State of Alaska Executive Branch 2010 Affirmative Action Plan Sean Parnell Governor I. Preface As an employer, the State of Alaska does not condone, permit, or tolerate discrimination against its employees or applicants for State employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood, or status as a veteran or veteran with a disability. Discrimination in employment is a violation of State and federal law and contrary to the State’s policy on equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. The State of Alaska 2010 Affirmative Action Plan for the Executive Branch is mandated by Alaska Statute 39.28. The Plan is a management tool designed to promote equal employment opportunity and to rectify the effects of any provable discrimination in State government employment. It is intended that this Plan supersede any and all prior State of Alaska Executive Branch Affirmative Action Plans. Use in this Plan of technical terms such as availability, adverse impact, underutilization, problem area, placement goal, discrimination and underrepresentation does not necessarily signify that the State agrees these terms are properly applied to any particular factual situation, or that the State agrees that it is liable under applicable laws. Instead, these terms are employed to assure the Plan’s effectiveness and consistency with the law and State policy. Placement goals are not used to supersede the merit principle as codified in the State Personnel Act, Alaska Statute 39.25.010. Placement goals established in this Plan are not rigid and inflexible quotas, which must be met. Nor are they to be considered as either a ceiling or a floor for the employment of particular groups. Quotas are expressly forbidden by this Plan. Placement goals do not create set-asides for specific groups. This Affirmative Action Plan and policy does not require the State to hire a person who lacks qualifications to perform the job successfully. And all placement goals will be implemented in accordance with the Constitution of the State of Alaska, the U.S. Constitution, and with State and federal nondiscrimination and employment-related laws, regulations, and administrative orders. This Plan is not intended to alter any collective bargaining agreements. If a section of the Plan is found to be in conflict with State or federal law or with a collective bargaining agreement, only the affected section of the Plan will be State of Alaska 2010 Affirmative Action Plan Page 2 severed. The remainder of the Plan will remain in effect until amended or replaced by a subsequent plan. This Plan was prepared by the Department of Administration, Division of Personnel & Labor Relations. The State welcomes comments and suggestions for improvement. Interested parties should submit feedback in writing to the following: Nicki Neal, Director State of Alaska, Department of Administration Division of Personnel & Labor Relations P.O. Box 110201 Juneau, AK 99811-0201 Or Camille Brill, Equal Employment Opportunity Program Manager State of Alaska, Department of Administration Division of Personnel & Labor Relations Equal Employment Opportunity Program 619 East Ship Creek Drive, Suite 309 Anchorage, AK 99501-1677 State of Alaska 2010 Affirmative Action Plan Page 3 II. Table of Contents I. Preface .................................................................................................................. 2 II. Table of Contents .................................................................................................. 4 III. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 9 A. Purpose of the Affirmative Action Plan ............................................................................ 9 B. Historical Overview ..................................................................................................................... 9 C. Scope of Authority................................................................................................................. 11 1. State of Alaska Constitution, Laws, Regulations, and Administrative Orders . 12 2. United States Constitution, Federal Laws and Regulations ................................... 13 D. Plan Distribution ................................................................................................................... 13 IV. Designation of Responsibilities ............................................................................ 14 A. Commissioners and Executive Heads ............................................................................ 14 B. Director of the Division of Personnel & Labor Relations and EEO Program Manager................................................................................................................................................ 14 C. Department EEO Representatives ................................................................................... 16 D. Executive Branch EEO AA Advisory Committee ......................................................... 16 E. Directors and Managers ...................................................................................................... 17 F. Supervisors and Hiring Managers ....................................................................................... 18 G. Employees ................................................................................................................................ 19 V. SOA Policies and Guidelines Prohibiting Illegal Discrimination ............................ 20 A. Policy Prohibiting Sex Discrimination ............................................................................ 21 1. Bona fide occupational qualification .............................................................................. 21 B. Policy Prohibiting Race and Color Discrimination ..................................................... 21 C. Policy Prohibiting National Origin Discrimination ..................................................... 22 1. English-Only Policies ........................................................................................................... 22 D. Policy Prohibiting Religious Discrimination ................................................................. 23 1. Religious Accommodations ................................................................................................ 23 E. Policy Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Pregnancy, Marital Status, Changes in Marital Status, or Parenthood ............................................................................... 23 F. Policy Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Military Status ....................................... 24 State of Alaska 2010 Affirmative Action Plan Page 4 1. Veteran and National Guard Hiring Preference .......................................................... 24 G. Policy Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Age ......................................................... 25 H. Policy Prohibiting Discrimination of Persons with Disabilities .............................. 25 1. Disability Accommodations ............................................................................................... 26 2. State’s ADA Compliance Program .................................................................................... 27 I. Policy Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Genetic Information ............................. 28 J. Policy Prohibiting Retaliation ................................................................................................ 29 VI. Affirmative Action Workforce Analyses ................................................................. 30 A. Job Group Analysis .............................................................................................................. 30 B. Workforce Analysis ............................................................................................................... 31 C. Availability Analysis ............................................................................................................. 31 D. Utilization Analysis ............................................................................................................... 31 1. Regions ..................................................................................................................................... 32 2. Placement Goals .................................................................................................................... 32 VII. Department Affirmative Action Plans ................................................................... 34 A. Office of the Governor .......................................................................................................... 34 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 34 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 34 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 34 B. Department of Administration .......................................................................................... 34 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 34 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 35 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 35 4. Department Specific Action-Oriented EEO Activities ................................................ 36 C. Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development ................. 36 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 36 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 36 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 36 D. Department of Corrections ................................................................................................. 37 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 37 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 37 State of Alaska 2010 Affirmative Action Plan Page 5 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 38 E. Department of Education & Early Development ......................................................... 39 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 39 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 39 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 39 F. Department of Environmental Conservation ................................................................... 40 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 40 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 41 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 41 G. Department of Fish & Game .............................................................................................. 41 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 41 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 42 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 42 4. Department Specific Action-Oriented EEO Activities ................................................ 43 H. Department of Health & Social Services ........................................................................ 43 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 43 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 44 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 44 4. Department Specific Action-Oriented EEO Activities ................................................ 46 I. Department of Labor & Workforce Development ............................................................ 46 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 46 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 46 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 46 4. Department Specific Action-Oriented EEO Activities ................................................ 48 J. Department of Law ................................................................................................................... 48 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 48 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 49 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 49 K. Department of Military & Veterans Affairs ................................................................... 49 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 49 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 50 State of Alaska 2010 Affirmative Action Plan Page 6 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 50 4. Department Specific Action-Oriented EEO Activities ................................................ 50 L. Department of Natural Resources ....................................................................................... 51 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 51 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 51 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 51 M. Department of Public Safety .............................................................................................. 53 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 53 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 53 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 53 4. Department Specific Action-Oriented EEO Activities ................................................ 54 N. Department of Revenue ....................................................................................................... 55 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 55 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 55 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 55 O. Department of Transportation and Public Facilities ................................................. 56 1. Agency Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 56 2. Department EEO Representative ..................................................................................... 56 3. Department Placement Goals ............................................................................................ 57 4. Department Specific Action-Oriented EEO Activities ................................................ 57 VIII. Statewide Action-Oriented EEO Activities ...................................................... 58 A. Internal Actions ..................................................................................................................... 58 1. Recruitment ............................................................................................................................ 58 2. Hiring ........................................................................................................................................ 59 3. New appointments ................................................................................................................ 62 4. Training .................................................................................................................................... 62 5. Personnel management and practices ........................................................................... 62 B. External Actions .................................................................................................................... 63 1. Outreach .................................................................................................................................. 63 2. Public notices ......................................................................................................................... 63 IX. Employment Discrimination Complaints ............................................................. 65 State of Alaska 2010 Affirmative Action Plan Page 7 A. Internal State of Alaska Complaint Procedure ............................................................ 65 B. External Complaint Agencies ............................................................................................ 66 X. Appendices .......................................................................................................... 67 A. Appendix A: Definitions ...................................................................................................... 67 1. Race and ethnic category definitions .............................................................................. 67 B. Appendix B: Affirmative Action Job Groups ................................................................. 68 1. AA Job Groups and their definitions .............................................................................. 68 2. Job Class Assignment to AA Job Groups ...................................................................... 80 State of Alaska 2010 Affirmative Action Plan Page 8 III. Introduction A. Purpose of the Affirmative Action Plan The Executive Branch Affirmative Action Plan is one part of the State’s equal employment opportunity efforts. It is a document that guides us on the path of equal employment opportunity and begins with a commitment to equal employment opportunity. It outlines the responsibility for equal employment opportunity to the people who can make it happen. Any remedies adopted under this Plan will be implemented in accordance with the Constitution of the State of Alaska, the U.S. Constitution, and with State and federal nondiscrimination and employment-related laws, regulations, and administrative orders. A central part of the State’s AA Plan is the analysis of the State’s workforce compared to the labor market. The utilization analysis identifies areas where there are substantial disparities in the workforce we have and the workforce we could have. It allows the State to focus resources in those areas where our incumbency levels are significantly less than availability. It highlights areas where there could be barriers to employment for protected groups. The remedy to correct any disparities is twofold. The first is commitment to the laws against discrimination in any aspect of employment, including hiring, dismissing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, benefits, or any other term or condition of employment. But equally, and perhaps even more important are affirmative, voluntary efforts to assure that positions in the public service are genuinely and equally accessible to qualified persons, without regard to their sex, racial or ethnic characteristics, presence of a disability, or any protected status. B. Historical Overview Historical overview of Alaska’s Civil Rights, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Affirmative Action (AA) events, policies, and laws for the State of Alaska: 1913 – Alaska Territorial Legislature passes a law granting women voting rights. State of Alaska 2010 Affirmative Action Plan Page 9 1945 – The Territory of Alaska establishes the Anti-Discrimination Act, the first comprehensive civil rights legislation in the nation and made segregation illegal in the territory. 1959 – Alaska becomes the 49th State. The Constitution of the State of Alaska affirms that all persons are equal and entitled to equal rights, opportunities, and protection under the law and deems that no person is to be denied the enjoyment of any civil or political right because of race, color, creed, sex, or national origin. 1963 – The Alaska Human Rights Act, Alaska Statute 18.80, is established and creates the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. 1967 – Governor Walter J. Hickel issues Governor’s Code of Fair Practices by State Agencies. 1972 – Administrative Order 18 issued by Governor William Egan concerning State contractors’ EEO and affirmative action obligations. 1980 – Administrative Order 59 issued by Governor Jay S. Hammond concerning the State’s EEO and affirmative action programs. 1983 – Administrative Order 75 issued by Governor Bill Sheffield. The order consists of two parts: the State’s EEO policy and procedures for implementing the order. 1983 – Administrative Order 76 issued by Governor Bill Sheffield concerning State contractors’ EEO and affirmative action obligations. 1984 – Administrative Order 81 issued by Governor Bill Sheffield concerning policy and guidelines prohibiting sexual harassment in employment in the executive branch of State government. 1985 – The State EEO Act is enacted under AS 44.19.441- 44.19.449 and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity is established in the Office of the Governor. 1986 – Administrative Order 86 issued by Governor Bill Sheffield concerning affirmative action in State contracts. State of Alaska 2010 Affirmative Action Plan Page 10