Iowa Civil Rights Commission Disclaimer The information contained in this presentation is a brief overview and should not be construed as legal advice or exhaustive coverage of the topic.

Affirmative Action Plans

What is an Affirmative Action Plan? An Affirmative Action Plan sets standards for the recruiting, hiring, and promotion of women and minorities to eliminate the present effects of past employment discrimination.

Iowa Civil Rights Commission and Affirmative Action Plans The Iowa Civil Rights Commission does not enforce laws regarding Affirmative Action Plans. A person who feels discriminated against as the result of an Affirmative Action Plan, can file a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, based upon their protected personal characteristics.

Are goals a subterfuge for quotas? No. Quotas are expressly forbidden by law. Affirmative Action goals are targets for recruitment and outreach and should be reasonably attainable by means of applying good faith efforts to make the Affirmative Action program work.

Are goals intended to achieve proportional representation or equal results? No. Numerical goals do not create guarantees for certain groups, nor are they designed to achieve equal results. The goal setting process is used to target and measure the effectiveness of Affirmative Action efforts to eradicate and prevent discrimination. Affirmative Action is preventive, proactive, and inclusive.

Does Affirmative Action require employers to hire or promote on the basis of race or gender? No. Affirmative Action Plans only require employers to engage in outreach and other efforts to broaden the pool of qualified candidates to include groups previously excluded. The selection decision - to hire, promote, or lay off - is to be made on a non- discriminatory basis.

Does Affirmative Action conflict with the principles of merit? No. Affirmative Action gives everyone a chance to be judged on individual ability. Affirmative Action does not require an employer to hire a person who lacks the qualifications to perform the job successfully, hire the unqualified, or hire a less qualified person in preference to a more qualified one. Affirmative Action gives women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans a chance to compete.

Is Affirmative Action a “racial spoils” system? No. Affirmative Action never has been intended to require or create preferences. Nor does it entail hiring or promoting the unqualified. Moreover, Affirmative Action is not merely a race issue, but benefits women, persons with disabilities, and veterans. Affirmative Action benefits all Americans.

Has Affirmative Action led to reverse discrimination? Generally, thirty years of Affirmative Action policies have not led to reverse discrimination against any group. Between 1990 and 1994, less than 60 discrimination cases were filed in Federal court alleging reverse discrimination against white males and very few were upheld as meritorious.

Is Affirmative Action still needed today? Yes. While there has been much progress to integrate women and minorities, persons with disabilities and veterans into America’s workplaces, much more needs to be done. There is an inverse relationship between Affirmative Action and discrimination: the more Affirmative Action there is - i.e., casting a wide net, eliminating barriers, recruitment and outreach - the less discrimination there is, and vice versa.

Affirmative Action removes preferences and other barriers.

Affirmative Action evens the playing field and promotes true equal opportunity in the workplace.

Affirmative Action is: Preventive Proactive Inclusive

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