Affirmative action aims to remedy past discrimination by requiring federal contractors to develop affirmative action plans and track applicant demographics to identify and address any underrepresentation of women and minorities; federal contractors with 50+ employees and sufficient federal contracts must maintain written affirmative action plans for each establishment, but quotas are prohibited and affirmative action should not result in reverse discrimination.

1. An Overview

2. Affirmative Action
 Actions appropriate to overcome the effects of past or present practices,
policies and other barriers to equal employment opportunity
 Affirmative Actions should be remedial in nature to be legal
 Affirmative Action Plan is not a quota system
 Affirmative Action should not lead to reverse discrimination
 EEOC, Office of Federal Contract compliance programs (OFCCP)

3. Related Laws and Regulations
 Executive Order 11246
 Rehabilitation Act of 1973
 Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974
 41 CFR Part 60-1 : Obligations of Contractors and Subcontractors
 41 CFR Part 60-2: Affirmative Action Programs
 41 CFR Part 60-250: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination
Obligations of Contractors and Subcontractors Regarding
Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era
 41 CFR Part 60-741: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination
Obligations of Contractors and Subcontractors Regarding
Individuals with Disabilities

4. Who Has to do it
 Federal Contractors and Subcontractors
An employer with 50+ employees and
 Federal contracts or subcontracts worth $ 50,000 or more
 Has government bills of lading of $ 50,000 or more in a year
 Serves as a depository of government funds in any amount
 Is a financial institution that issues and pays US savings
bonds/notes in any amount
 Pursuant to a Consent Decree or a Court Order which
includes Affirmative Action as a remedy
 Employers can adopt voluntary affirmative action plans

5. What do Federal Contractors have to
Do
 Develop and maintain a written affirmative action plan
for EACH ESTABLISHMENT
 Post Notices
 Track the demographic data (race , gender, disability,
veteran status) of anyone who is an applicant
 An applicant is a person who has
 Expressed Interest for a particular job
 Meets basic qualifications
 Considered for the job

6. Some things to think of
 How are you accepting resumes
 Walk In
 Internet
 Fax
 Friends
 Do you participate in career fairs
 How do we handle college recruiting
 Give me the answer “ If you considered them for the
job, why you didn’t pick them”

7. Don’t Do
 Use AA plans to maintain equal opportunity
 Use AA plans to “promote diversity” – Schools can do
that
 Use AA to make layoff/termination decisions
 Set rigid numerical targets and dates by which to
achieve them
 Have recruitment sources that only refer minority
candidates

8. What do we have to do to use
race/gender in Decision Making
 Pursuant to a formal written policy
 Must be temporary
 Must be remedial
 Must address current underutilization
 Current utilization of women/minorities as compared to
the % of women / minorities in the relevant labor pool
with those qualifications
 Broad Goals / Time Tables

9. Under Utilization Analysis
Total Females Female Minorities Minority
Job Group (#) (%) Availability (%) Availability
(%) (%)
Accountant 25 40 24 20 28
Financial Analyst 25 20 32 20 16
HR Specialist 50 80 54 20 30
Computer Programmer 100 30 30 50 45
Electrical Engineer 50 20 28 30 30
Systems Analyst 50 10 12 20 30
David J Walsh, Employment Law for HR Practice, 2004

10. OFCCP Enforcement
 OFCCP will randomly select an Employer for a Desk
Audit
 Employer required to submit all applicant data for a
period of time – perhaps three years back
 OFCCP comes on-site – reviews personnel files,
payroll, conducts interviews of everyone, and
determines penalties, if applicable
 Remedies = Back pay, job offers, seniority credit,
promotions, training, additional recruitment efforts

11. References
 David J Walsh, Employment Law for Human
Resources Practice, 2004
 Department Of Labor website www.dol.gov