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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3281 ORDiNAnCE NO. 3. H AN ORDINANCE providing for equal opportunity employment for employees of the City of Bremerton and adopting an Affirmative Action Program for the City of Bremerton, AND repealing Ordinance No. 3135. THE CITY OF BREMERTON DOES ORDAIN: SECTION 1: Ordinance No. 3135 is hereby repealed. SECTION 2: That the City of Bremerton hereby adopts and incorporates by reference the attached affirmative action program, as revised, to apply to all hiring and employment practices pertaining to City of Bremerton employees. APPROVED by the City Council on the first reading this ~ d~ay of March, 1976. PASSED by the City Council of the City of Bremerton, signed by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk in authentication of such passage this~/~.day of March, 1976. ATTEST: R0SS,--. DE,UTI. ~IY CLERK POLICY It shall be the policy of the City of Bremerton to pro- vide equal employment opportunity for all persons from all areas of the community regardless of race, sex, creed, national origin, age, mental or physical handicap. All decisions as to hiring, continuous employment and all terms and conditions of employment with the City of Bremerton shall be made according to an individual's ability to perform the duties of the position that person is being hired for or currently holds. Such passive prohibition .of discriminatory practices is not enough. Posi- tive, aggressive measures must be taken to effect changes that will provide opportunities for meaningful employment of those persons or groups who have been victims of discrimination. This Affirmative Action Plan sets up methods and procedures enabling this policy to be met. IMPLEMENTATION RESPONSIBILITY A. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION OFFICER The Mayor shall select a City-wide Affirmative Action Officer to serve a one year term, within 30 days of the plan's adoption. The Affirmative Action Officer will coordinate the Affirmative Action Plan throughout the city. The Affirma- tive Action Officer, upon his or her appointment, will develop, implement, and maintain a system which monitors the effectiveness of the plan and shall seek training from all sources. Additional duties shall be aiding management in arriving at solutions to equal employment opportunity prob- lems, investigating potential discriminatory prac- tices, preparing reports of City progress in attain- ing stated goals, informing management of new devel- opment in the equal employment opportunity area and updating the Affirmative Action Plan as neces- sary. The Affirmative Action Officer is directly responsible to the Mayor. In addition the Affirmative Action Officer shall: 1. Provide information to all agency staff regarding civil rights laws. 2. Assist individuals in filing complaints with appropriate agencies. 3. Bring possible violations of the law to the attention of the Mayor's Committee for Human Relations. 4. Utilize community action techniques to change institutional policies or practices which discriminate against minorities and women in regards to employment by the City of Bremerton. 5. Assist line management in collecting and analy- zing employment data, identify problem areas, establishing goals and time tables and devel- oping programs to achieve such goals. Programs are to include specific remedies to eliminate - 1 - discriminatory practices in the employment system. 6. Serve as liason between the City of Bremerton, government regulatory agencies, minority and various organizations and other community groups. B. DEPARTMENT EQUAL OPPORTUNITY OFFICERS In cooperation with the Affirmative Action Officer, each department head shall within forty-five days after this plan's approval select a person in the department to have the additional duties of the departmental Equal Opportunity Officer, (EO0). Each EOO shall suggest to the Civil Service Commission methods of actively recruiting minorities and women. This person shall aid new employees in adjusting to working conditions through monthly checks of the new person's progress in adapting to the de- partment. It shall additionally be the responsi- bility of the EO0 within forty-five days after appointment to list specific steps he or she plans to implement so that department performs its part in helping the City reach its overall Affirmative Action goals. These departmental plans will be reviewed at least quarterly or more frequently as required by the Affirmative Action Officer to determine relative departmental success and if necessary, recommend needed changes to the plan. PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT A. Recruitment The Civil Service Commission shall expand recruitment to include but not be limited to the following: (1) contact minority and women's organizations to in- form them of our policy of Affirmative Action; (2) expand our mailing list to include sending "Call for Applicants" bulletins to those groups for all open and competitive examinations within the City; the mailing list shall include but not be limited to: 1) NAACP 2) National Organization for Women 3) Business and Professional Womens Club (all chapters) 4) Kitsap County Central Labor Council 5) Council on Aging 6) Olympic College 7) East High School 8) West High School 9) Filipino American Community of Bremerton 10) Kitsap Inter-Tribal Parents Education Council 11) League of Women Voters (3) encourage minority and women employees of the City of Bremerton to refer their friends and spread information about this policy within the community; (4) make available to the minority and women's or- ganizations the name and office phone number of the City's Affirmative Action Officer; (5) all adver- tising for the purpose of recruiting applicants for - 2 - employment with the City of Bremerton shall include the phrase "Equal Opportunity Employer". B. Job Re~.uirements and Qualifications The Affirmative Action Officer in cooperation with the Personnel Office shall continuously revise all city job classifications to reflect the minimum qual- ifications of a job, and outside recruitment shall be geared to reach all groups. Such revision shall be completed on or before December 31, 1976. C. Examinations and Tests Development of valid tests shall be done on an as-used basis until all city tests can be validated. Validation will be done by studying the contents of each test. Emphasis will also be placed on devel- oping sample tests for entry-level positions and setting a time and place for applicants to famil- iarize themselves with these samples. In the ad- ministration or development of employment tests or testing procedures, the City shall adhere to the Federal guidelines on testing. D. Education and Training The Civil Service Commission shall schedule con- ferences, seminars, and inservice training sessions for supervisors and managers for the purposes of familiarizing these persons with their responsi- bilities and the purposes of this Affirmative Action Program. In addition, training shall be provided for employees, which training will be designed to increase their sensitivity and awareness of the causes and effects of all forms of race and sex discrimination. An aggressive effort shall be made to provide maximum job knowledge and skills training for minorities and women employees and the other groups covered by this plan. Training shall be designed within each department by the department Equal Opportunity Officer to develop the knowledge and skills needed to compensate for past educational discrimination, to perform satisfactorily, to ad- vance on the job, and to fill anticipated positions. The Affirmative Action Officer shall monitor all such programs and their funds, and shall report progress to the Mayor quarterly. The Equal Employment Opportunity training program shall: 1. Within sixty (60) days after the approval of the Affirmative Action Plan, the Bremerton Affirmative Action Officer shall: a. Arrange a training session for the Equal Opportunity Officers on Equal Opportunity laws and regulations and the role and re- sponsibility of the EOO's with reference to; 1. Evaluation implementation of the plan 2. Responsibility of the EOO's in enforcement of civil rights and Equal Employment Opportunities. - 3 - b. The training will also cover the complaint procedure established by the Affirmative Action Plan. c. This training will be delivered within sixty (60) days after approval of the plan and will be repeated if there is significant change in Equal Opportunity Officers or in the laws or regulations. New members will be provided copies of the material as a portion of their orientation program. 2. Within ninty (90) days after approval of the Affirmative Action Plan, the Affirmative Action Officer, shall conduct and or arrange for a staff training session for all staff. This session shall be considered a general orientation for agency staff and will cover but not necessarily be limited to: a. Agency Affirmative Action Plan b. General Staff responsibilities c. Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity laws and regulations. 3. In addition to the above orientation/training session, the Affirmative Action Officer shall arrange and conduct, a special staff training session for supervisory and management personnel. This session shall cover but not be limited to: a. Specific staff responsibilities in imple- menting the Affirmative Action Plan. b. Supervisory and management personnel re- sponsibility for assuring equal employment opportunities. E. .Supervisor Evaluation A comprehensive performance review program for de- partment heads shall be developed by the Civil Ser- vice Commission. Each department head shall be rated at least annually by the Mayor and included in the evaluation shall be the progress toward the depart- mental Affirmative Action goals. The plan will con- tinue annually thereafter. F. Exit Interviews The City Affirmative Action Officer shall hold exit interviews with all terminating employees with em- phasis on discovering and eliminating discriminatory practices. Upon discovery of a discriminatory prac- tice the Affirmative Action Officer will investigate and make recommendations as to the nature of the problem and suggest measures to correct the problem. REPORTS AND RECORDS Each department will file quarterly, reports with the Affirmative Action Officer on: (1) any personnel actions involving minorities or women, listing the type of action taken and a detailed explanation if - 4 - the action was disciplinary in nature; (2) the number of people in the department by race, and sex for each federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission job category on the City "Affirmative Action Quarterly Status Report"; (3) a description of all programs and other measures undertaken to achieve the goals of the program. Special reports may be requested at any time from specific departments to check solu- tions to problems peculiar to the specific department. The Affirmative Action Officer will use this data along with records kept on the disposition of all minorities and women in the City's testing process to prepare quarterly progress reports for the City Council and the Mayor's Committee on Human Relations on the progress being made in achieving the Affirmative Action goals. The City Affirmative Action Officer shall also under- take a review of the plan's success over a full year. on the anniversary date of the plan's adoption. Rec- ommended changes to the plan shall be made to the City Council within thirty (30) days after the anniversary date each year in order to keep the plan current in its adherence to all local, state and federal regu- lations; in its definition of problem situations throughout the City; and in its implementation of new avenues of interest and future goals to dispell all areas of discrimination within the City government's jurisdiction. POLICY DISSEMINATION This Affirmative Action Plan will be sent to all departments for posting and the policy statement will be posted in authorized areas in all divisions of every department in the City. All first line super- visors will be responsible for bringing the Affirma- tive Action Policy Statement and Plan to his or her subordinates attention. The City's Affirmative Action Officer shall have the responsibility of seeing that the plan is made available upon its final approval to the local news media and local organizations rep- resenting minorities and women. In all advertisements for personnel the City shall be listed as an equal opportunity employer. - 5 - AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COMPLAINT PROCEDURE The following outlines the Affirmative Action complaint pro- cedure of Bremerton and applies to all City employees. As a portion of the normal employee orientation, all new employees shall be introduced to the Affirmative Action Officer (AAO) and advised that the AAO shall be available for counseling and discussion of any complaint or grievance against any em- ployee or policy of the City of Bremerton or any other prob- lem which is influencing, or could influence job performance. In addition, all employees will be advised that they may meet with the Affirmative Action Officer without notification to their supervisor and that disposition of the complaint will be handled in the following manner and time-frame. A. Complaint Proceudre 1. Submission of Equal Opportunity. Problems Any person who believes he or she had encountered discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or age should first discuss the problem with the Affirmative Action Officer or imme- diate supervisor. Problems may be submitted by any person, group or representative with the approval of the aggrieved person. 2. A complaint need not be entered on any particular form; however, the complaint must be in writing and signed by the complainant or his or her authorized representative and must include the following infor- mation: a. Name and address of complainant. b. Name and address of respondent. c. The facts upon which th~ complaint was based, including the reasons the complainant believes he or she has encountered discrimination because of his or her race, color, religion, sex, national origin or age. d. Date or dates on which the alleged discriminatory action occurred and the date of the submission of the formal complaint. 3. Action by the Affirmative Action Officer a. The Affirmative Action Officer has the initial responsibility for resolving problems of dis- crimination within the agency. The aggrieved person shall be free from restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination, or reprisal in connection with his or her problem or grievance. The Affirmative Action Officer shall not reveal the identity of an aggrieved person who has come for consultation, except when authorized to do so by the aggrieved person., b. The Affirmative Action Officer shall make every effort to resolve the problem informally. To this end, the Affirmative Action Officer shall, if re- quested by the employee, assist in discussion with his or her supervisor or any other party to the problem and may take other steps which may assist in the resolution of the problem. - 6 - c. The aggrieved person has the right to be accom- panied, represented and advised by a representative or attorney, of his or her own choice. d. The Affirmative Action Officer shall be given access within the agency to information necessary to provide the aggrieved person with a basis for determining whether he or she has grounds for filing a formal civil rights complaint. The complaint may not be withdrawn without the knowledge of the Affirmative Action Officer. The Affirmative Action Officer shall be free from restraint, interference, coer- cion, discrimination or reprisal in connection with the performance of his or her duties under this policy. 4. Opportunity for Conciliation Panel a. If the problem is not resolved by the Affirmative Action Officer to the aggrieved person's satis- facti0n within fifteen (15) working days from the time the complaint is entered, the aggrieved person may request a conciliation panel. The responsibility for arranging for the conciliation panel rests with the Mayor's Human Relations Committee or its representative. The panel shall be approved by the aggrieved person and by the respondent. b. The panel will consider all relevant evidence presented by the aggrieved person, and the re- spondent, and will conduct such sessions as may be necessary to hear the testimony of all rele- vant witnesses. The hearing must begin within five (5) days after the panel has been selected. The panel will have twenty (20) working days after the completion of testimony to make its findings and recommendations unless a longer time is agreed upon by both parties and the panel. c. If the conciliation panel agrees upon a solution satisfactory to both parties, the terms of the settlement shall be incorporated into a conciliation agreement as the basis for settling the problems. Copies of this shall be sent to the aggrieved person, the respondent, and the Affirmative Action Officer, and shall be signed by each. 5. Reports on Complaiq~ ~.fforts When the Affirmative Action Officer has completed his or her work to resolve the problem, he or she shall pre- pare a findings of fact and conciliation agreement to be signed by both parties and a copy to remain in his or her files. The report of the conciliation panel, if one is convened, shall also become part of the file maintained by the Affirmative Action Officer. These files shall be provided by the Affirmative Action Officer to the investigator if the p~oblem is filed as a formal complaint with any other agency, to the Mayor's Committee on Human Relations upon request, or to the City Attorney's Office upon request. - 7 - HIRING, PROMOTIONAL AND REDUCTION IN FORCE POLICY It is the policy of the City of Bremerton that all hiring, employment, up-grading, demotion or transfer, layoff or termination, reduction in force or selection for training shall be done on an equal opportunity basis, and the City of Bremerton will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of Sex, race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry. - 8 -