(a) Purpose. (1) An affirmative action program is a management tool
designed to ensure equal employment opportunity. A central premise
underlying affirmative action is that, absent discrimination, over time
a contractor's workforce, generally, will reflect the gender, racial
and ethnic profile of the labor pools from which the contractor
recruits and selects. Affirmative action programs contain a diagnostic
component which includes a number of quantitative analyses designed to
evaluate the composition of the workforce of the contractor and compare
it to the composition of the relevant labor pools. Affirmative action
programs also include action-oriented programs. If women and minorities
are not being employed at a rate to be expected given their
availability in the relevant labor pool, the contractor's affirmative
action program includes specific practical steps designed to address
this underutilization. Effective affirmative action programs also
include internal auditing and reporting systems as a means of measuring
the contractor's progress toward achieving the workforce that would be
expected in the absence of discrimination.
(2) An affirmative action program also ensures equal employment
opportunity by institutionalizing the contractor's commitment to
equality in every aspect of the employment process. Therefore, as part
of its affirmative action program, a contractor monitors and examines
its employment decisions and compensation systems to evaluate the
impact of those systems on women and minorities.
(3) An affirmative action program is, thus, more than a paperwork
exercise. An affirmative action program includes those policies,
practices, and procedures that the contractor implements to ensure that
all qualified applicants and employees are receiving an equal
opportunity for recruitment, selection, advancement, and every other
term and privilege associated with employment. Affirmative action,
ideally, is a part of the way the contractor regularly conducts its
business. OFCCP has found that when an affirmative action program is
approached from this perspective, as a powerful management tool, there
is a positive correlation between the presence of affirmative action
and the absence of discrimination.
(b) Contents of affirmative action programs. (1) An affirmative
action program must include the following quantitative analyses:
(i) Organizational profile--Sec. 60-2.11;
(ii) Job group analysis--Sec. 60-2.12;
(iii) Placement of incumbents in job groups--Sec. 60-2.13;
(iv) Determining availability--Sec. 60-2.14;
(v) Comparing incumbency to availability--Sec. 60-2.15; and
(vi) Placement goals--Sec. 60-2.16.
(2) In addition, an affirmative action program must include the
following components specified in the Sec. 60-2.17 of this part:
(i) Designation of responsibility for implementation;
(ii) Identification of problem areas;
(iii) Action-oriented programs; and
(iv) Periodic internal audits.
(c) Documentation. Contractors must maintain and make available to
OFCCP documentation of their compliance with Secs. 60-2.11 through 60-
2.17.
