[Adopted 11-24-1998 by Ord. No. 98-13 as
Ch. 36, Art. II, of the 1998 Code]
There is hereby established a Township goal
of eliminating discrimination in municipal employment, including but
not limited to recruitment, selection, hiring, placement, upgrading,
promotion, demotion, transfer, termination, training, rate of pay,
fringe benefits and the use of all facilities. This goal and the plan
enacted are applicable to all officers, employees, agents and servants
of the Township.
This article shall provide the means by which
the Township will achieve proportional representation of all segments
of the municipality in the Township workforce; ensure that equal employment
opportunities are afforded all, regardless of race, creed, color,
sex, religion or national origin; increase the effectiveness of Township
government; guarantee fair and nondiscriminatory treatment for all
employees; and promote the merit principle.
Implementation of the policy of this article
and its plan shall be the responsibility of the Mayor.
The Mayor shall appoint, with the consent of
the Township Council, an Affirmative Action Officer who shall supervise
the operation of the plan on a part-time basis, who shall report directly
to the Mayor and who shall submit a semiannual report to the Mayor
and Township Council for their review. This semiannual report shall
include Township employment statistics and an analysis of these statistics
in relation to both short-term and long-range goals. The Affirmative
Action Officer, with the assistance of the Township administration,
shall monitor all training and hiring practices and prepare annual
reports as to their status; complete all EEO-4 and other reports in
accord with federal requirements; and perform the following:
A.
Move to redress imbalance of disproportionate numbers
of one sex or race caused by hiring practices, consistent with established
state and local rules and regulations.
B.
Establish and maintain a work climate that encourages
minorities, women and handicapped persons to progress as far as their
abilities permit.
C.
Provide opportunities for and encourage minority group
members, women and handicapped persons to move into higher job classifications,
particularly managerial positions, in accordance with appropriate
state and local rules and regulations.
D.
Assure increased representation of minority group
members, women and handicapped persons through special recruiting
efforts.
E.
Establish a recruitment program, conduct recruitment
and orientation in minority group communities and among women, and
develop regular communication channels with minority neighborhoods
to assure that employment opportunity information is widely disseminated.
F.
Analyze all aspects of the recruitment and selection
process to ensure that discriminatory barriers to hiring minority
and women applicants or promoting women employees do not exist.
G.
Monitor records of referrals, placements, transfers,
promotions, terminations, layoffs and recalls at all levels to ensure
that a nondiscrimination policy is effected.
H.
Maintain a skills bank to identify employees who may
qualify for training and/or promotion.
I.
Review the employee grievance procedure and, when
necessary, recommend improvements therein.
J.
Ensure that all fringe benefits continue to be made
available on a nondiscriminatory basis.
K.
Make an annual review to determine if any pattern
of discrimination exists.
L.
Undertake such other duties and responsibilities in
connection with the design, analysis, supervision and implementation
of the affirmative action plan as may be assigned by the Mayor.
The statement of policy and the plan shall be
distributed to all employees. It shall appear in the employee handbook
and all other appropriate publications. It shall be distributed at
new employee orientation programs, be made available to all Township
employees' representatives and be posted in all areas where applications
are received. The statement of the plan shall also be distributed
to all Township departments and divisions.
A recruitment program shall be designated to
effectuate the plan. The program shall include recruitment and outreach
policies designed to attract those segments of the population underrepresented
heretofore. The recruitment procedures shall include, but are not
limited to, the following:
A.
Open posting of all employment opportunities on bulletin
boards within the municipal government agencies.
B.
Mailing all employment opportunities to minority and
women's organizations and all other interested parties, such as churches
and educational institutions.
C.
The Affirmative Action Officer, or his designated
representative, shall speak before any interested group, providing
information on existing employment opportunities.
D.
Establishing a continuous line of communication with
minority and women's organizations to inform them of the progress
of the affirmative action plan.
E.
Utilizing minority and women's organizations as employment
recruiters.
F.
Advertising employment opportunities in local newspapers
when, in the discretion of the Affirmative Action Officer, there are
insufficient applications on file and/or obtained for the particular
opening.
G.
Inclusion of the statement "equal opportunity employment"
in all newspaper advertisements and notices of employment opportunities.
A.
All persons seeking employment with the Township shall
be given the opportunity to submit applications. After completion
of such applications, all applicants shall discuss, with the Personnel
Officer, the availability of present and future employment opportunities
with the Township.
B.
All applications shall remain active for a period
of 18 months. All applicants shall be notified by the Personnel Officer
when their applications are under present consideration and the disposition
of the same.
The Township shall make every reasonable effort
to make training and educational experience, which are necessary for
promotion to higher-level positions, available to all interested and
qualified employees. The review and implementation of all training
procedures shall be conducted by the Affirmative Action Officer. The
scope of his authority shall include, but not be limited to, review
of the effectiveness of training and educational experience; evaluation
of all promotional requirements to eliminate, wherever possible, all
restrictions on age, sex, physical characteristics and experience,
unless there is a bona fide occupational qualification, and conducting
workshops in human relations.
Any employee who believes that he has been the
subject of discrimination, for any reason whatsoever, may present
a grievance in the manner prescribed in the employee handbook, union
contract or rule or regulation. If the employee is still not satisfied
with the disposition, the employee may notify the State of New Jersey,
Division of Civil Rights. The procedures outlined are available to
employees on a voluntary basis, without the threat of any reprisals
whatsoever. A claim of discrimination may be filed with the State
of New Jersey, Division of Civil Rights, at any time.
The Township will not enter into any contracts
or agreements which contain any language contrary to the provisions
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment
Opportunity Act of 1972, and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination,
as set forth in N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq.
The objectives of the affirmative action plan
shall be as follows:
A.
Continuous administration of the plan. This objective
shall be carried out through the appointment of an Affirmative Action
Officer (Public Agency Compliance Officer), who shall report directly
to the Mayor. The Affirmative Action Officer shall be appointed within
30 days after adoption of the affirmative action plan by the Township
Council. The Township Personnel Officer shall disseminate to all employees
and departments the name and functions of said Affirmative Action
Officer.
B.
Communication of the plan. Upon adoption of said plan
by the Township Council, the Affirmative Action Officer and the Personnel
Officer shall tender copies of said plan to all employees of the Township
of Ewing, employees' representatives, department heads and other affected
parties.
C.
Review of employment procedures. The Affirmative Action
Officer and each department head shall review the employment structure
of each department to eliminate any vestiges of discrimination. The
first review shall be made within 30 days following the adoption of
the plan and then annually thereafter.
D.
Ensuring equal consideration of all qualified applicants.
The Affirmative Action Officer and Personnel Officer shall review
all interviewing and recruiting procedures to ensure that all provisions
outlined herein shall be strictly complied with and that all employment
advertisements contain the statement "Equal Opportunity Employer."
To this end, a form shall be developed by the Affirmative Action Officer
which shall be completed when any application is received but employment
not offered at that time. Copies of said form shall be kept on file
with the Personnel Officer and with the Affirmative Action Officer.[1]
E.
Maintaining discrimination-free selection. Appointment
procedures outlined herein shall be strictly complied with and, in
addition, all new employees not previously interviewed by the Personnel
Officer shall be interviewed.[2]
F.
Offering of training and educational programs on a
nondiscriminatory basis. In addition to compliance with all procedures
outlined herein, the Affirmative Action Officer shall conduct workshops
and seminars for supervisory personnel to familiarize them with all
phases of the plan and local, state and federal laws and regulations.
Said seminars and workshops shall also be made available whenever
possible for all interested employees.
G.
Utilization of personnel. The Personnel Officer and
staff shall have an expanded role in the employment process. They
shall counsel and interview all employees on the commencement, transfer
and termination of their employment, review all aspects of fringe
benefits and create a job skills bank. Said skills bank shall commence
to function no later than 90 days after adoption of the plan.
H.
Establishment of a grievance procedure. To ensure
that no discrimination occurs, the procedure for review of employee
grievances outlined herein shall be implemented at the earliest time.
Upon review of said procedure, the Affirmative Action Officer may
recommend amendments to the Township Council.
A.
Based on the analysis presented in Table 1, Schedule
1[1] lists hiring goals for each job category which will be
used to attempt to significantly increase the opportunities for minority
employment in the general labor force of the Township of Ewing.
[1]
Editor's Note: The table and schedule referred
to herein are on file in the office of the Municipal Clerk.
B.
These goals indicate particular race and sex groups
which the Township will prefer in its hiring decisions in particular
job categories if the members of such groups who have applied have
the same or better qualifications than the rest of the job applicants.
When equally qualified or similarly qualified candidates are available
for any given position or board, the Township of Ewing will give serious
consideration to the appointment of candidates who will assist in
meeting its affirmative action goals. Members of the racial and sex
groups indicated as hiring goals must not be preferred if their qualifications
are less than those of other job applicants.
C.
It will be the intention of the Township of Ewing
to publicize and use all necessary means to advertise for jobs, appointments
and/or positions in the Township when they become available. This
will include, but not be limited to, the media, when necessary; various
organizations and civic groups; and other individuals who may be interested
in applying for said positions.
Table 1, by showing the number of employees
in each category which the Township's workforce would be composed
of if it perfectly reflected the labor force, also presents the long-range
objectives of the Township in its affirmative action recruitment program.
Progress towards these goals will be measured
yearly using the data collected to prepare the EEO-4 reports. This
data will be used to update the information in Table 1 and reformulate
the goals in Schedule 1 as needed.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The table and schedule referred
to are on file in the office of the Municipal Clerk.
