How to Write an Affirmative Action Plan Crystal Gilreath,

How to Write an
Affirmative Action Plan
Crystal Gilreath, Employee Relations Specialist
UTHSC, Office of Equity and Diversity
May 8, 2007
A Historical Perspective

The earliest legal requirement of equality
dates back to 1866
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All people will have the full and equal benefit and
protection of all laws enjoyed by white citizens
Modern law was passed in 1964 in the form
of the Civil Rights Act

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Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color,
creed, religion, gender and national origin.
Other laws have followed: the Age Discrimination
Act (ADEA), the 1972 Equal Employment Act
(created the EEOC), the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, Pregnancy Act and the Vietnam Era
Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act.
Executive Order 11246
 Signed
by President Johnson in 1965
 Requires affirmative action in federal
employment as well as federal
contractors
 Enforced by the Office of Federal
Contract Compliance Programs
(OFCCP) within the Department of
Labor
Preferential Treatment?

“Affirmative Action is not preferential
treatment. Not does it mean that unqualified
persons should be hired or promoted over
other people. What affirmative action does
mean is that positive steps must be taken to
provide equal opportunity for those who have
been discriminated against in the past and
who continue to suffer the effects of that
discrimination. For OFCCP, affirmative action
is the tool; EOO is the goal.”

OFCCP: Making EEO and Affirmative Action Work, 1979)
Glossary of
Terms
What is Included in an
Effective AAP?
 Practical
steps to address
underutilization of specific groups
 Action-oriented programs
 Internal auditing and reporting systems
as a means of measuring progress
 Institutionalizing the contractor’s
commitment to equality
 Policies, procedures and practices that
are/will be implemented
Who Must Prepare an AAP?
 The
50-50 Rule: You are required to
have an AAP if you have more than 50
employees and supply/service contracts
with the government worth more than
$50,000.
Getting Started
 Select
your plan year
 Gather your information
Data (2000) – www.census.gov
 Hiring Information
Race,
 Termination Information
gender/national
origin
 Employee Information
 Placement goals
 Census
Mandatory Components

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Organizational Profile
A job group analysis and the placement of incumbents in job
groups
Availability determinations along with a description of the
methodology used to determine availability for the job groups
Comparison of incumbency to availability
Placement goals, if applicable, and a description of the
methodology used
Designation of the responsibility for implementing the AAP
In-depth analyses of the employment process that were
conducted to determine if impediments exist and a list of
problem areas
Action-oriented programs that will be implemented to correct
any problem areas identified and to established goals and
objectives
Internal audit and reporting systems that are used to measure
the effectiveness of the AAP
Preparing Your
Organizational Profile

Presented in the form of either the traditional
workforce analysis or the newly introduced
organizational display
 To get started, consider your racial categories:

List of all applicants and every active employee
(including part-time), as of the opening date of your
plan year

Includes gender and race or ethnic category
(* White or minority and, if minority, by each minority
subgroup: Blacks, Hispanics, Asians/Pacific Islanders, or
American Indians/Alaskan Natives)
Organizational Display

Identify each organizational unit in your
organization
 Show the relationship of each unit to the
other unit in the organization
 For each unit, indicate:
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Name
Job Title, gender, race and ethnicity of the unit
supervisor
Total number of male and female incumbents
Total number of male and female incumbents in
each of the following categories: Blacks,
Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and American
Indians/Alaskan Natives
Workforce Analysis

Alternative to the Organizational Display
 Requires a listing of each job title as it
appears in the payroll records
 Rank from lowest to highest paid in each
department or other similar unit
 For each job title, supply:
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Total number of people currently holding the job
Total number of male and female incumbents in
each of the following minority subgroups: Blacks,
Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan Native,
Asians/Pacific Islanders
Wage rate or salary range for each job title
Job Group Analysis

First step to comparing minorities and women
in the your workforce with the estimated
availability of qualified minorities and women
who could be employed
 Separately list the % of minorities and the %
of women it employs in each job group
 Contractors with fewer than 150 employees
may use the EEO-1 job categories – all
others need to create their own job groups
based on:
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Similar job duties and responsibilities
Compensation
Opportunities for advancement with the workforce
EEO-1 Categories
– Officers and Managers
 02 – Professionals
 03 – Technicians
 04 – Sales Workers
 05 – Office and Clerical
 06 – Craft Workers (Skilled)
 07 – Operatives (Semiskilled)
 08 – Laborers (Unskilled)
 09 – Service Workers
 01
AAP for Minorities
and Women
 With
the information we have already
gathered, we are now able to determine
if underutilization exists
 Your first step:
 Compare
the representation of minorities
and women in its workforce with the
estimated availability of minorities and
women qualified to be employed.
Availability Analysis
 Will
produce an estimate of the number
of qualified minorities and women
available for employment in a given job
group (in the form of a %)
 Purpose is to establish a benchmark
against your workforce is compared in
order to determine if barriers to equal
employment exist
Two-Factor Analysis
 Factors
required to be examined in
conducting an availability analysis
 1.
The % of minorities or women with
requisite skills in the reasonable
recruitment area (external factor)
 2. The % of minorities or women among
those promotable, transferable, and
trainable within your organization (internal
factor)
Conducting Your Analysis
 For
each job group, add the number of
minorities and women and divide by the
number of total number of employees
 This will determine the % of available
minorities and women within that job
group
Job Group Analysis

Create the following chart to complete your twofactor analysis:
XXXXXXXXX (INSERT CHART)
 Assign value weights – do you recruit more
minorities and women from the reasonable
recruitment are or does it recruit more minorities
and women by promotion, transfer, and training
with your organization?
 Weighted Factors

Raw Data x Value Weight = Weighted Factors
Incumbency v. Availability

If you have found the % of minorities or
women in a particular job group to be less
than would be expected, you must establish a
placement goal
 To establish what would be reasonably
expected use one of the following methods:
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Any Difference Rule – determines whether any difference
exists
One Person Rule – determines whether the difference
between available and the actual employment of minorities
or women equals more than one person
“80% Rule” (or the ¾ Rule) – Actual employment of
minorities or women is less than 80% of their availability
Two Standard Deviations Analysis – Does the difference
exceed the two standard deviations test of statistical
significance?
Action-Oriented Programs

Show your good-faith efforts to establish
goals and objectives to remove barriers,
expand opportunities and produce
measurable results by:
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Periodically auditing your organization and measuring the
results
Monitoring records of all personnel activity, including
referrals, placements, transfers, promotions, termination,
and compensation at all levels
Requiring managers to periodically report to you on their
efforts to meet EEO goals – review report results with all
levels of management
Advise top administration of program effectiveness and
submitting recommendations to improve unsatisfactory
performance
Establishing Your
Placement Goals
 Where
you determine there to be an
underutilization for minorities or women,
you must establish placement goals
 The % annual placement goal should be
at least equal to the availability figure
derived for the job group
*Quotas are expressly forbidden
Disparities in Compensation

Begin by making sure there are no obvious
differences in compensation for employees
who are doing the same job
 Determine the average salary fo0r each job
group and then average length of service for
each job group – compare this to the average
salary for each gender group, racial group or
ethnicity group in that job group
 If there is a statistically significant difference
between the job group and the protected
group, (and cannot be explained by length of
service), a disparity exists
 Corrective action should be taken when
disparity is determined
Veterans and
Individuals with Disabilities

No formal, numerical goal-setting is required
 Utilize the VETS 100 Report to produce this
portion of the AAP (only required reporting
form)
 Will include your Affirmative Action Clause
 Typically submitted as a separate volume of
the AAP because of confidentiality issues –
since this document is open for review by the
public
Tools to Help
 Many
software programs are available
for purchase
 The Census Bureau’s website:
 www.census.gov
 The
Department of Labor’s website:
 www.dol.gov
Questions?