Title
Request to Approve the Chatham County Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Plan
Abstract
Action Requested: Approve the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Plan effective immediately.
Introduction & Background: The purpose of an EEO Plan is to ensure full and equal participation of people from all backgrounds in the workforce by identifying disparities and developing plans to address them. This comprehensive document includes the following:
• An analysis of Chatham County programs and policies to prevent unlawful discrimination, either intentional or unintentional, affecting all employment practices and all other terms and conditions of employment.
• An analysis of the race and gender composition of the County's workforce and the labor market to identify areas of concentration as well as underutilization of minorities, females and others within the County's workforce including a self-assessment, barrier analysis and plans to address barriers.
• The development of a method and working group charged with implementing and evaluating the Equal Opportunity Employment Plan and provisions for continuous improvements to the plan.
• Description of the internal and external dissemination efforts and designation of responsibilities.
The creation of an EEO Plan is also required by the State of North Carolina Office of State Human Resources for a “substantially equivalent” personnel system. Chatham County Human Resources hopes to obtain this by the end of this fiscal year in both areas - Recruitment, Selection, and Advancement and Classification/Compensation. Obtaining this equivalency will allow the Chatham County’s two State department - Social Services and Public Health - to move from the State’s classification/pay grade system to the County’s overall system. This will ultimately allow the County to have more flexibility in recruitment, position analysis and modifications (i.e., job title changes, changes in job duties) and pay.
Discussion & Analysis: Courtney Jones will serve as the dedicated EEO Officer for Chatham County and head of the EEO Working Group. The Equal Employment Opportunity Plan will be updated and revised periodically to reflect changes in federal and/or state anti-discrimination laws. This plan will be monitored by the EEO Working Group, a group of diverse employees (gender, race, supervisor/non-supervisor, etc.) who will be tasked with conducting regular internal audits, barrier analyses and any other necessary tasks to address any barriers to equal opportunity. This group will meet bi-monthly and will work directly with the Human Resources and Risk Management Department and EEO Officer to ensure effective implementation of the EEO Plan.
How does this relate to the Comprehensive Plan: N/A
Budgetary Impact: None. Duties will be fulfilled by current staff.
Recommendation: Approve the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Plan effective immediately.