Module 5 MGMT 417 Affirmative Action

How does the employer achieve the placement goal?

1) Advertise for applicants with minority organizations (NAACP, National Urban League, La Raza, NOW). 2) Preferential lay-offs: If the employer must layoff employees, the employer may retain women and minorities, even if they have less seniority, and lay off white males, who may have more seniority. 3) Extra consideration (additional points) given to women and minorities simply because they are women and minorities. 4) Lower standards: Women and minorities may be held to lower standards so that they qualify for the position. 5) Women or minority-only positions: Whether needed or not.

Contractor Compliance: What are the penalties for non-compliance?

1) Department of Labor can recommend to EEOC or Department of Justice that a civil lawsuit be filed against the employer under Title VII. 2) Department of Justice can file a civil lawsuit against the employer to enforce the Executive Order. 3) Department of Justice can file a criminal lawsuit against the employer if the employer provided false or misleading information to the Department of Labor. 4) Department of Labor can cancel (terminate) the contract for failure to comply. 5) Department of Labor can prevent the employer from receiving any future government contracts.

Affirmative Action can arise through:

1) Executive Order 11246 2) Imposed by a Judge as a result of a Title VII lawsuit 3) "Voluntarily" implemented by employers as required by DOL regulation 29 CR 1608

Reverse Discrimination

A reverse discrimination claim is an EEOC complaint, or a lawsuit, usually filed by white males who are adversely affected as a result of the intentional preference given to women and minorities in accordance with an affirmative action plan. Most reverse discrimination charges filed with EEOC result in "no reasonable cause," and most reverse discrimination lawsuits are dismissed.

Parts of an Affirmative Action Plan

An affirmative action plan has two parts: 1) A quantitative aspect: examines the employer's workplace to determine who works there and in what capacity (with regard to women and minorities). In other words, it identifies the problem. 2) A qualitative aspect: sets forth a course of action as to how to fix the problem (under-representation of women and minorities).

Arguments FOR and AGAINST Affirmative Action.

Arguments For: minority oppression occurred for hundreds of years - There is evidence that disparity still exists Arguments Against: All discrimination is WRONG - The anti-discrimination statutes, enforced by the federal governments EEOC.

Executive Order 11246

Executive Order 11246 states that a contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or nation origin. The contractor may take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that they are treated fairly without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Placement Goals (Quotas)

If the % of women and minorities employed in a particular job group is less than the % of women and minorities who are "available" in the employer's geographic area, then the employer must establish a "placement goal" (quotas) to correct the problem. The "placement goal" is the number of women and minorities that must be hired to eliminate the under-representation in the employer's workplace.

Judicially Imposed Affirmative Action

Judicially imposed affirmative action arises when an employee or the EEOC sues an employer for violating Title VII, and affirmative action is ordered by the court.

Amendments

Pres. Regan did it.

Who is the Executive Order 11246 enforced by?

The Executive Order is enforced by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance programs.

Contractor Compliance: How does the government determine if the contractor is complying?

The contractor must develop and implement an internal auditing system that measures the effectiveness of the affirmative action plan. OFCCP conducts an annual Equal Opportunity Survey and contractors are required to submit data pertaining to number of applicants, hires, promotions, terminations and compensation, by race and gender. OFCCP performs audits of contractors to determine if they are complying.

The quantitative aspect also has 2 parts:

The organizational profile and Job Group Analysis. Organizational profile: The employer must prepare a diagram that shows the staffing patterns within the workplace. It must show: Job title, gender, race, and ethnicity of the unit supervisor Total number of male and female employees in each unit Total number of male and female employees in each unit, broken down by the various minority categories. Job Group Analysis: The employer must list the % of minorities and the % of women it employs in each of the following job groups: 01 - 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

Voluntarily Implemented Affirmative Action

Voluntarily implemented affirmative action arises when an employer voluntarily implements an affirmative action plan, even though the employer is not subject to E.O. 11246 and is not subject to a Title VII lawsuit. "Voluntary" affirmative action is required by the EEOC in 29 CFR §1608.1 and is usually implemented as a proactive measure to avoid a potential lawsuit.

What is Affirmative Action?

an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination. Originally designed to benefit woman and blacks, but it has evolved to benefit other minority groups as well.

Affirmative Action Plan

an employers plan to remove gender and racial imbalance in the employers workplace that includes "placement goals" for women and minorities, and timetables for achieving those goals. - The Affirmative Action plan must be in compliance with OFCCP's extensive regulations (41 CFR Part 60-2)

Executive Order 11246 also requires...

federal contractors with 50 or more employees and contracts of 50k or more to develop written "affirmative action plans" to increase the number of women and minorities in the workplace.

Executive Order 11246 prohibits...

private sector employers who provide goods & services to the federal government of 10k or more annually, from discriminating with regard to employment decisions on the basis or race , color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.

The Executive Order 11246 requires contractors...

to furnish all information and reports required by the Executive Order, and permit access to the contractors books, records, and accounts in order to investigate and determine compliance with the executive order. - Executive Order 11246 increase the burden on the contractor based on the amount of money in the contract.