EEO
Introduction
The Minnesota Merit System’s (MMS) Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policies are administered by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) Equal Opportunity and Access division (EOAD).
Purpose
The purpose of these Guidelines is to establish minimum affirmative action and equal employment opportunity standards and provide a consistent framework with regard to equal employment opportunity and affirmative action in MMS county/multi-county human services agencies. The Guidelines continue to request each MMS county/multi-county human services agency to adopt, revise, and/or develop equal opportunity and affirmative action guidelines to ensure equal employment opportunity and affirmative action in MMS county/multi-county human services agency workforces.
Policy
It is the policy of the MMS that county/multi-county human services agencies conduct all employment practices without regard to race, color, political affiliation, creed, religion, national origin, disability, age, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, sex, membership or activity in a local commission, or sexual orientation. Equal employment opportunity under this policy includes, but is not limited to the following: recruitment, examination, appointment, tenure, compensation, classifications, promotion, or other activities in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
A program of affirmative action will be maintained to eliminate barriers to equal employment opportunity and to encourage the employment and advancement of qualified females, minorities and individuals with disabilities when these groups are underrepresented in a county/multi-county human service agency’s workforces in any job category.
Responsibilities
MMS county/multi-county human services agency directors have overall responsibility for implementing the MMS equal employment opportunity and affirmative action guidelines throughout that agency, including establishing specific internal procedures that minimally meet the standards provided by the MMS guidelines.
Role of DHS
The DHS (EOAD) provides consultation, technical assistance, recruitment, training, and goal-setting review and monitoring of MMS human service agencies to ensure affirmative action and equal employment opportunity in these agencies.
Scope of Guidelines
All MMS county/multi-county human services agencies and its employees must comply with equal employment opportunity and affirmative action guidelines. Any Minnesota county/multi-county may choose to create a county/multi-countywide affirmative action plan and have it approved by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which will issue a certificate of compliance for approved plans. Alternatively, a county/multi-county may choose to adopt the MMS equal employment opportunity and affirmative action guidelines in this bulletin for its human services agency.
Minnesota Rules, part 9575.0090, subpart 2a, require that each MMS human services agency have an affirmative action plan, which must contain the following:
- A policy defining and prohibiting discriminatory harassment, including sexual harassment;
- An internal discrimination complaint policy and procedure that includes notification of DHS EOAD of complaints that are brought, and their resolution;
- Provision for appointment of a person to serve as a liaison between the MMS county/multi-county human services agency and DHS EOAD, and to have responsibility for implementation of the guidelines within the agency;
- Provision of the notification of DHS EOAD of periodic hiring goals established by the county/multicounty human services agency; and
- Provision for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title I, which prohibits discrimination against disabled employees or job applicants.
Minnesota state law does not require that Minnesota counties and political subdivisions have an affirmative action plan certified by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in order to receive any state funds or engage in contracting with the state. Nevertheless, this does not exempt MMS county/multi-county human services agencies from the requirement of the MMS rules, as indicated above.
MMS County/Multi-County Human Services Agency Action Required
In order to comply with Minnesota Merit System Rules, part 9575.0090, subpart 2a, your agency should choose one of the two courses of action. Your agency may:
- Adopt the proffered MMS system equal employment opportunity and affirmative action guidelines as your agency’s equal opportunity and affirmative action plan and implement the guidelines within your agency, including developing hiring goals where workforce disparities exist and submit a letter indicating the adoption of those guidelines to DHS EOAD; or
- Adopt an equal opportunity and affirmative action plan that is certified by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and submit a copy of the certificate of compliance to EOAD. If your county/multi-county agency already has a certified plan, your agency’s adoption of that plan meets requirements under MMS rules.
Send this information to the attention of the Minnesota Merit System Consultant, Minnesota Department of Human Services, Equal Opportunity and Access division, MMS Consultant, Box 64997, St. Paul, MN 55164-0097.
Policies and Requirements
Prohibition of Discriminatory Treatment
Purpose: To establish a means for maintaining a work environment free of discriminatory treatment in MMS county/multi-county human services agencies.
Statement: MMS county/multi-county human services agencies shall provide a work environment free of any form of unlawful discriminatory treatment, including harassment.
Authority:
- United States Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII
- United States Equal Pay Act of 1963
- United States Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
- United State Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Title I
- Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008
- United States Civil Rights Act of 1991
- Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, Title II
- Minnesota Human Rights Act
Discrimination Complaint Handling
Purpose: To provide an internal option to employees who believes they were discriminated against because of race, color, political affiliation, creed, religion, national origin, disability, age, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, sex, membership or activity in a local commission, or sexual orientation.
Statement: While employees of MMS county/multi-county human services agencies have the right to file discrimination complaints with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights or other enforcement agencies at any time, complainants are urged to seek out internal administrative remedies first.
Anyone bringing an employment discrimination complaint shall do so without fear of reprisal, coercion, or intimidation.
Discrimination complaints and relevant investigative data and findings will all be handled in accordance with provisions of the Minnesota Data Practices Act, and the ADA, Title I.
The discrimination complaint handling process will minimally include:
- A method to resolve both formal and informal complaints,
- Notification of DHS (EOAD) and
- A timely response to all complaints.
Authority:
- United States Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII
- United States Equal Pay Act of 1963
- United States Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
- United States Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Title I
- Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008
- United States Civil Rights Act of 1991
- The Minnesota Human Rights Act
- The Minnesota Data Practices Act
- Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, Title II
Prohibition of Discrimination against Individuals with Disabilities
Purpose: To provide work environments free of unlawful discrimination against applicants and employees with disabilities. Together the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) extend federal civil rights protection individuals with disabilities.
Statement: MMS county/multi-county human services agencies shall provide a work environment free of any form of unlawful discrimination. This includes removing barriers to application of employment and ensuring that qualified employees with disabilities are not discriminated against.
The most significant provisions of the ADA with regard to MMS county/multi-county human services agencies are included in Title I, which prohibit employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in matters of employment, including the application and hiring process. The provisions in Title I of the ADA are broader in scope than, but similar to, the Minnesota Human Rights Act (Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 363A), and to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Volume 29 of the United States Code, section 794.
ADA regulations make clear that employers, including all state and local governments, must comply with the employment provisions of Title I. The ADA prohibits discrimination against an otherwise qualified individual with a disability with regard to the following:
- Job application procedures, including recruitment and advertising;
- Hiring, firing, and advancement; and
- Compensation, training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment such as tenure, layoff, leave, and employee benefits.
Reasonable Accommodations: If a person is qualified to perform the essential functions of a job except for limitations caused by a disability, the employer must consider whether or not that person could perform those functions with reasonable accommodation.
An employer is required to accommodate a known disability of a qualified applicant or employee unless it would impose an undue hardship. Accommodations are determined by the specifics of the situation and provided on an individual basis.
Interactive Process: The action to accommodate is generally triggered by a request from an applicant or employee with a disability. However, in certain instances, an employer has an obligation to make inquiries about an individual’s need for accommodation. For example, when an employer observes that an applicant or employee has a disability that may prevent him or her from understanding the need to request an accommodation, the employer should initiate a discussion about the possible need for accommodation. If the individual with a disability cannot suggest an appropriate accommodation in such circumstances, the employer should work with the individual to identify an effective accommodation.
Undue Hardship: Deciding whether a request for a reasonable accommodation creates an undue hardship is determined on a case by case basis. If it is determined that a specific proposed or requested accommodation would impose an undue hardship on an employer, the employer is still obligated to identify another accommodation that would not impose a hardship. As long as an accommodation provides the person with the disability an equal opportunity to perform the essential function of the job, and enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment that other employees have access to, the accommodation need not be the best accommodation available, nor must it be the accommodation desired by the individual with a disability.
Threat to Health and Safety of Others: If an employer believes that an employee or applicant with a disability would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of self and others, and that a reasonable accommodation to the person’s disability would not eliminate the threat, the employer may determine the individual is not or is no longer qualified to perform the duties of their job. Such a determination must be based on objective facts, and must be specific to the situation and the individual, and cannot be based on speculation or the remote possibility of a threat or risk to the safety of others.
For a more detailed explanation of your obligations and responsibilities under the ADA, contact the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Numerous publications explaining the ADA and its requirements are available from these agencies and are online at their websites. You may also request technical assistance from the Minnesota DHS (EOAD), and from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Contact information for all of these agencies is included in Appendix III of these guidelines.
Authority:
- United States Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Title I
- Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008
- Minnesota Human Rights Act
Prohibition of Sexual Harassment
Purpose: To establish a means for maintaining a work environment free of sexual harassment in MMS county/multi-county human services agencies.
Statement: MMS county/multi-county human services agencies shall provide a work environment free of any form of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination and is covered under the same statutes as any kind of discriminatory treatment.
It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person’s sex. Sexual harassment can include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.
Sexual harassment can also include offensive remarks about a person’s sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general. The harasser can be either a woman or a man, as can the victim. Same-sex sexual harassment is prohibited as is opposite-sex harassment.
Although the law does not prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment action (such as the victim being fired or demoted, or involving employee’s placement on administrative leave, deprivation of ability to take promotional exam, and loss of pay and opportunities for investigative or other job experience).
The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or contractor.
Authority:
- Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII
- Minnesota Human Rights Act
Affirmative Action in Appointment and Selection Decisions
Purpose: To establish that affirmative action hiring goals are created and ensure they are considered when hiring decisions are made within job groups where a workforce disparity exists.
Statement: MMS county/multi-county human services agencies shall act affirmatively to recruit and hire a diverse workforce. When a vacancy occurs in a job group where a disparity exists, agencies shall utilize affirmative recruitment and hiring strategies to attempt to meet the workforce disparity. When fewer than three protected group candidates are on the eligible list, the MMS will use expanded certification to bring the number of eligible candidates certified to a total of three candidates from the protected group in which a disparity exits. The candidates certified shall be determined by their examination scores in accordance with MMS rules.
Authority:
- Minnesota Statutes, section 256.012, subdivision 1
- Minnesota Rules, part 9575.0620, subpart 7
Responsibilities, Duties, and Accountabilities
MMS Affirmative Action Guidelines: Responsibilities, duties, and accountabilities.
Equal Opportunity and Access division at the Minnesota DHS
Responsibilities
Equal Opportunity and Access division has oversight responsibility for and authority to monitor the MMS equal employment opportunity and affirmative action efforts in order to ensure compliance with federal and state laws and the MMS rules.
Duties
To monitor implementation of MMS county/multi-county human services agencies required affirmative action plans and their compliance with equal opportunity and affirmative action guidelines. To provide technical assistance, as requested, to MMS county/multi-county human services agencies in the implementation of their affirmative action plans.
Accountability
To the Commissioner or designee of the Minnesota DHS
MMS Personnel at the Minnesota DHS
Responsibilities
The Minnesota DHS MMS personnel have responsibility for ensuring all assessment and selection processes are job-related, and that there are no barriers or hindrances to affirmative action and equal employment opportunity in MMS county/multi-county human services agencies. They will also ensure that MMS county/multi-county human services agencies have the opportunity to act affirmatively in hiring within job categories where there are disparities.
Duties
- Publish job announcements for MMS county/multi-county human services agency openings, maintain communication with organizations in targeted communities for recruitment purposes, and conduct recruitment for professional and managerial staff.
- Expand certification, as necessary, to include protected group applicants when a disparity exists in the job class for which the MMS county/multi-county human services agency is hiring.
- Maintain a record of all competitive and promotional examination openings and appointments within agencies by gender and race.
- Review position descriptions and class specifications to ensure that they are accurate and that stated requirements are job-related.
- Ensure that selection processes are free of adverse impact.
Accountability
To the Commissioner or designee of the Minnesota DHS.
MMS County/Multi-county Human Services Agency Director
Responsibilities
The MMS county/multi-county human services agency director has responsibility for ensuring the overall implementation of the agency’s affirmative action and equal employment opportunity polices; and for compliance with fair employment practices; and with federal and state laws, and MMS rules.
Duties
- Communicate and demonstrate a commitment to the agency’s affirmative action and equal employment opportunity policies and to the MMS affirmative action guidelines.
- Set numerical hiring goals and develop action steps and timetables for recruiting and hiring women and minorities. Ensure that the agency actively recruits applicants with disabilities and provides equal employment opportunities.
- Notify DHS Equal Opportunity and Access division in January of each year of the agency’s progress and of activities engaged in to achieve affirmative action hiring goals during the reporting period.
- Resolve internal complaints of discrimination, and notify DHS Equal Opportunity and Access division in January of each year of all discrimination complaints brought by employees of the agency during the reporting period.
- Inform hiring supervisors of equal opportunity and affirmative action guidelines and encourage them to act affirmatively whenever an opportunity exists to hire a qualified protected group applicant into a job category where a disparity exists.
- Ensure that information about equal employment opportunity and affirmative action is disseminated to all MMS employees in the agency.
- Ensure that the workplace is free of discrimination.
- Designate a liaison to DHS Equal Opportunity and Access division and ensure that the liaison has the necessary information and knowledge to carry out the duties required of the liaison. The director will consult at least quarterly with the Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity (AA EEO) liaison for the purpose of reviewing the status of equal employment opportunities and affirmative action needs in the agency, including any discrimination complaint activity.
Accountability
To the county/multi-county agency’s director.
MMS County/Multi-county Human Services Agency Affirmative Action Liaison and Designee
Responsibilities
The MMS county/multi-county human services agency affirmative action liaison or designee has responsibility for ensuring compliance with MMS equal employment opportunity and affirmative action guidelines on a daily basis. The liaison will act in an advisory capacity to the agency director with regard to equal employment opportunities and affirmative action. The liaison will monitor the agency’s affirmative action and equal employment opportunity efforts to ensure compliance with federal and state laws and with MMS rules.
Duties
- Develop an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action policy statement and an affirmative action plan consistent with those policies.
- Implement the affirmative action plan, including:
- The internal and external distribution of the agency’s EEO and AA policies and the affirmative action plan;
- The establishment of affirmative action hiring goals, action steps, and timetables; o The active recruitment and employment of protected group applicants; and o The recruitment and utilization of businesses owned by protected group members.
- Conduct and/or coordinate employee training on and orientation to the agency’s EEO/AA policies and plan.
- Ensure that agency managers and superiors understand their responsibilities to take action to prevent the harassment of employees and applicants for employment.
- Ensure that minority, female, and employees with disabilities are provided equal opportunity in attending agency sponsored training and activities, and in benefit plans, pay, and other work related activities and conditions.
- Implement and maintain equal employment opportunity auditing, reporting, and record-keeping systems as a means of gauging the effectiveness of the agency’s affirmative action efforts, and of determining whether or not affirmative hiring goals have been attained.
- Actively liaise with DHS EOAD and with other relevant governmental enforcement agencies, and with DHS MMS personnel, as appropriate.
- Coordinate agency and employee support of community programs that may lead to equitable employment of women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities.
Accountability
To the county/multi-county agency’s director.
MMS Count/Multi-county Human Services Agency Managers and Supervisors
Responsibilities
MMS county/multi-county human services agency managers and supervisors have responsibility for ensuring compliance with the MMS equal employment opportunity and affirmative action guidelines and fair treatment of all agency employees.
Duties
- Assist the agency’s EEO/AA liaison with identifying and resolving problems related to equal employment opportunity and with eliminating barriers which inhibit or prevent equal employment opportunity and/or affirmative action.
- Consider qualified protected group members and where possible act affirmatively in hiring and promoting staff.
- Communicate and demonstrate a personal commitment to the agency’s EEO/AA policies and MMS affirmative action guidelines.
- Make recruitment recommendations to the EEO/AA liaison and assist the liaison with special recruitment projects.
- Ensure that all employees under your supervision receive and annual orientation to the agency’s affirmative action plan and equal employment opportunity policies.
- Identify, document, and address training needs related to equal employment opportunity and affirmative action.
Accountability
To the county/multi-county agency’s director.
MMS County/Multi-county Human Services Employees
Responsibilities
MMS county/multi-county human services agency employees at all levels shall be responsible for conducting themselves in accordance with the MMS rules and with state and federal laws by refraining from any actions which would interfere with any employee’s work performance with respect to that person’s race, creed, color, sex, national origin, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, reliance on public assistance, membership or activity in a local human rights commission, religion, political opinions or affiliations. Employees who believe they have been subjected to unlawful discrimination are encouraged to utilize the agency’s discrimination complaint procedure.
Each employee has the responsibility to become familiar with the MMS equal employment opportunity and affirmative action guidelines and the agencies’ policies on non-discrimination and the prevention of sexual and general harassment.
Accountability
To the county/multi-county agency’s director, management, and supervisors.
MMS Affirmative Action Guidelines
Dissemination of information
Internal Dissemination of Information
The ADA requires employers to post a notice stating the provisions of the ADA that apply to job applicants and employees. The notice must be posted in a place accessible to people in wheelchairs, and it must be made available in alternative formats for individuals with a vision loss or reading disabilities. This applies to MMS county/multi-county human services agencies.
In addition, MMS county/multi-county human services agencies must post on their official bulletin boards, accessible to all applicants, employees, and the public, a copy of the MMS EEO and AA guidelines, along with the agency’s most recent hiring goals, timetables proposed for meeting those goals, and the action steps to be taken to meet them.
Annually, the MMS county/multi-county human services agency’s director will transmit a letter or memo to agency staff affirming the organization’s commitment to affirmative action and equal opportunity in employment.
Additionally, the MMS county/multi-county human services agency will hold regular (at least biennial) training sessions for the purpose of ensuring that managers and supervisors understand the MMS EEO and AA guidelines and their responsibilities under the guidelines. Further, a review of these guidelines will be included in new employee orientation.
When appropriate, information about the MMS EEO and AA guidelines and the agency’s nondiscrimination and harassment-prevention policies will be included in internal publications.
External Dissemination of Information
MMS human services agencies must post on their official bulletin board, accessible to all applicants, employees, and the public, a copy of the MMS EEO and AA guidelines, along with the agency’s most recent hiring goals, timetables proposed for meeting those goals, and the action steps to be taken to meet them.
The phrase “An Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer” or similar will be included in all advertisements for MMS county/multi-county human services agency positions. These positions will be advertised in appropriate protected group publications, whether in print or electronically.
An assurance of non-discrimination will be included in all contracts for programs or other activities which receive any federal assistance.
A written expression of the agency’s position on equal employment and affirmative action will be included as appropriate in newspaper, magazine, and web-based advertising and/or brochures and like recruitment materials.
Audit and Evaluation
The MMS county/multi-county human services agency director or the appointed EEO/AA designee for that county/multi-county agency will determine annually whether or not minorities or females are underrepresented in the job categories utilized in the agency’s workforce. This will be done by comparing the availability of minority and female job candidates in the geographic recruitment area with the number of minorities and females who are actually employed in those job categories in the agency. If there is a disparity (under-representation) in any job category for either protected group, the agency is obligated to set hiring goals, determine action steps to be taken to achieve those hiring goals, and set timetables for executing the action steps.
A non-discrimination clause will be included in bargaining unit contracts and in purchasing agreements and contracts whenever possible.
In January of each year, the MMS county/multi-county human services agency director or the appointed EEO and AA designee for that county/multi-county will send to the Minnesota DHS Equal Opportunity and Access division a year-end summary of the agency’s equal employment and affirmative action activities for the previous year. The summary will include an evaluation of the effectiveness of those activities in achieving affirmative action hiring goals and in ensuring a workplace free of unlawful discrimination. The summary will include:
- Information about employment discrimination complaint activity, specifying the numbers and types of discrimination complaints and the status of their resolution;
- Information about recruitment activities conducted, specifying the sources of recruitment and the protected group community organizations contacted;
- The hiring goals set for the year and the action steps towards achieving those goals; and
- Information about all staff training and/or information sessions conducted related to affirmative action and equal employment opportunity.
Agencies are required to provide equal employment opportunities to, and encouraged to actively recruit individuals with disabilities.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Advisory
This information is available in accessible formats for people with disabilities by calling 651-431-3040 (voice) or by using your preferred relay service. For other information on disability rights and protections, contact the agency’s ADA coordinator.
For appendices with definitions, race and ethnicity categories, other resources and forms, visit Minnesota DHS.
