Labor Relations

Affirmative Action

Table of Contents

Table of Contents .1

Affirmative Action .2

References .8

Affirmative Action

It is an un-denied fact that discrimination continues to create inequality in our societies until today . This has called the attention of the authorities to end discrimination through some government regulations . One of these regulations is embedded in the concept of affirmative action . According to Kamalu and Kamalu (2004 , the term affirmative action refers to a series of measures intended to correct past discrimination of minorities , commonly blacks and women Meanwhile

, Shelton (1998 ) describes affirmative action as

Any effort taken to fully integrate our society by expanding educational , employment , and contracting opportunities to the multitude of gender , ethnic , national origin and handicapped-condition groups that have been and remain locked out of full economic , social , and /or political participation in the country

Another important definition is that given by Stein (1995 ) based on The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other government agencies According to her , affirmative action is one part of the effort to remedy the past and present discrimination and is considered essential to assuring that jobs are genuinely and equally accessible to qualified persons , without regard to sex , racial , or ethnic characteristics (Stein , 1995 . The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is in charged with all affirmative action issues in both the private and public organizations . With the growing recognition that discrimination still persists , government action has become more stringent to fight the same . In this regard , punishments have been provided for those found in violation of the equal employment opportunity provisions of law . In to avoid being prosecuted , companies , both public and private has incorporated in their policies the formulation of an Affirmative Action Plan to ensure the government that discrimination is being avoided and that equal employment opportunity is afforded to everyone in the organization

According to the article , Basic Guide to Affirmative Action (n .d , the concept of affirmative action applies to all employees but not to the members of the National Defence Force the National Intelligence Agency and those in the Secret Service . However , it applies to all employers with fifty or more workers earning income specified in the schedule employers in the municipalities and other state organs those employers bound to comply by virtue of a bargaining agreement and those employers who voluntarily agreed to abide by the policy on affirmative action (Basic Guide to Affirmative Action , n .d

An Affirmative Action Plan (AAP , according to Summary of an Affirmative Action Plan (n .d ) is a written program in which an employer details the steps it has taken and will take to ensure the right of all persons to advance on the basis of merit . An Affirmative Action Plan should have the following elements : policy statement designation of responsibilities organizational chart grievance procedures work force /availability analysis problems /barriers identification statement action statement goals and timetables (Summary of an Affirmative Action Plan , n .d

Policy Statement

A policy statement is a...