City of Belfast, ME Affirmative Action Plan

It is the policy of the City to afford equal opportunity for employment to all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, sex, marital status, age or physical handicap, except where any of these is found to be a bona fide occupational qualification. The City Council recognizes its responsibility to conform to the provisions of the Maine Human Rights Act of 1972, 5 M.R.S.A. § 4571, as well as any federal statutes which may apply.

The City Council further realizes its responsibility to conform with the provisions of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (PL 88-352), which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs or activities which receive federal financial aid. Consequently, the City Council directs that the City establish an affirmative plan of action which will:

Identify whether qualified applicants or employees are currently experiencing unlawful discrimination.

Identify and correct those personnel practices or procedures which have or might have an adverse effect on the employment of minorities and/or women.

Sec. 42-82 Equal employment opportunity officer.

[Ord. of 2-20-1979, § II]

The City manager shall be the equal employment opportunity officer for the City. He shall be responsible for formulating a written affirmative action plan for the City and for implementing the provisions contains therein. Other duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Dissemination of current legal information affecting affirmative action to the departments and the supervisory staff.

Maintenance of records of personnel transactions in order to comply with state and federal requirements.

Counseling of department heads regarding their affirmative action responsibilities.

Preparation of such reports as may be required for use by state and federal agencies.

(5)

Initiation of corrective action where any unlawful employment practices are noted.

(6)

Audit and evaluation of the affirmative action plan on an annual basis.

Sec. 42-83 Affirmation of equal employment opportunity policy.

[Ord. of 2-20-1979, § III]

The recruiting, training, hiring, and promotion for all job classifications in all departments will be accomplished without regard to race, creed, color, sex, marital status, national origin, ancestry, age, or physical handicap except where sex or age is a bona fide occupational qualification. All employment decisions will be based solely on capacity, preference, and ability in accordance with the principles of equal employment opportunity. Only valid requirements will be utilized in the determination of promotion considerations.

All personnel actions such as compensation, benefits, transfers, layoffs, return from layoff, termination, training, educational assistance, and leave will be administered without regard to race, creed, color, sex, marital status, national origin, ancestry, age, or physical handicap except where sex or age is a bona fide occupational qualification.

Sec. 42-84 Dissemination of policy.

[Ord. of 2-20-1979, § IV]

Internal dissemination.

The City manager will issue a written statement to all department heads affirming the policy set forth in this article and announcing a personal commitment to its implementation.

The equal employment opportunity policy will be appended to the administrative personnel code of the City.

All personnel with the responsibility of recruiting, screening, hiring and promotion of applicants or employees will be issued written guidelines providing for uniform procedures for compliance with the equal employment opportunity policy.

External dissemination.

A copy of the affirmative action plan will be forwarded to any public or private employment agencies whenever the City requests applicant referrals.

All contractors, suppliers, etc., doing business with the City will be made cognizant of the existence of the equal employment opportunity policy.

Notice of the equal employment opportunity policy will be sent to any secondary school, college or university placement service which desires information on available job openings in the City.

All advertisements for job openings not filled within will to be placed in local newspapers of general circulation with the statement "An Equal Opportunity Employer" in the advertisement.

Sec. 42-85 Utilization analysis.

[Ord. of 2-20-1979, § V]

Tables. The utilization analysis as of November 30, 1978, is as follows:

	Current Employment
	Total full-time employees	40
	Total male	32
	Total female	8
	Percent male	80
	Percent female	20

Table 1. Comparison by Job Categories
Job Categories	Male	Female	Percent Male	Percent Female
Official/managers	7	2	77.7%	22.3%
Protective service	11	1	91.7%	08.3%
Clerical/manager	0	5	—	100.0%
Skilled craft	2	0	100.0%	—
Service/maintenance	12	0	100.0	—

Table 2. Comparison by Salary Range
	Male		Female
Salary Range	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
$0—$5,999	—	—	—	—
$6,000—$7,999	15	71.4%	6	28.6%
$8,000—$9,999	17	100.0%	—	—
$10,000—$12,999	5	71.4%	2	28.6%
$13,000—$15,999	3	100.0%	0	—
$16,000—$24,999	2	100.0%	0	—

Table 3. Civilian Labor Force, Waldo County (Belfast Labor Market Area)
Male	7,256	65.9%
Female	3,743	34.0%
Minority	11	0.1%

Table 4. Extent of Unemployment, Waldo County (Belfast Labor Market Area)
Male	618	45.1%
Female	752	54.9%
Minority	—	—

Table 5. Number of Job Applicants Registered With Employment Security Commission, Belfast Area
		Female		Male		Minority
Occupation	Total Number	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Professional/ Tech./Mgr.	60	30	50%	30	50%	0	0%
Clerical and Sales	80	61	76.3%	19	23.7%	0	0%
Service	76	52	68.4%	24	21.6%	0	0%
Miscellaneous	97	7	7.2%	90	92.8%	0	0%
Total	614	228	37.1%	384	62.6%	2	0%

Areas of underutilization and concentration.

Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

CONCENTRATION

Refers to more of one particular group in a job category or department than would be reasonably expected by their presence in the workforce.

UNDERUTILIZATION

Is defined by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as having fewer minorities or women in a particular category than would be reasonably be expected by their presence in the workforce.

Preliminary findings. Preliminary findings made in connection with the preparation of the affirmative action plan indicate the extent to which women are currently utilized in the various job categories within the City. Women are represented in three of the five categories. Women are obviously underutilized in the protective service and service/maintenance categories, while there is a concentration of women in the clerical category. Conversely, there is a distinct underutilization of males in the clerical category.

Sec. 42-86 Goals and objectives.

[Ord. of 2-20-1979, § VI]

The goals and objectives of this article are as follows:

Develop job descriptions which are germane in terms of actual work performed. It is the responsibility of the City manager to ensure that these are developed during fiscal year 1979-1980.

Eliminate any discrimination which may be resulting from current personnel practice, guarding against such occurrences in the future, and providing a system for achieving these results.

In order to give minimum consideration to all individuals whose talents may be used by the City, current employees will be considered when openings become available.

Advertising for job openings will be done in-house whenever practicable before undertaking outside search in order to provide better opportunity for advancement through transfer and promotion to current employees of the City.

(5)

Qualified or qualifiable women will be encouraged to seek positions in categories where they are currently underutilized.

(6)

A discussion of the equal opportunity policy will be integrated in any orientation briefing provided to new employees.

Sec. 42-87 Grievance procedure.

[Ord. of 2-20-1979, § VII]

The following grievance procedure is established with respect to complaints of discrimination:

The employee shall discuss the grievance with his or her immediate supervisor. If the difficulty is not resolved at that level, the employee may discuss the grievance directly with his or her department head. If the grievance is not resolved by discussions with the department head, the employee may then request to discuss the grievance with the City's affirmative action officer. This request must be in writing to establish the date presented.

Within 10 days of the receipt of such a request, the affirmative action officer will hold a meeting to discuss the matter with the employee and the department head.

If the meeting fails to resolve the issue, the aggrieved employee may, within five working days from the meeting between the employee, the department head and the affirmative action officer, request in writing a meeting between the employee, the department head, the affirmative action officer and the City council. Such meeting shall be held in executive session unless all parties agree that the meeting be open to the public.

The City council shall discuss the grievance at its first regularly scheduled meeting following receipt of the written request. The decision of the City council shall be final as pertaining to the City. If still not satisfied that the grievance has been adequately addressed, the employee may file a complaint with the state human rights commission.

Sec. 42-88 Internal audit and evaluation.

[Ord. of 2-20-1979, § VIII]

The City shall maintain such records as are needed for completion of the state and local government information report (EEO-4) as well as such records of personnel transactions as are needed to monitor and evaluate its recruitment, selection, promotion and upgrading progress according to function, job category, race, sex and pay range.