Section 4-1104. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAM

 

1104.1Each apparent low bidder for a construction contract shall complete and submit to the Contracting Agency, prior to the execution of any contract in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or more, and each contractor covered under § 1105.1, an Affirmative Action Program to ensure equal opportunity which shall include specific standards for the utilization of minorities and women in the trades, crafts and skills to be used by the contractor in the performance of the contract.

 

1104.2Each apparent low bidder or offeror for a non-construction contract shall complete and submit to the Contracting Agency, prior to the execution of any contract in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more, and each contractor covered under § 1105.2, an Affirmative Action Program to ensure equal opportunity which shall include specific standards for the utilization of minorities in the job categories specified in § 1108.4.

 

1104.3To ensure equal opportunity each Affirmative Action Program shall include the following commitments:

 

(a)With respect to construction contracts, each contractor shall certify that it will comply with the provisions of this chapter, and submit a personnel utilization schedule for all the trades the contractor is to utilize, indicating the actual numbers of minority and female workers that are expected to be a part of the workforce performing under the contract; and

 

(b)With respect to non-construction contracts, each contractor shall certify that it will comply with the provisions of this chapter, and shall submit a personnel utilization schedule indicating by craft and skill, the minority composition of the workforce related to the performance of the work under the contract. The schedule shall include all workers located in the facility from which the goods and services are produced and shall include the same information for other facilities which have a significant relationship to the performance work under the contract.

 

1104.4If the experience of the contractor with any local union from which it will secure employees indicates that the union will not refer sufficient minorities or women to meet minority or female employment commitments, the contractor shall, not less than ten (10) days prior to the employment of any person on the project subject to the jurisdiction of that local union, do the following:

 

(a)Notify the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services and at least two (2) minority and two (2) female referral organizations of the contractor’s personnel needs, and request referral of minority, and female workers; and

 

(b)Notify any minority and female workers who have been listed with the contractors as awaiting vacancies.

 

1104.5If, within five (5) working days prior to commencement of work, the contractor determines that the Department of Employment Services or the minority or female referral organizations are unable to refer sufficient minorities or women to meet its commitments, the contractor may take steps to hire, by referral or otherwise, from the local union membership, to fill the remaining job openings, provided that it notifies the local union of its personnel needs and of its employment commitments. Evidence of the notification shall be provided to the Contracting Agency.

 

1104.6The contractor shall have standing requests for additional referrals of minority and female workers with the local union, the Department of Employment Services, and the other referral sources, until such time as the contractor has met its minority and female employment commitments.

 

1104.7If the contractor desires to lay off some of its employees in a given trade on a construction site, it shall ensure that the required number of minority and female employees remain on the site to meet the minority and female commitments.

 

1104.8No contractor shall refuse employment to any individual who has a minimum facility to speak English except where the contractor can demonstrate that the facility to speak English is necessary for the performance of the job.

 

1104.9No union with which the contractor has a collective bargaining agreement shall refuse to refer minority and female employees to the contractor.

 

1104.10To the extent that contractors have delegated the responsibility for some of their employment practices to some other organization or agency which prevents them from meeting their equal opportunity obligations, those contractors shall not be considered to be in compliance with this chapter.

 

1104.11The obligations of the contractor shall not be reduced, modified, or subject to any provision in any collective bargaining agreement with a labor organization which provides that the labor organization shall have the exclusive or primary opportunity to refer employees.

 

1104.12When any contractor employs a minority person or woman in order to comply with this chapter, those persons shall be advised of their right to seek union membership, the contractor shall provide whatever assistance may be appropriate to enable that person to obtain membership, and the contractor shall notify the appropriate union of that person’s employment.

 

1104.13The contractor shall not discharge, refuse to employ, or otherwise adversely affect any minority person or woman because of any provision in any collective bargaining agreement, or any understanding, written or oral that the contractor may have with any labor organization.

 

1104.14If at any time, because of lack of cooperation or overt conduct, a labor organization impedes or interferes with the contractor’s Affirmative Action Program, the contractor shall notify the Contracting Agency and the Director immediately, setting forth the relevant circumstances.

 

1104.15In any proceeding involving a disagreement between a labor organization and the contractor over the implementation of the contractor’s Affirmative Action Program, the Contracting Agency and the Office of Human Rights may become a party to the proceeding.

 

1104.16In determining whether or not a contractor is utilizing minorities and females pursuant to § 1108, consideration shall be given to the following factors:

 

(a)The proportion of minorities and women employed in the trades and as laborers in the construction industry within the District of Columbia;

 

(b)The proportion of minorities and women employed in the crafts or as operatives in non-construction industries within the District of Columbia;

 

(c)The number and ratio of unemployed minorities and women to total unemployment in the District of Columbia;

 

(d)The availability of qualified and qualifiable minorities and women for employment in any comparable line of work, including where they are now working and how they may be brought into the contractor’s workforce;

 

(e)The effectiveness of existing training programs in the area, including the number who complete training, the length and extent of training, employer experience with trainees, and the need for additional or expanded training programs; and

 

(f)The number of additional workers that could be absorbed into each trade or line of work without displacing present employees, including consideration of present employee shortages, projected growth of the trade or line of work, and projected employee turnover.

 

1104.17The contractor’s commitment to specific standards for the utilization of minorities and females as required under this chapter shall include a commitment to make every good faith effort to meet those standards. If the contractor has failed to meet the standards, a determination of good “faith” shall be based upon the contractor’s documented equal opportunity efforts to broaden its equal employment program which shall include, but may not necessarily be limited to, the following requirements:

 

(a)The contractor shall notify the community organizations that the contractor has employment opportunities available and shall maintain records of the organizations’ responses;

 

(b)The contractor shall maintain a file of the names and addresses of each minority and female worker referred to it and what action was taken with respect to each referred worker. If that worker was not sent to the union hiring hall for referral or if the worker was not employed by the contractor, the contractor’s file shall so be documented and the reasons therefor;

 

(c)The contractor shall notify the Contracting Agency and the Director when the union or unions with which the contractor has a collective bargaining agreement has not referred to the contractor a minority or female worker originally sent to the union by the contractor for union registration, or the contractor has other information that the union referral process has impeded the contractor’s efforts to meet its goals;

 

(d)The contractor shall participate in training programs related to its personnel needs;

 

(e)The contractor shall disseminate its EEO policy internally by doing the following:

 

(1)Including it in any organizational manual;

 

(2)Publicizing it in company newspapers, annual report, etc.;

 

(3)Conducting staff, employee, and union representatives meetings to explain and discuss the policy;

 

(4)Posting; and

 

(5)Reviewing the policy with minority and female employees.

 

(f)The contractor shall disseminate its EEO policy externally by doing the following:

 

(1)Informing and discussing it with all recruitment sources;

 

(2)Advertising in newsmedia, specifically including newsmedia directed to minorities and women;

 

(3)Notifying and discussing it with all known minority and women’s organizations; and

 

(4)Notifying and discussing it with all subcontractors and suppliers.

 

1104.18The contractor shall make specific recruitment efforts, both written and oral, directed at all minority and women’s training organizations within the contractor’s recruitment area.

 

1104.19The contractor shall encourage present employees to assist in the recruitment of minorities and women for employment.

 

1104.20The contractor shall validate all qualifications, selection requirements, and tests in accordance with the guidelines of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

 

1104.21The contractor shall make good faith efforts to provide afterschool, summer and vacation employment to minority youths and young women.

 

1104.22The contractor shall develop on-the-job training opportunities, and participate and assist in any association or employer group training programs relevant to the contractor’s employee needs.

 

1104.23The contractor shall continually inventory and evaluate all minority and female personnel for promotion opportunities.

 

1104.24The contractor shall make sure that seniority practices, job classifications, qualifications, and the like, do not have a discriminatory effect on minorities and women.

 

1104.25The contractor shall make certain that all facilities and company activities are nonsegregated.

 

1104.26The contractor shall continually monitor all personnel activities to ensure that its EEO policy is being carried out.

 

1104.27The contractor may utilize minority banking facilities as depositories for funds which may be involved, directly or indirectly, in the performance of the contract.

 

1104.28The contractor shall employ minority and female workers without respect to union membership in sufficient numbers to meet the minority and female employment standards, if the experience of the contractor with any labor union from which it will secure employees does not indicate that it will refer sufficient minorities and females to meet its minority and female employment standards.

 

1104.29The contractor shall ensure that all of its employees, as well as those of its subcontractors, are made knowledgeable about the contractor’s equal opportunity policy.

 

1104.30[Reserved]

 

1104.31Each contractor shall include in all bid invitations or other pre-bid communications, written or otherwise, with respect to prospective subcontractors, the standards, as applicable, which are required under this chapter.

 

1104.32Whenever a contractor subcontracts a portion of the work in any trade, craft or skill, it shall include in the subcontract, its commitment made under this chapter, as applicable, which shall be adopted by its subcontractors who shall be bound thereby and by the regulations of this chapter to the full extent as if it were the prime contractor.

 

1104.33The prime contractor shall give notice to the Director and the Contracting Agency of any refusal or failure of any subcontractor to fulfill its obligations under this chapter.

 

1104.34Failure of compliance by any subcontractor shall be treated in the same manner as a failure by the prime contractor.

 

source

Final Rulemaking published at 33 DCR 4952, 4954-59 (August 15, 1986).