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The University of Memphis is an Equal
Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

• What Does This Mean?

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Introduction

• As a University of Memphis faculty or staff
  member youve probably noticed the statement The
  University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative
  Action Employer. This statement appears on all
  publications, letterhead, and advertisements. On
  more formal printed University correspondence and
  publications, the University uses an expanded
  version of the previous statement.

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• The University of Memphis, a Tennessee Board of
  Regents Institution, is an Equal Opportunity/
  Affirmative Action Employer. We urge all
  qualified applicants to apply for this position.
  Appointment will be based on qualifications as
  they relate to position requirements without
  regard to race, color, national origin, religion,
  sex, age, disability, or veteran status.

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• If youve been in the workforce for a while, this
  has become routine for most employers. This
  presentation will explain why we use this
  statement and the purposes for the federal
  regulations. Policy and procedures information
  should be discussed with employees every year.

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Federal EEO Laws

• Federal law requires The University of Memphis to
  make employment decisions without regard to race,
  color, sex, age, national origin, religion and
  disability.

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Federal EEO laws which prohibit discrimination
against these classes

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 race,
  color, sex, religion and national origin
• The Civil Rights Act of 1991
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADE A)
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 race,
  color, and national origin
• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
• The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

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• The Equal Pay Act
• The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
• Executive Order 11246
• State and municipal laws
• Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act
• Sexual Harassment
• Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of
  1972
• Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

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How Do We Ever Keep Up With All of These Laws?

• OSHA
• Office of Civil Rights
• Department of Labor
• Department of Labor
• Department of Education
• NAACP
• INS
• Department of Personnel Management
• Department of Justice

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• While there are several federal agencies who
  monitor compliance of these regulations, the
  three most important agencies are the Office of
  Federal Contract Compliance Programs or OFCCP,
  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or
  EEOC, and The Tennessee Human Rights Commission
  or THRC.

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So Whats the Difference Between Affirmative
Action and Equal Employment Opportunity?

• Affirmative Action is one means to end
  discrimination and to remedy the effects of past
  discrimination in the workplace. It includes
  productive recruitment and positive outreach
  activities and plans designed to notify and
  attract women, minorities, persons with
  disabilities, disabled veterans, Vietnam era
  veterans or other underrepresented groups about
  job openings and opportunities.

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• The University of Memphis does this to ensure
  fair and equitable employment practices as well
  as to achieve an equitable representation in our
  workforce.
• Under Executive Order 11246, Affirmative Action
  requires The U of M to establish an Affirmative
  Action Plan to accomplish these measures and to
  assess the status of our workforce.

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• Affirmative Action strategies are intended to
  help bring these groups to our front door, or to
  be more precise, into our applicant pools.
• Once good faith efforts to attract these
  individuals have been made, Equal Employment
  Opportunity takes over.

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Equal Employment Opportunity

• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) provides a
  working environment for all employees free of
  discrimination, prejudice, and bias.
• Any employment decision made should be based on
  sound management principles and should not be
  tied to any discriminatory factors discussed
  earlier.

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So What Do All These Rules and Regulations Mean?

• Sex Discrimination
• Gender
• The Pregnancy Act (PDA)
• Sexual Harassment

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Gender

• It is a violation of University policy, as well
  as federal and state laws, to discriminate
  against employees or applicants for employment on
  the basis of sex.
• Most recently, the EEOC and the OFCCP started
  examining promotional opportunities for women in
  the upper echelons of companies. This is known
  as a Glass Ceiling Audit.

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The Pregnancy Act

• Sex discrimination can take a number of forms
• The Pregnancy Act or PDA is designed to prevent
  discrimination in the workplace against women as
  a result of their role as child bearers.

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• It is the policy of The University of Memphis to
  provide eligible women employees with leave and
  adequate recovery time for childbearing.
• The woman employee is normally reinstated to her
  original job.

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Sexual Harassment

• It is a violation of University policy to harass
  any member of the University community on the
  basis of sex.
• Sexual harassment may be defined as unwelcome
  sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or
  other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
  nature when submission to such conduct is made a
  term or condition of an individuals employment,
  or submission to or rejection of such conduct is
  used as a basis for employment decisions or
  whenever such

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• conduct has the purpose or effect of interfering
  with the work performance through the creation of
  a hostile environment.
• A hostile environment may be created by repeated,
  unwelcome sexual contact or remarks, including
  jokes or demeaning statements about a particular
  gender made in the workplace.
• Application of this doctrine in the classroom is
  far more complicated for faculty because it
  implicates academic freedom.

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• If questioned a faculty will have to be able to
  show that such remarks or jokes are legitimately
  within the scope of the course that he or she is
  teaching when the remarks are made.
• Consensual relationships
• Intimate relationships between supervisors and
  their subordinates, between faculty members and
  students are strongly discouraged due to the
  inherent inequality of power in such situations.
  These relationships could lead to undue
  favoritism or the perception of undue favoritism,
  abuse of power, compromised judgement or impaired
  objectivity.

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• Obviously any employment decision made on the
  basis of gender is a violation of state and
  federal laws and regulations, as well as
  University policy, unless the position qualifies
  for the bona fide occupational exception under
  Title VII.

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Race, Color or National Origin Discrimination

• Race, color or national origin
• Racial Harassment

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• It is a violation of University policy to harass
  a person because of the individuals race, color,
  or national origin.
• Racial harassment may be defined as
• conduct by the employer, or its employees which
  unreasonably interferes with the victims status
  or performance through the creation of an
  intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or
  educational environment.

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• Like sexual harassment, a hostile environment
  based on race may be created through repeated
  remarks, jokes, or slurs regarding race or
  national origin made in the workplace or
  educational environment.

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Disabled and Veterans of the Vietnam Era

• It is University policy to take Affirmative
  Action to employ and advance in employment
  qualified disabled veterans, and Vietnam era
  veterans whether they are disabled or not.
• Recently, the law added in coverage for veterans
  who served on active duty during a war or in a
  campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge
  has been authorized.

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• Generally this regulation requires the University
  to post job openings with the local state
  employment agency.
• Usually those positions which are considered
  executive and top management jobs, jobs which are
  posted internally, and jobs lasting 3 days or
  less do not have to be posted with the local
  State Employment Agency.

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• The law requires that employers with Federal
  contracts or subcontracts of 25,000 or more
  provide equal opportunity and affirmative action
  for Vietnam era veterans, special disabled
  veterans and veterans who served on active duty
  during a war or in a campaign or expedition for
  which a campaign badge has been authorized.

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Religious Discrimination

• The University of Memphis prohibits
  discrimination based on religion against
  applicants for employment and employees.
• Efforts will be made to accommodate the religious
  observances and practices of employees unless the
  requested accommodation is unreasonable and would
  result in an undue hardship on the conduct of
  University business.

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National Origin Discrimination

• It is the policy of the University to prohibit
  the discrimination based on an individuals place
  of origin, or his or her ancestors place of
  origin, or because an individual has physical,
  cultural, or linguistic characteristics of a
  national origin.
• Additionally, it is against University policy to
  discriminate because of a marriage to or
  association with persons of a national origin
  group, or due to membership in or association
  with an organization identified with the
  interests of a national group.

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Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)

• ADEA prohibits discrimination on the basis of age
  as to applicants for employment and employees the
  age of 40 or over except when age is a bona fide
  occupational qualification or the employer is
  observing the terms of either a bona fide
  seniority system or employee benefit plan.

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Persons with Disabilities

• Rehabilitation Act
• The Americans with Disabilities Act

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• The Rehabilitation Act promotes employment of
  persons with disabilities and was designed to
  prevent discrimination.
• A person with a disability is
• anyone who has a physical or mental impairment
  which substantially limits one or more of the
  major life activities, has a record of such an
  impairment, or is regarded as having such an
  impairment.

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Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
  basically strengthened and extended the
  requirements of The Rehabilitation Act making
  them applicable to private as well as public
  employers and added stronger laws related to
  public accommodations, telecommunications, and
  transportation.
• Companies that serve the general public are
  required to make their facilities, services,
  goods and other public accommodation accessible.

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The Equal Pay Act (EPA)

• The Equal Pay Act (EPA) requires that men and
  women receive equal pay for equal work.
• Its not a violation if salaries are not equal
  due to a seniority system, merit system, a system
  which measures earnings by quantity or quality of
  production or because of any factor other than
  sex.

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Conclusion

• As you can see, complying with Equal Employment
  Opportunity/Affirmative Action legislation and
  applicable regulations is not easy and as
  employees or supervisors, you may be required to
  explain your actions, decisions, or
  recommendations.
• The University must ensure that all
  employment-related decisions and actions are
  based on sound management principles and
  professional standards.

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• They must not and will not be based on race,
  color, sex, age, national origin, religion,
  disability, or Vietnam era or disabled veterans
  status.
• To comply with policies, procedures, or sound
  business practices, you may have to complete more
  paperwork or have more meetings with your
  supervisor or co-workers.
• These extra efforts on your part will help to
  ensure that The University of Memphis is a
  working environment free of discrimination.