Complete AAP News - April '95
New Products
New Windows versions of The Complete AAP & The Employment Tracker
Yocom & McKee, P.C. will be announcing the release of a true Windows compatible version of The Complete AAP the third quarter of 1995, with a Windows version of The Employment Tracker to follow.
These new versions are not updated DOS software, but are written exclusively for Windows. The new versions will have many new features including: greater report writing capabilities -- including graphs; the ability to import from many different word processing programs, spreadsheets, databases, and ASCII text files; an easy to use Windows interface; and new reports, tests and flexibility.
Top Affirmative Action Violations in 1994
Listed in order of most commonly found problems during an audit:
- No review of prior years goals attainment;
- Lack of recordkeeping and AAP support data (ie. No applicant flow, promotion, or termination data maintained and no Adverse Impact Analysis performed);
- No written EEO Policy;
- Missing or inadequate Utilization Analysis;
- Missing or inadequate Workforce Analysis;
- Missing or inadequate establishment of goals;
- Failure to adequately recruit minorities and females;
- Failure to develop a written AAP
National Debate on Affirmative Action
Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan), recently suggested on NBC's Meet the Press that affirmative action policies might have outlived their usefulness and that Congress should perhaps re-examine them. These comments and Dole's earlier request to the Congressional Research Service for a list of all laws and policies that grant preference to individuals on the basis of race, national origin, ethnic background, or sex have once again raised the issue of how far affirmative action should go.
A recent Los Angeles Times poll found that 73% of the adults polled, including 58% of blacks favored a national law making it "unlawful for any employer to grant preferential treatment in hiring" based on race or other factors. However, the numbers are quite different when the questions are asked slightly differently. The same poll questioned whether current affirmative action programs go too far, are adequate, or do not go far enough; 39% said affirmative action goes too far, 32% said it is adequate, and 23% said it did not go far enough -- including 58% of blacks surveyed. Only 8% of blacks felt affirmative action programs go too far, in contrast to 46% of whites.
Will lawmakers say there is not enough discrimination left in America to justify continuing affirmative action? This is not the first or probably last time affirmative action will be debated. In the past, lawmakers were reluctant to make changes since affirmative action affected more than half their constituents, including all women, racial and ethnic minorities.
Watch for some changes however, especially in state and local affirmative action regulations that go beyond the federal law. This is probably where the most abuse and reform need to take place.
Changes to Vet Regulations
The OFCCP revised the affirmative action regulations for disabled veterans and veterans of the Vietnam era. The prior coverage cutoff date of December 31, 1994, for Vietnam veterans was eliminated. There had been a sunset provision in the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act that stated no person could be considered for protection after December 31, 1994.
A second major change eliminates the $25,000 per year ceiling for job openings that must be listed with the state employment service. All job openings must now be listed with the state employment service, unless the position is an executive or top management job, or is a position that will be filled internally or pursuant to a union hiring agreement, or is a position that lasts no more than three days.
These changes were effective January 5, 1995, and are codified as 41 CFR Part 60-250.
Recent OFCCP Actions
A Georgia spark plug wire manufacturer agrees to pay more than $1.2 million to 201 qualified minority applicants and 30 qualified disabled applicants who were denied employment allegedly because of their race and disabilities. The company used a testing firm to administer certain pre-employment tests that may have been discriminatory. The company will pay $270,547 in back wages, $977,974 in anticipated annual earnings and benefits, and spend $30,000 to train managers in diversity. Job offers will be made to 20 of the minority applicants, and the 30 disabled applicants will be offered positions.
A Maryland tire manufacturer will pay $450,159 in back pay and interest, less interim earnings, to 12 women and minorities who were denied certain job opportunities at one of its plants. The individuals will also receive job offers. The problems were uncovered during an OFCCP audit when it was discovered that minorities and women were under-represented during a period of intense hiring.
An appliance manufacturer that allegedly denied jobs to 10 female applicants because of their sex, agrees to pay $142,829 in back pay and interest, less interim earnings, and offer jobs under the terms of a conciliation agreement. During an OFCCP audit, the compliance officer found the 10 women to be better qualified than the men who were hired.
Two subsidiaries of a New York environmental firm are debarred from federal contracts for six months and a third subsidiary is partially debarred for failing to meet the terms of a 1991 conciliation agreement. The companies must list all opportunities with the state employment service, contact female recruitment sources, and submit reports to the OFCCP. An EEO Coordinator will also be hired to assist in complying with affirmative action obligations.
Questions & Answers
1. What is Re-indexing and how often should it be done?
Both The Complete AAP and Employment Tracker have a Reindexing choice on the Utilities Menu. Data in the programs is sorted for you when it is displayed on screen. For instance, employee names are listed alphabetically, not in the order you entered them. Indexes keep the data sorted correctly. If you are not seeing a person displayed that you are certain was entered, an index may have become corrupted. Reindexing sorts the data and creates new indexes. Indexes may become corrupted by turning the computer off while the program is running, power surges, or otherwise abnormally terminating the program.
2. When I enter The Complete AAP or Employment Tracker, a message appears saying "Maximum # of Users on System". I cannot access the program and no one else is using it.
This situation may be caused by someone turning the computer off while the program is running, power surges, or otherwise abnormally terminating the program. To correct the problem, when entering The Complete AAPTM, a box with the Title and version number will appear. Pressing the F10 key will reset the number of users. On the Employment TrackerTM, when the Title and version number box appears hold down the Shift key and press the F10 key.
3. When printing a Current Employee report in the Employment TrackerTM, all the current employees do not appear. What could be the problem?
Begin by trying to identify several people who you believe should be in the report, but are not appearing. Then pull up one of those individuals through the Work with Apps/Emps menu item. Review the activities listed for the individual. To appear on a Current Employee report, the person must have a hire activity dated before the date you are running the Current Employee Report. There must not be a termination, layoff or transfer out after the hire date and before the date you are running the Current Employee Report.
Most problems occur when incomplete data is imported to the Employment TrackerTM, or when incomplete data was converted in upgrading to version 5.0 of the Employment TrackerTM. Earlier versions allowed the entry of an individual without a hire activity. When examining the activity dates, be sure they are listed in MM/DD/YY format. Running the "Check for Data Errors" or "Audit/Upgrade System Files" on version 5.1 or later, will identify many erroneous data problems and should be done anytime data has been imported.
User Groups?
If you are interested in starting or participating in a User Group in your area, please call Yocom & McKee, P.C. at (303) 277-0692. Advantages of User Groups include having others close by to discuss your affirmative action plan, audits and how the software can best be utilized. We will help users contact other interested users.
The Complete AAP News is published by Yocom & McKee, Inc. to inform users of The Complete AAP and Employment Tracker software of changes in affirmative action laws and regulations, review current activities at the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), and share tips and new information about the software.
