Expert: John Fuller - 1/8/2008

Question
Good Afternoon John,

I have been unable to find best practice data relative to how contractors actually use Affirmative Action Plans in  day to day business practices; i.e. recruitment, promotions, etc. The questions I receive on a daily basis from senior management is how are reports utilized in other corporations/industries.

Thank you,

Alicia Turner Roberson
Senior Affirmative Action Program Specialist
Express Scripts, Inc.
St. Louis, MO


Answer
Hi Alicia,

As you know from being an affirmative action program specialist, there are many areas which the EEOC and the OFCCP will look at during an audit.  Every business should have an AA liaison with the agency they work with for government contracts.  That liaison must be thoroughly trained and professional in the multiple areas of Affirmative Action.  For example, to address recruiting practices:   To ensure that your practices are in compliance, and to avoid an EEOC or OFCCP investigation, a business should
undergo a self-analysis looking at adverse impact by
hiring stage. This will enable you to focus your efforts on
any problematic areas, and to take swift, corrective action.
The following steps and recommendations will guide you
through that analysis:
• Thoroughly review all job descriptions. Any job posted
internally or advertised externally should include a
detailed description of the qualifications a candidate
must possess to be considered for the job.
• Examine all aspects of hiring practices by job type.
Carefully evaluate your entire selection process (tests,
pre-screens, interviews, etc.) to ensure each is necessary
and applied consistently and fairly. For example, an
open position that requires a personality test for some
candidates, and not others, is a red flag to compliance
auditors.
• Don’t confuse “recruiting” with “hiring.” Just because
you’ve made good-faith efforts to broaden your applicant
pool (and have been successful in doing so) doesn’t
mean your hiring and promotion practices are nondiscriminatory.
EEOC will look for disproportionality among candidates
who are evaluated at each stage and those that move
forward to the next step in your selection process.

Also, I recommend going to the Department of Labor web site that has a link to Best Practices:

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/ofccp/bestp.htm

The more a business aligns themselves with the DOL and studies cases from the EEOC the better.  That of course is teaching to the test mentality but it protects business by getting them directly involved whereas they might not be.  As I stated, good faith efforts are looked at favorably but they must be good faith efforts that are carried through to the hiring and promotional stages as well.  Affirmative actions are actions we take to ensure fair, equitable and equal opportunity for everyone regardless of any protected category.  I juse my Affirmative Action program at Johns Hopkins to set the tone for any goals that we may have to achieve true diversity in our organization.  They are never quotas but true, good faith efforts to ensure we have an applicant pool and make hiring decisions with AA in mind.

If you have any other specific questions, please feel free to ask!

John