Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action

Affirmative action refers to laws aimed at redressing the effects of past discrimination. The purpose of affirmative action policies is to provide equal opportunity for the people affected historically by discrimination. The determination for eligibility of affirmative action benefits is based on race, ethnicity and gender. The affirmative action policies are also designed to enhance possibilities for minorities and women in areas of education and employment. Not all employers are required to have affirmative action plans in place. Businesses with 15 or more employees or companies with federal contracts must write and adhere to an affirmative action plan by law. An affirmative action plan must have a few vital components to be effective, and if the plan is not followed by the employer, it could result in consequences as severe as indefinite loss of federal contracts. Affirmative action and the affirmative action component of Title VII were written with the motive to "lessen the effects of lingering past discrimination for minorities, women and persons with disabilities." (Summary of an Affirmative Action Plan, 2007).

Who must have a plan?

Affirmative action components are written into Title VII, however, the requirement for employers to take active steps toward employing minorities and women stems from Executive Order 11246. (Employment Law for Business, 2007). Under this order, federal contractors must agree not discriminate against the protected classes which include race, color, religion, gender and national origin. (Erickson, How to Avoid Being Sued for Discrimination: What Every Employer should Know, 2007). In addition, Executive Order 11246 requires that federal contractors who do not employ sufficient representations of minorities and women must develop an affirmative action plan to remedy the deficiency. An affirmative action plan is designed to incorporate minorities and women into the company and set a timetable for accomplishing a fair representation of both. A contractor has 120 days from the inception of the government contract to develop a written affirmative action plan for each of his or her establishments (Employment Law for Business, 2007).

What must employers do?

To establish a plan for affirmative action an employer must first develop and organizational profile. (Employment Law for Business, 2007). Organizational profiles are snapshots the employer utilizes to gauge where the company currently stands in relation to current employment of minorities and women. Another element of an organizational profile is "job group analysis" (Employment Law for Business, 2007). Job group analysis combines job titles with similar content and wage rates for use in analyzing how many women and minorities are in each group. If the employer determines that there is a deficient representation of women and/or minorities based on availability, a placement goal must be established. A placement goal is a percentage of underrepresented classes that must be hired to match what the availability is in the geographic area of consideration. Contractors must make a "good faith effort" (Employment Law for Business, 2007) to achieve the placement goal. However, quotas are not legal and someone who is not qualified should never be hired in place of someone who meets qualifications.

Consequences for non-compliance

Executive Order 11246 is enforced