Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC)

In calendar year of 2021, CWC reported spending $4.9 million on legal services at NT Lakis, LLP, a law firm that also shares its office with CWC. ² CWC president Jake Lakis, vice president of public policy Michael Eastman, and senior vice president of compliance and general counsel Danny Petrella are all partners at NT Lakis, LLP.

Background

Center for Workplace Compliance is a left-of-center business league that was founded in 1976 and originally named Equal Employment Advisory Council. ³ It provides resources to businesses to help them follow labor regulations while advocating for employers to comply with regulations such as equal opportunity employment through diversity quotas. ^{1 4}

Perks in CWC’s membership program include access to weekly publications, online tools, and a data hub, in exchange for supporting its amicus briefs. ⁵ Its amicus briefs advocate in favor of left-of-center labor law policies, including minimum wage hikes and paid leave mandates. ^{6 7}

Diversity and Inclusion Conference

Center for Workplace Compliance held a CD&I (Compliance, Diversity, and Inclusion) conference in June 2023 which included discussions on how to maximize an employer’s ability to implement diversity quotas, equitable pay policies, and use affirmative action to promote Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG). ⁸

Diversity Quotas

In CWC’s agenda for its CD&I conference, it states that “workplace practitioners” discussed how diversity programs created under affirmative action have resulted in lawsuits claiming they are discriminatory for denying applicants due to their race. In response, the agenda states panelists discussed how employers can have “bold” diversity programs while remaining lawful. In a separate session, panelists discuss how labor market data can be used to create gender diversity targets in the workplace. ⁸

Equitable Pay

The CD&I’s session on Equitable Pay included presentations from companies on how they publicly disclose their so-called equitable pay policies. ⁸

ESG and Affirmative Action

The CD&I conference agenda lists a session titled, “Using Affirmative Action To Drive ESG Scorecards,” which it describes as a discussion on how affirmative action programs can be used to improve ESG scores. ⁸

Funding

In the fiscal year of 2021, Center for Workplace Compliance received $2.9 million in total revenue, $2.3 million of which came from membership dues. ^{9 10} It also reported $2.6 million in total expenses. ¹¹

People

Joseph Lakis has served as the president of Center for Workplace Compliance since 2013 and as a senior partner for NT Lakis, LLP since 2007. ¹² As an attorney, Lakis specializes in labor law compliance, specifically regarding affirmative action, complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and fair employment practices. ¹³