed by President Trump on January 21, 2025. As we await further information from OFCCP and the courts, please reference this article for current status and action items.

The Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued the FY 2023 Corporate Scheduling Announcement List, commonly referred to as a CSAL on January 20, 2023. This list includes 500 supply & service contractors selected for an Establishment Review, Corporate Management Compliance Evaluation (CMCE), or Functional Affirmative Action Program (FAAP) review. These reviews help determine whether a covered contractor maintains records consistent with their obligations under OFCCP’s laws, has correctly certified in the GSA’s System for Award Management database and has established Affirmative Action Programs (AAP) at each establishment.

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Topics: Human Resources, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

Compensation Planning and Analysis Especially Important to Government Contractors

This article is under review as a result of EO 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, signed by President Trump on January 21, 2025. As we await further information from OFCCP and the courts, please reference this article for current status and action items.

In this uber competitive labor market, it is more crucial than ever to be creative with compensation and benefits. Compensation programs and retention strategies have expanded beyond base compensation and bonus to include all methods in which employees are rewarded and incentivized. As a Federal Government Contractor, it is especially important to understand the FAR requirements which may impact compensation decisions and to document all processes and procedures related to your compensation program.

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Topics: Human Resources, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

Affirmative Action Plans: Identification of Problem Areas

This article is under review as a result of EO 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, signed by President Trump on January 21, 2025. As we await further information from OFCCP and the courts, please reference this article for current status and action items.

Throughout this series, we’ve explored the fundamentals of compliance with the regulations administered by the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and many of the components of a written Affirmative Action Plan. In this final blog of the series, we will answer a question frequently asked of us…What do you do with all this information?

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Topics: Government Compliance Training, Human Resources, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

Affirmative Action Plans: Flaws and Fixes to your Applicant Flow

This article is under review as a result of EO 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, signed by President Trump on January 21, 2025. As we await further information from OFCCP and the courts, please reference this article for current status and action items.

As mentioned throughout this series on Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and Affirmative Action (AA), recordkeeping is essential. A particularly important component when developing your AAP , as shown in a previous blog, is Applicant Flow (i.e., records pertaining to each “applicant”). When working with clients, we find that this tends to be the most complex and often confusing information requested. Following are answers to some of the most common questions we are regularly asked:

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Topics: Government Compliance Training, Human Resources, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

Affirmative Action Plans: Key Recordkeeping Considerations


This article is under review as a result of EO 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, signed by President Trump on January 21, 2025. As we await further information from OFCCP and the courts, please reference this article for current status and action items.

We hope that the previous blogs have provided a solid explanation as to what an Affirmative Program is and who the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is. The requirement to maintain a written plan/s and ensure all action items noted within the plan are being executed can be a daunting task. As we begin to steer away from the basics of what the various requirements and components of a written plan are, we will begin to dive into helpful tips and best practices. As shown in the diagram from a previous blog in this series, the establishment of Job Groups and Activity records are critical to establishing a valid Affirmative Action Plan and are therefore worth focusing on.

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Topics: Government Compliance Training, Human Resources, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

HR Huddle - June 30, 2022

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Topics: Human Resources

HR Huddle - May 26, 2022

Overview

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Topics: Human Resources

Affirmative Action Requirements: AAP with Greater than 50 Employees


This article is under review as a result of EO 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, signed by President Trump on January 21, 2025. As we await further information from OFCCP and the courts, please reference this article for current status and action items.

In the previous blog of this series, we focused on the requirements of federal government contractors (prime and subcontractors) who meet the basic threshold requirements (specific dollar thresholds and fewer than 50 employees). As we progress in this series on OFCCP and Affirmative Action Requirements, we begin to dive into OFCCP’s expectations of a contractor’s Affirmative Action Program (AAP). As a reminder, contractors are required to have an AAP when meeting the dollar thresholds mentioned above and have an employee count of 50 or more.

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Topics: Government Compliance Training, Human Resources, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

HR Huddle - April 28, 2022

Overview

  • The 2022 Annual Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) national hiring benchmark was recently updated on the VEVRAA Hiring Benchmark Database.
  • Component 1 EEO-1 reports are due May 17, 2022. The Redstone GCI HR team can support you with preparing and filing your EEO-1 report. Please contact us today if you are in need of assistance.
  • Covered federal contractors must certify their Affirmative Action Plans (AAP) through the OFCCP Contractor Portal by June 30, 2022. Please contact our HR Team if you need assistance with your AAP or the certification process.
  • The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued a new directive (DIR 2022-02) that is intended to promote effective enforcement of the equal employment opportunity laws that the agency enforces.
  • The Department of Homeland Security has announced updates regarding the I-9 form and its verification Beginning May 1, 2022, DHS will no longer allow employers to accept expired List B Documents for form I-9 verification. If an employee presented an expired List B document between May 1, 2020, and April 30, 2022, employers are required to update their I-9 forms by July 31, 2022. DHS has provided a helpful table that explains the updated requirements.
  • The current version of the I-9 form expires on October 1, 2022. DHS plans to “re-vamp” the form with several goals in mind:
    • Compressing Sections 1 and 2 from two pages to one page to reduce paper use.
    • Moving Section 3 to a separate Reverification and Rehire Supplement.
    • Updating the List of Acceptable Documents to include a link to List C documents (on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website) issued by DHS.
    • Reducing and simplifying the form's instructions from 15 pages to 7 pages.
    • Removing electronic PDF enhancements to ensure that the form can be completed on all electronic devices. 
  • It is expected that the US Department of Labor (DOL) will publish a proposed overtime rule in the very near future.
  • An Appeals Court recently upheld a COVID-19 Vaccination Directive that requires federal workers to be vaccinated.
  • EEOC leaders recently discussed four areas that they aim to focus on in 2022. These areas include:
    • COVID-19 Mandates
    • Diversity and Tech
    • DEI Demographics Audits
    • Disability Rights
  • The EEOC recently released a technical assistance document regarding Caregiver Discrimination due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
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Topics: Human Resources