Affirmative Action Paper

Affirmative Action Paper

University of Phoenix

Employment Law

MGT 434

Michael Geraghty

June 25, 2007

Workshop 5

Affirmative Action

In recent years many employers and employees have criticized, complained, and argued the affirmative action laws. Several individuals view affirmative action as a law that paves the way for under qualified minorities, women, and those who are disabled at the expense of the white male. Well of course, these are thoughts from those who have not been educated of the law and my paper will provide the facts and details of the law. I will speak of the individuals and companies that are affected by this law, the requirements under the law, and the repercussions for not complying with the rules of the law.

The Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination which is defined as different treatment to individuals based on race, color, religion, gender, and national origin that are qualified to perform the job (no author, 1988). Equal employment opportunity is the practice of nondiscrimination in employment decisions and to ensure proactive efforts that qualified minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities are identified and offered opportunities to apply for available employment at all levels of the company.

Equal employment opportunity efforts are displayed in affirmative action plans and programs. These plans have been established to identify, recruit, promote, and retain qualified women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities in employment opportunities. These affirmative action programs are designed to reach out formerly to excluded segments of society, to offset the consequences of past discrimination and to ensure nondiscrimination and equal employment opportunities in current practices.

Studies done at Harvard University have shown that racial stereotypes and attitudes heavily influence the labor market with African Americans reaping the worst of the situations. Researchers discovered that race is deeply rooted in the country's cultural landscape. "Attitudes such as those found by the Harvard study find their way into the workplace and affect minority and female employees working there. " These conclusions lead to the need for assistance such as affirmative action to resolve the situation.

Affirmative Action applies to employers with 50 or more employees who have voluntary contracts with the federal government to provide the government with goods or services worth $50,000 or more. According to the guidelines of the contract the government requires the employer not to discriminate in the workplace and to participate in affirmative action if it is determined necessary.

The legal requirement of affirmative action in the employment sector for private employers at the Federal level is Executive Order 11246. This order was first signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 and amended in 1967 to include gender as a protected status. The executive order is enforced by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) in the U.S. Department of Labor. The OFFCP considers affirmative action as a proactive effort of employers to eliminate existing barriers to equal opportunity. Employers who contract with federal government to provide goods and services of $10,000 or more must agree to comply with the executive order.

In addition to the established regulations under the Executive Order 11246 was an increase in compliance requirements. The provision for the smaller contracts illustrated that in addition to not discriminate in their employment practices, they would also post notices that they are an equal opportunity employer. If a contractor or subcontractor has 50 or more employees and a non construction contract of $50,000 or more, the contractor must create a written affirmative action plan for each of his establishments within 120 days of the beginning of the contract.

Recently the affirmative action program has gone through several rounds of criticism. Much of the criticism directed at affirmative action programs relate affirmative action to quotas and preferential treatment to obtain race and gender proportionally in the workforce. Affirmative action programs are not programs of preferential treatment, quotas, or designed to represent proportionality in the workforce. They are programs in the employment sector constrained by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states in section 703, title VII section j: "Nothing contained in this title shall be interpreted to require any employer . . . to grant preferential treatment to any individual or to any group because of the race, color, religion, sex, or national origin of such individual or group on account of an imbalance which may exist with respect to the number or percentage of persons of any race, color, religion, sex, or national origin employed by any employer."

In 2000 the OFCCP made changes to the guidelines of the Affirmative Action Plans. They wanted to change their approach of the plan. They wanted the plan to be viewed as a management tool to ensure equal employment opportunity. The sole purpose of the affirmative action plan was to provide contractors an opportunity to look at their workforces and see if they reflect the relevant population they are drawing from and if they see they are not, and then make a plan towards making it happen.

OFCCP has the right to perform audits to contractors to determine if they are in compliance with the regulations and providing equal employment opportunities. In order to survive an audit the contractor must show their valid attempts of good faith efforts to remove any identifiable barriers to equal employment opportunity, expand employment opportunities, and produce measurable results.

Employers can incur several penalties for not complying with the affirmative action laws. These fines can include:

* The publishing of their names as nonconforming contractors or labor unions

* Recommendations to the EEOC or Department of Justice to file proceedings under Title VII

* Suits of enforcement from the Attorney General in cases of threatened substantial violations of the contractual EEOC clause

* Recommendations for criminal proceeding to the Department of Justice for providing