The statutory and regulatory information contained on this page does not constitute legal advice and is for general informational purposes only. The OCR makes no guarantee that the statutory authority or regulatory code citied within is the most current version of said law/regulation. For more recent versions of the U.S. Code and the CFR, users should consult the official revised U.S.C. or the eCFR.
An EEOP is a workforce report that some organizations must complete as a condition for receiving Justice Department funding authorized by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The EEOP's purpose is to ensure that recipients of financial assistance from the Justice Department are providing equal employment opportunities to men and women regardless of sex, race or national origin. Federal regulations establishing the EEOP requirement also link a diverse workforce to effective law enforcement:
The experience of the [Justice Department] in implementing its responsibilities under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended, . . . has demonstrated that the full and equal participation of women and minority individuals in employment opportunities in the criminal justice system is a necessary component to the Safe Streets Act's program to reduce crime and delinquency in the United States. 28 C.F.R. § 42.301.
Justice Department regulations pertaining to the development of a comprehensive EEOP can be found at 28 C.F.R. § 42.301-.308.
OCR has developed the EEOP Utilization Report to help recipients comply with the EEOP regulations. Instead of requiring recipients to report all of the employment data that federal regulations require them to keep (see 28 C.F.R. § 42.301-.308), OCR uses the Report to prompt recipients to collect and analyze key employment data, organized by race, national origin and sex. OCR also uses the Report as an initial screening tool. If OCR's review of an agency's Report indicates that a more thorough examination of employment practices may be appropriate, it may request that the recipient provide additional employment data.
The requirement to develop, maintain and submit an Equal Employment Opportunity Plan derives from federal regulations of the Safe Streets Act. Recipients who have received funding under this Act must comply with EEOP requirements, as do funding recipients under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. The Office for Victims of Crime has made compliance with the EEOP requirements a condition for the Victims of Crime Act awards. Other recipients of federal assistance are not bound by EEOP regulations.
A recipient is subject to the Safe Streets Act if it receives funding under any of the grant programs listed in the U.S. Department of Justice Grant Programs Covered by the Nondiscrimination Provision of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. This list of grant programs may not be complete. If you are still unsure of whether your agency is receiving funds under a program subject to the Safe Streets Act, contact your Justice Department program manager.
VOCA, similar to the Safe Streets Act, prohibits recipients from discriminating either in employment or in the delivery of services or benefits on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex or disability. Although programs funded under VOCA are not subject to the Safe Streets Act, OVC, which administers VOCA-funded programs, requires all of its funding recipients to comply with Safe Streets regulations that apply to the EEOP.
Recipients subject to the Safe Streets Act (as well as recipients of VOCA funds) are exempt from the EEOP requirement, if the recipient:
- is a nonprofit organization, a medical or educational institution or an Indian Tribe; OR
- has less than 50 employees; OR
- received a single award for less than $25,000.
To claim the exemption from developing an EEOP, the recipient must complete Section A of the Certification Form and send it to OCR.
Recipients subject to the authority of the Safe Streets Act (as well as recipients of VOCA funds) must develop an EEOP if they meet ALL of the following criteria:
- The recipient is a state or local government agency or a business; AND
- The recipient has 50 or more employees; AND
- The recipient has received a single award of $25,000 or more.
Yes. Recipients that are required to complete an EEOP Utilization Report are also required to keep race, national origin and sex data relating to the following employment actions:
- Recruitment
- Applicant screening
- Hiring
- Promotion
- Termination
- Transfer
- Discipline
For a complete listing of the data that recipients are required to keep, see 28 C.F.R. § 42.301-.308, or download a copy of the EEOP regulations.
If your organization is required to develop an EEOP Utilization Report and has received a single award for $500,000 or more, whether directly from the Justice Department or indirectly from a state or local agency, you must send the EEOP Utilization Report to OCR for review. The mailing address is as follows:
Attn: EEOP Utilization Report Submission
Office for Civil Rights
Office of Justice Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
810 Seventh Street, NW
Washington, DC 20531
Yes. Organizations required to develop an EEOP can claim an exemption from the submission requirement, if they have not received a single award of $500,000 or more. To claim the exemption, a recipient must complete Section B of the Certification Form and send it to OCR.
No. Although recipients of all Justice Department funds have to comply with applicable federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment and in the delivery of services or benefits, recipients and subrecipients of Justice Department funding in American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands or the Northern Mariana Islands, even if they are subject to the nondiscrimination provisions in the Safe Streets Act or VOCA, are exempt from the requirement to develop an EEOP Utilization Report because the appropriate labor market statistics are unavailable. Nonetheless, recipients should be mindful of the regulatory requirement to keep employment data related to hiring, promoting, transferring and disciplining workers (see 28 C.F.R. § 42.301-.308).
In some instances, OCR may request employment data in lieu of the EEOP Utilization Report (e.g., applicant flow data cross-classified by race, national origin and sex for all entry-level positions).
Yes. Guam labor market statistics, collected by the Guam Bureau of Statistics and Plans, allows recipients and subrecipients of Justice Department funds subject to the Safe Streets Act and VOCA to develop an EEOP Utilization Report. However, Guam recipients and subrecipients cannot use the online system for developing the Report because the Guam Bureau of Statistics and Plans uses racial and national origin categories that are more extensive than the ones used in the Report.
Guam recipients and subrecipients seeking assistance in developing an EEOP Utilization Report should contact:
Ms. Lola E. Leon Guerrero, Planner
Bureau of Statistics and Plans
P.O. Box 2950
Hagatna, Guam 96932
lolalg@bsp.guam.gov
671-472-4201/2/3
Although the U.S. Census Bureau has collected extensive data on Puerto Rico, the relevant labor market files for preparing an EEOP Utilization Report are not readily available. Therefore, the online system for creating the Report cannot access this information. In the past, recipients in Puerto Rico have used, and OCR has accepted, alternative labor market data collected by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or local jurisdictions. In preparing the Report, recipients in Puerto Rico should focus primarily on sex: reporting the number and percentage of women in the recipient's workforce in each of the eight major job categories and then comparing this percentage to the percentage of qualified women in each of the same job categories in the relevant labor market. If there is significant underutilization, the recipient should analyze the result and propose, if warranted, objectives to correct the problem and steps it plans to take to achieve the objectives. Recipients should find the Sample EEOP Report helpful in creating a similar offline report. Recipients should also include an internal and external plan for disseminating the modified EEOP report.
Even if recipients in Puerto Rico are unable to prepare the Report because of the absence of relevant labor market statistics, they should be mindful of the regulatory requirement to keep employment data related to hiring, promoting, transferring and disciplining workers (see 28 C.F.R. § 42.301-.308).
In some instances, OCR may request employment data in lieu of the Report (e.g., applicant flow data cross-classified by race, national origin and sex for all entry-level positions).
Yes. For recipients subject to the administrative provisions of the Safe Streets Act (as well as VOCA), the following chart shows at a glance the recipient's responsibilities:
| What is the recipient type? | What is the award amount? | What is the number of employees? | Does the recipient need to develop an EEOP? | Does the recipient need to submit a Certification Form to OCR? | Must the recipient submit an EEOP to OCR? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonprofit, Indian Tribe, Medical or Education Institution | Does not matter | Does not matter | NO | YES (Section A) | NO |
| State or local government and private entity | Less than $25,000 | Does not matter | NO | YES (Section A) | NO |
| State or local government and private entity | Does not matter | Less than 50 employees | NO | YES (Section A) | NO |
| State or local government and private entity | $25,000 or more, but less than $500,000, for an individual grant | 50 or more employees | YES | YES (Section B), certifying that the recipient has created an EEOP and is maintaining it on file in a designated office for review by employees, applicants, OCR or a state administrative agency | NO |
| State or local government and private entity | $500,000 or more for an individual grant | 50 or more employees | YES | NO | YES |
- For each award, you will need to know the grant number, amount of the award, date of the award, duration of the grant, and the program under which the award was made.
- If your organization is receiving an award directly from the Justice Department, namely the Office on Community Oriented Policing Services, the Office on Violence Against Women, or the Office of Justice Programs, including its program offices, you will need the name and contact information for the grant manager at the federal level.
- If your organization is receiving an award from a state or local government, you will need the name and contact information of the grant manager from the state or local agency that made the grant.
- Name and contact information for each grant manager in your organization who administers a program funded by monies made available through the COPS Office, OVW or OJP.
- A copy of the equal employment opportunity policy statement for your organization.
- To identify the relevant labor market for your organization (e.g., the name of a metropolitan statistical area, a particular city or town, a county, or some other designated area).
- A list of all the positions in your organization, with each one identified as belonging to one of eight major job categories for public entities.
- A workforce survey that contains the employee's position and each employee's race, national origin and sex. This survey, along with the list of positions in your organization categorized by the eight major job categories for public entities (see the previous item), will allow you to produce a chart that shows the number of employees in your organization, cross-classified by race, national origin and sex, in each of the eight major job categories.
- If you are preparing an EEOP for a law enforcement agency, you will need to know the minimum age and educational level for entry-level sworn officers and the race, national origin, sex and rank for each sworn employee.
- Your organization's policy (or have the authority to draft the policy) for improving any significant underutilization in the workforce in any of the eight major job categories based on race, national origin, and sex.For each award, you will need to know the grant number, amount of the award, date of the award, duration of the grant, and the program under which the award was made.
If your organization is receiving an award directly from the Justice Department, namely the Office on Community Oriented Policing Services, the Office on Violence Against Women, or the Office of Justice Programs, including its program offices, you will need the name and contact information for the grant manager at the federal level.
If your organization is receiving an award from a state or local government, you will need the name and contact information of the grant manager from the state or local agency that made the grant.
Name and contact information for each grant manager in your organization who administers a program funded by monies made available through the COPS Office, OVW or OJP.
A copy of the equal employment opportunity policy statement for your organization.
To identify the relevant labor market for your organization (e.g., the name of a metropolitan statistical area, a particular city or town, a county, or some other designated area).
A list of all the positions in your organization, with each one identified as belonging to one of eight major job categories for public entities.
A workforce survey that contains the employee's position and each employee's race, national origin and sex. This survey, along with the list of positions in your organization categorized by the eight major job categories for public entities (see the previous item), will allow you to produce a chart that shows the number of employees in your organization, cross-classified by race, national origin and sex, in each of the eight major job categories.
If you are preparing an EEOP for a law enforcement agency, you will need to know the minimum age and educational level for entry-level sworn officers and the race, national origin, sex and rank for each sworn employee.
Your organization's policy (or have the authority to draft the policy) for improving any significant underutilization in the workforce in any of the eight major job categories based on race, national origin, and sex.For each award, you will need to know the grant number, amount of the award, date of the award, duration of the grant, and the program under which the award was made.
If your organization is receiving an award directly from the Justice Department, namely the Office on Community Oriented Policing Services, the Office on Violence Against Women, or the Office of Justice Programs, including its program offices, you will need the name and contact information for the grant manager at the federal level.
If your organization is receiving an award from a state or local government, you will need the name and contact information of the grant manager from the state or local agency that made the grant.
Name and contact information for each grant manager in your organization who administers a program funded by monies made available through the COPS Office, OVW or OJP.
A copy of the equal employment opportunity policy statement for your organization.
To identify the relevant labor market for your organization (e.g., the name of a metropolitan statistical area, a particular city or town, a county, or some other designated area).
A list of all the positions in your organization, with each one identified as belonging to one of eight major job categories for public entities.
A workforce survey that contains the employee's position and each employee's race, national origin and sex. This survey, along with the list of positions in your organization categorized by the eight major job categories for public entities (see the previous item), will allow you to produce a chart that shows the number of employees in your organization, cross-classified by race, national origin and sex, in each of the eight major job categories.
If you are preparing an EEOP for a law enforcement agency, you will need to know the minimum age and educational level for entry-level sworn officers and the race, national origin, sex and rank for each sworn employee.
Your organization's policy (or have the authority to draft the policy) for improving any significant underutilization in the workforce in any of the eight major job categories based on race, national origin, and sex.
Yes. There is a Sample EEOP Report for a law enforcement agency and for a non-law enforcement agency.
For EEOP purposes, in calculating the total number of employees in its workforce, a recipient should include part-time and full-time workers but exclude seasonal employees, political appointees and elected officials.
For the purpose of developing an EEOP Utilization Report, a recipient should use the following seven race and national origin categories in describing its workforce:
- Hispanic or Latino
- Asian
- Black or African American
- White
- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- Two or More Races
In the EEOP Utilization Report's Workforce Analysis Chart, the recipient would enter separately in each of the eight major job categories the number of male employees and the number of female employees of a particular race or national origin in that job category. For example, a recipient might report that the Protective Services Non-Sworn job category has the following number of employees: 12 Hispanic or Latino males, 18 Black or African American males, 16 Black or African American females, 14 White females and 19 Asian females.
The U.S. Census Bureau uses the following eight major job categories in collecting employment statistics for state or local government agencies:
- Officials and Managers
- Professionals
- Technicians
- Protective Services: Sworn
- Protective Services: Non-sworn
- Administrative Support
- Skilled Craft
- Service Maintenance
State and local government agencies should use these same categories in developing an EEOP Report.
No. In developing an EEOP Report, business recipients and subrecipients, which the EEOP regulations refer to as "private entities," should use the following nine EEO-1 job categories:
- Officials and Managers
- Professionals
- Technicians
- Sales Workers
- Administrative Support Workers
- Craft Workers
- Operatives
- Laborers and Helpers
- Service Workers
- The EEOP regulations refer to businesses as "private entities." Because there are relatively few private entities that are required to develop an EEOP Utilization Report, the online system is geared primarily for state and local government agencies. Businesses and other private entities can use the Sample EEOP Utilization Report as model for creating a similar report with the following modifications: A business recipient should provide the information that the Sample EEOP Utilization Report required (e.g., name of the recipient, recipient contact information, award data, amount for each award, contact information for the program manager at the grantmaking agency, and so forth).
- In the second step, the business recipient must create an off-line Workforce Analysis Chart, which should have nine rows corresponding to the nine EEO-1 job categories and fourteen columns for the following classifications:
- Hispanic or Latino males
- Black or African American males
- White males
- Asian males
- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander males
- American Indian or Alaska Native males
- Males of Two or More Races
- Hispanic or Latino females
- Black or African American females
- White females
- Asian females
- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander females
- American Indian or Alaska Native females
- Females of Two or More Races
- For each of the nine job categories, the business recipient should enter in the chart the number of employees in each of the 14 classifications. The business recipient should then convert the number of employees in each classification in each of the nine job categories to percentages, so that each job category (and not the entire workforce) would total 100 percent.
- To compare its workforce to the relevant labor market statistics, the appropriate data is on the U.S. Census Bureau website. To access the relevant statistics, one should first select under the Occupational Tables, Employment by EEO-1 Job Categories and then retain the selection for Residence under the Select Geography section at the bottom of the page. On the next screen, select the appropriate geographic area corresponding to the recipient's labor market. On the next screen, while holding the control key down, select all of the nine EEO-1 job categories. Finally, retain the selected option, Show Detailed Race/Ethnicity Categories. The subsequently generated table includes the numbers and percentages of eligible people in the relevant labor market in each of the nine EEO-1 job categories cross-classified by race, national origin and sex.
- Using the percentages in the generated table, create a Utilization Analysis Chart by comparing the percentages of employees in each job category, cross-classified by race, national origin and sex, to the corresponding percentages of workers in the relevant labor market. The utilization analysis relies on subtraction: the percentage of employees in the business's workforce in a particular job category, cross-classified by race, national origin and sex, minus the percentage of workers in the same job category in the relevant labor market, also cross-classified by race, national origin and sex. For example, if the business's Workforce Analysis Chart shows 20 percent Asian males in the Sales Workers job category, and if the community labor statistics table shows that in the relevant labor market, 40 percent of sales workers are Asian males, then the business is underusing Asian males in the sales workers job category by -20 percent. Negative numbers indicate underutilization.
- Based on the Utilization Analysis Chart, the recipient business would write a narrative that first describes the results and then identifies any significant underutilization.
- Next, the business recipient would return to the online EEOP Utilization Report system and complete the remaining steps: identifying objectives, proposing steps to achieve the objectives, and making a plan for disseminating the EEOP Report inside and outside the business.
- To complete the EEOP Report, a responsible official, defined as an administrator with the authority to implement the plan, must sign and date it. If the business is not required to send the EEOP Report to OCR for review, it should send the completed Section B of the Certification Form to OCR to request an exemption from the submission requirement. If the business is required to submit the EEOP Report to, it should use the following address:
Attn: EEOP Utilization Report Submission
Office for Civil Rights
Office of Justice Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
810 Seventh Street, NW
Washington, DC 20531
All workforce data related to race, national origin and sex relies on voluntary employee reporting. Employers may conduct voluntary surveys of employees to gather the relevant information. If employees decline to identify themselves by race, national origin or sex, employers should not independently assign them to one of these categories.
As a preliminary step in preparing a workforce chart for the EEOP Report, recipients should report the total number of employees and the number of employees of unknown race, national origin or sex. The Workforce Analysis Chart in the EEOP Report should include only those employees who have identified themselves by race, national origin and sex.
If the total number of minorities (i.e., non-Whites) in a recipient's service population is less than 3 percent, the recipient should provide only information on men and women in its EEOP Report. The recipient would still report on the number of men and women in its workforce, perform a utilization analysis based on sex, and develop objectives and steps to address any significant underutilization.
As part of the first step in completing an EEOP Report, a recipient must post a nondiscrimination policy statement that applies to its employment practices. The nondiscrimination policy statement is usually a relatively brief text, often officially adopted by a senior administrator or governing body, that sets forth the recipient organization's philosophy on providing equal employment opportunities to both applicants and employees, regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, and perhaps other state and local protected classes. Some recipients use the nondiscrimination policy statement in notifying employees, prospective employees, and members of the public that the recipient organization is complying with federal civil rights laws.
As part of the first step in completing an EEOP Report, a recipient must post a nondiscrimination policy statement that applies to its employment practices. The nondiscrimination policy statement is usually a relatively brief text, often officially adopted by a senior administrator or governing body, that sets forth the recipient organization's philosophy on providing equal employment opportunities to both applicants and employees, regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, and perhaps other state and local protected classes. Some recipients use the nondiscrimination policy statement in notifying employees, prospective employees, and members of the public that the recipient organization is complying with federal civil rights laws.
For a law enforcement agency that is required to report the number of sworn officers in its workforce, the EEOP Report's Sworn Officers Chart and Utilization Analysis Chart use the title "patrol officers." This title signifies the most common rank for a commissioned officer in a law enforcement agency. Users cannot substitute an alternative title. In creating the Sworn Officers Chart, the first row in the chart, "patrol officers," remains fixed.
A sworn officer in a law enforcement agency is one who has taken a solemn oath to perform duties on behalf of the public in a manner that merits the public's trust. He or she holds a commissioned position and is trained and empowered to perform a full range of law enforcement duties, including, but not limited to, preventing and suppressing crime, and investigating, apprehending and detaining individuals suspected or convicted of offenses that violate the public interest.
- Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
- Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
- Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
- National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
- Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
- Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
- Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
For law enforcement agencies preparing the EEOP Report, the online system automatically accesses both types of Statistics from the relevant labor market selected by the law enforcement agency.
Community Labor Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau show the percentage of eligible workers in each of the major job categories for state and local government agencies in a selected labor market, cross-classified by race, national origin and sex. Law enforcement agencies that have already calculated the percentages of employees in their workforces in each of the major job categories, also cross-classified by race, national origin and sex (i.e., the Workforce Analysis Chart in the EEOP Utilization Report), can then compare their workforce's demographics to those of eligible workers in the relevant labor markets. The comparison allows recipients to identify underutilization of employees in any of the eight job categories.
For the EEOP Report, law enforcement agencies break down the number of employees in the Protective Services: Sworn job category into (1) Protective Services: Sworn-Officials and (2) Protective Services: Sworn-Patrol Officers. "Sworn-Patrol Officers" represents the most common rank for commissioned officers; Sworn Officials" represents all sworn employees above the rank of patrol officer.
To compare the demographics of Protective Services: Sworn-Officials in a law enforcement agency's workforce to the relevant labor market, the EEOP Report uses Community Labor Statistics for the relevant labor market. The Community Labor Statistics include demographic information on workers in the relevant labor market who already hold positions in the Protective Services: Sworn job category.
To compare the demographics of the Protective Services: Sworn-Patrol Officers in a law enforcement agency's workforce to the relevant labor market, the EEOP Report uses civilian labor force statistics. These statistics for a selected geographic area provide information on the percentages of people in the relevant labor market, cross-classified by race, national origin and sex, who are eligible to become patrol officers based on required minimum age and educational level. Comparing the demographics of patrol officers to the civilian labor force shows, to some extent, how well patrol officers represent the pool of possible recruits.
Yes. In preparing a Workforce Analysis Chart, one of the most common errors of recipients is to calculate the percentage of workers, cross-classified by race, national origin and sex, in each job category compared to the total number of employees in the recipients' workforces. The correct calculation requires a comparison to the total number of workers in the same job category. The total number of workers in each of the major job categories represents 100 percent. The community labor statistics make a similar comparison in reporting the percentage of eligible workers, cross-classified by race, national origin and sex, in each job category in the relevant labor market. For example, if a recipient has 50 employees entered in the professional job category, representing 10 Hispanic males, 2 Asian males, 25 Black or African American females, and 13 American Indian or Alaska Native females, the online EEOP Report automatically converts these numbers to 20 percent Hispanic males, 4 percent Asian males, 50 percent Black or African American females, and 26 percent American Indian or Alaska Native females.
No. A recipient may use its AAP as a resource in preparing the EEOP Report. However, OCR will not accept a previously prepared AAP as a substitute.
Recipients should submit EEOP Utilization Reports and Certification Forms to OCR within 60 days of the grant award date. Each recipient receives an award packet, which includes its civil rights obligations and the time frame for submitting required information.
Yes. The direct recipient (named grantee) of Justice Department funds must comply with all civil rights regulations, including the EEOP requirement, even if the funding is being passed through to other agencies. All agencies who receive subawards must also satisfy EEOP requirements.
Grantmaking agencies that make subawards subject to administrative provisions of the Safe Streets Act must ensure that subrecipients comply with EEOP regulations. State-administering agencies and grantmaking agencies in local government should have established procedures for monitoring subrecipients' compliance (e.g., requiring grant applicants to sign assurances that expressly state that the applicant will comply with the EEOP regulations or monitoring whether subrecipients have developed an EEOP or filed the appropriate Certification Forms with OCR). A subrecipient's failure to comply with EEOP regulations may result in OCR finding that the grantmaking agency does not comply with the same regulations.
Reporting requirements may differ depending on the funding source. If a local government agency receives an award subject to the Safe Streets Act from OVW or OJP and its components (and the agency meets other regulatory thresholds), then the recipient agency must prepare an EEOP Utilization Report that analyzes the workforce of the agency named as grantee on the official award document. For example, if BJA, an OJP component, makes a formula grant to a county, then the county should include an analysis of the entire county's workforce.
If a local law enforcement agency receives a direct award from COPS, it would analyze only its own workforce in developing an EEOP Report. For example, if a sheriff's department with more than 50 employees receives a COPS Office award of more than $25,000, it must prepare an EEOP Report that analyzes just the workforce of the sheriff's department (both sworn and civilian employees). However, if either a city or a county receives a COPS Office award, both the named grantee and the funded law enforcement agency must satisfy the EEOP requirement. For instance, if a city is the named recipient of a COPS Office grant award of $25,000 or more and the police department has at least 50 employees, both the city and the police department must comply with federal EEOP regulations. They could work together to develop a single EEOP Report, but the city and police department would each still have to complete a separate utilization analysis. Alternatively, the city and the police department could develop separate EEOP Reports.
A recipient may need to reclassify some jobs in its workforce to correspond with the revised job categories used in the 2000 Census. For example, to reclassify jobs that were previously classified as para-professional, a category that no longer exists, or to reclassify jobs previously designated as simply protective services (instead of the new categories of Protective Services Sworn and Protective Services Non-Sworn), use the job classifications listed on the U.S. Census Bureau's website. To access information from the website, locate the third line from the top and click on "State and Local Occupation Groups." The link will lead to the file "Occupational Crosswalk" to State and Local Government Job Categories." Scroll down to find job titles listed in the Category Title table, and locate for each the corresponding number to one of the eight job categories in the 2000 Census (i.e., one (1) for Officials and Managers, two (2) for Professionals, etc.)
If OCR approved the EEOP Report within two years before the date of a new award, the recipient agency does not need to submit another. Instead, the recipient needs to send only a copy of the approval letter for its EEOP Report with a cover letter referencing the new grant number.
The EEOP is effective for a two-year period, commencing with the date of the approval letter from OCR.
No. In analyzing the Underutilization Chart in the EEOP Short-Form, OCR does not use a particular threshold percentage to determine whether a recipient has significant underutilization based on race, national origin, or sex in any of the eight major job categories. It is the responsibility of recipients to determine what they consider significant underutilization. The analysis is highly fact-specific. For example, having a 20 percent underutilization of Asian males in the Skilled Craft job category would be less significant for an employer who has a total of five employees in this job category than for an employer that has 500 employees in the same job category. In the context of analyzing underutilization, recipients should be aware that the OCR does not expect an exact parity between the workforce and the relevant community labor market.
No. Recipients should avoid setting numerical goals for hiring or promoting employees based on race or sex to remedy identified underutilization (e.g., hiring seven American Indian women in the Technicians job category), which is generally impermissible. OCR will return an EEOP Utilization Report that contains quotas with a request for an explanation and a caution to avoid this ordinarily unacceptable remedy.
If a recipient identified significant underutilization of African American women in the professionals job category, the recipient might, for example, write the following objective: "To ensure equal employment opportunities for Black or African American women when our organization fills vacancies that become available in the Professionals job category."
If the recipient has decided that one of its objectives is "to ensure equal opportunities for Black or African American women when our organization fills vacancies that become available in the Professionals job category, "then steps to achieve this objective might include the following:
- Our organization will designate a member of our human resources team to serve as a liaison and outreach coordinator to educational institutions and professional organizations with significant Black or African American women members. In the next 12 months, our organization will contact, at least, the following institutions: Acadia University, Black Women's Professional Association, the Carlton Group, Dynamic Magazine, Eta Sorority, Faith Temple Women's Club, the Good Government Coalition, and Hancock Civic Association.
- Our organization will review all employment organizational data related to the Professional job category to identify any issues that may pose barriers for Black or African American women (e.g., review the records of exit interviews of former employees; examine applicant flow data for recent vacancies; review job posting and advertising practices; determine whether there are in-house career paths; evaluate hiring, retention and attrition rates for particular positions, particular offices, or regions).
- Based on the internal review of employment data, we will design an action plan within three months of the date of this EEOP to attract more Black or African American professional women. Within 12 months of the date of this EEOP, we will review our action plan and evaluate our progress.
Examples may include the following:
- Notifying applicants, vendors and contractors in writing that the recipient has developed an EEOP Report and that it is available on request for review;
- Posting a copy of the Report on the recipient's public website; and
- Making copies of the Report available in the reading rooms of local public libraries.
xamples may include the following:
- Posting the EEOP Report on the recipient's intranet, an in-house, electronic communication service that only employees can access;
- Placing a copy of the Report in the recipient's policies and procedures manual;
- Posting information on bulletin boards in employee break areas about how to obtain a copy;
- Distributing a copy of the EEOP Report to all of a recipient's supervisors, department heads, or elected officials; and
- Sending electronic and hard copy memoranda to every employee stating that a copy is available on request in the recipient's human resources office.
Yes. You can cut and paste text into any of the online Report's text boxes, if the destination text box can accept the length of the text or number of characters being pasted. You should spell check text before pasting it into a text box, as you will be unable to do so afterwards.
You cannot electronically attach any files (as you might on e-mail) to the online EEOP Report. However, after creating the Report online and printing it out, you may attach hard copies of supplemental materials before sending the signed Report to OCR. In the appropriate text boxes online, you may indicate that you are attaching hard copies of relevant documents to the EEOP Utilization Report by typing, "Please see the attached hard copy document.
OCR is available to provide guidance on developing an EEOP. For technical assistance, please call the equal employment assistant at 202-307-0690.
The online system displays information regarding underutilization.
For each job category with less than 30 employees, the online system will perform a simple subtraction, showing the difference between the percentage of employees in the particular job category (cross-classified by race, national origin and sex) and the percentage of employees in the same job category in the relevant labor market.
For each job category with 30 or more employees, the online system will perform a statistical analysis and then display any job categories that have underutilization of two or more standard deviations. The calculations indicate that it is unlikely that the underutilization is based on chance. If the online system does not identify underutilization in the recipient's workforce of two standard deviations or more, the online system will display only the utilization analysis chart based on simple subtraction.
Courts have generally recognized that statistics showing underutilization of two standard deviations or more (comparing the percentage of employees of a protected class in a particular job category to the percentage of similarly qualified workers of the same protected class in the relevant labor market) may be evidence of employment discrimination. See generally Barbara T. Lindemann & Paul Grossman, 1 Employment Discrimination Law 124-26 (4th ed. 2007).
When the online system identifies and displays underutilization of two standard deviations or more, the recipient should address this in its narrative in the EEOP Report. The identified underutilization will most likely become the basis for developing objectives and next steps.
If the utilization analysis chart does not show two or more standard deviations, the recipient should still review the chart based on simple subtraction and identify the most significant underutilization in its workforce. This should inform drafting the recipient's narrative, objectives and next steps.