fta compliance 101: keeping up with circular 4704 · •availability analysis (data report)...

Federal Transit Agency Compliance 101: Keeping up with Circular 4704.1A

Biddle Consulting Group Inc.

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Agenda

▪ What is an EEOP?

▪ Who Needs to Create an EEOP?

▪ EEOP Component: Narrative

▪ EEOP Component: Reports

▪ Implementing Your EEOP

▪ Audit Process

▪ Questions and Answers

WHAT IS AN EEOP?

What is an EEOP?

▪ The EEOP is a “detailed, results-oriented set of procedures designed to ensure Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant recipients meet EEO requirements in employment-related matters.”

▪ It outlines the steps necessary for the agency to achieve and ensure equal employment opportunities throughout their employment practices

What is an EEOP?

▪ The EEOP consists of a narrative portion and tables of analyses

▪ The narrative portion is written to describe policies and procedures, designate responsibility within the agency, and establish the framework for the analysis tables

▪ The analysis tables contain current employee, transactional, and availability data which is used to establish the agency’s baseline and reasonably attainable utilization goals based on gender and race

What is an EEOP?

▪ The EEOP Program Elements are:

• Statement of Policy

• Plan for Internal and External Dissemination

• Designation of Responsibility

• Availability Analysis (data report)

• Utilization Analysis with Goals and Timetables (data report)

• Assessment of Employment Practices (part narrative, part data

report)

• Plan for monitoring and reporting

WHO NEEDS AN EEOP?

Who Needs an EEOP?

▪ Any applicant, recipient, sub-recipient, or contractor that receives FTA funding must comply with applicable Federal civil rights laws.

▪ Larger agencies:

• Any applicant, recipient, sub-recipient, or contractor that meets both

of the following criteria must implement all of the EEOP elements:

✓Employs 100 or more transit-related employees

✓Requests/receives capital or operating assistance in excess or $1 million

or planning assistance in excess of $250k

Who Needs an EEOP?

▪ Smaller agencies:

• Agencies between 50 and 99 transit-related employees are required to

prepare and maintain the narrative portion of the EEOP

• They are not required to conduct a utilization analysis with goals and

timetables or submit the EEOP every four years

• However, they are required to provide the EEOP to the FTA if

requested

EEOP COMPONENT: NARRATIVE

EEOP Component: Narrative

▪ The EEOP narrative consists of two portions:

• Policy and Procedural Section

• Accompaniment to Reports


▪ Statement of Policy

• The policy statement expresses the commitment to EEO

• It is a reminder that all employees are protected under EEO laws

• Must contain contact information for the designated EEO Officer


▪ Sample Policy Statement


▪ Internal and External Dissemination

• Agencies must publicize their EEO Policy internally by:

✓ Posting the policy statement in a conspicuous location (breakroom,

website, etc.) and including it in employee handbooks and training

materials

✓Posting other applicable EEO materials (Labor law posters, etc.) in break

rooms and personnel offices

✓Meeting with top management to discuss

✓Conducting periodic EEO training sessions

✓Conducting training sessions for new supervisors an managers within 90

days of their appointment

• These actions and policies should be outlined in the narrative


▪ Internal and External Dissemination

• Agencies must publish their EEO Policy externally by:

✓Disseminating the EEO Policy statement in communication with

outreach and recruitment agencies

✓Any recruitment ad should state that the agency is “an equal opportunity

employer”

• These actions and policies should be outlined in the narrative


▪ Designation of Responsibility

• FTA requires agencies to designate an executive as the EEO Officer.

• The EEO Officer must be given sufficient staff to carry out the EEOP

• There must not be any conflict of interest between the EEO Officer’s

role and any other role they may hold within the agency

(e.g. HR Director)

• FTA requires the agency to also designate responsibilities for

managers and supervisors*

*See Chapter 2, Part 5 of the circular for specific responsibilities


▪ Sample Designation of Responsibility


▪ Assessment of Employment Practices

• This helps the agency get to the root of the problem after any

underutilization has been identified

• Practices must be identified in narrative and statistical formats

✓Narrative format will describe any observed barriers and corrective

actions (i.e. utilization goal identified lack of female or minority

applicants identified corrective action: outreach and recruitment that

targets females and minorities)

✓Statistical format will compare the ratio between demographic groups for

each employment practice (e.g. applicants vs. hires)*

*Discussed in later slides


▪ Assessment of Employment Practices

• FTA requires the agency to evaluate every step in the employee

selection process

✓Testing

o Any test used must have an explanation of the administration procedures

o Tests should be properly validated per FTA guidance!

✓Transfers and Promotions

✓Seniority Practices

✓Training

✓Compensation and Benefits

✓Disciplinary Actions and Terminations


▪ Monitoring and Reporting System

• FTA requires agencies to monitor EEO Components and describe

procedures to determine EEO compliance of sub-recipients and

contractors

• Agencies must also have a clearly defined complaint process to ensure

employees know how to file a complaint

• FTA also requires agencies to maintain records on applicants,

promotions, transfers, terminations, training opportunities, etc


▪ Monitoring and Reporting System

• EEOPs must describe the frequency and results of:

✓Meetings between CEO and EEO Officer to discuss progress

✓Meetings between EEO Officer and managers

✓Meetings between EEO Officer and hiring personnel to discuss current

goals and statistics

▪ FTA also requires a list of sub-recipients/contractors, proof of review of their EEOPs, an organizational chart of the agency with relationships between department heads, and a copy of the goals and timetables chart from the previous submission

EEOP COMPONENT: REPORTS

EEOP Component: Reports

▪ Workforce Analysis

• Includes the number of employees for each racial category broken out

for males and females, as well as salary ranges for each job category or

EEO-4 category

✓Per the Circular, agencies are also encouraged to conduct a utilization

analysis by EEO-4 category, department, and rank of employee

o For clarity, Biddle Consulting Group recommends submitting the following:

➢ A Workforce Analysis, which contains the job titles (or EEO-4 categories) in each

department or organizational unit with gender and race detail as well as salary

ranges

➢ A Job Group Analysis, which contains the job titles and their respective race and

gender information broken out by job group (or EEO-4 category)


▪ Sample Workforce Analysis


▪ Sample Job Group Analysis


▪ Availability Analysis

• An availability analysis identifies the availability of minorities and

women in their relevant recruiting areas, both geographic and internal

✓For each job group, agencies should identify which recruiting areas are a

factor in their placements (Local, National, or Internal [promotion or

transfer])

✓Agencies must compile race and gender information for their identified

recruiting areas (census data, internal job group data, etc.)


▪ Sample Availability Analysis


▪ Utilization Analysis

• The utilization analysis compares the demographic information

identified in the job group analysis with the available demographic

data (as identified in the availability analysis)

✓This compares what you currently look like (job group analysis) to what

you should look like (availability analysis)


▪ Goals and Timetables

• Once you have compared your incumbency to the availability, you will

be able to establish goals and timetables

✓In instances where your current incumbency is less than the identified

availability (within a whole person), a goal will be established

✓The magnitude of the goal will depend on how big the difference is

between your incumbency to availability


▪ Goals and Timetables

• Once the goal is established, the agency must come up with a timeline

to reasonably achieve that goal, both long-term and short-term

✓FTA recommends agencies utilize current and projected vacancies to

establish a timetable for eliminating the goals

o For example, if an agency is underutilized by three whole people for

Hispanic Males in one job group and the agency anticipates having four

vacancies in the next four years, the long-term goal would be to make three

Hispanic Male placements into that job group in the next four years. The

short-term goal would be to make one Hispanic Male placement in the next

year


▪ Sample Utilization Analysis with Goals and Timetables


▪ Statistical Impact of Employment Practices (Four-Fifths Analysis)

• This analysis compares data from your various personnel practices to

examine whether a difference between groups is observed

• Typical employment practices include:

✓Applicants vs. Hires

✓Those available for a promotion vs. Promoted

✓Those available for training vs. Trained

✓Those available for termination vs. Retained

• If the selection rate of one group is not at least 80% of the selection

rate of the highest-selected group, it will be flagged as a potential issue

and should be addressed in the narrative


▪ Sample Four-Fifths Analysis:

IMPLEMENTING YOUR EEOP

Implementing Your EEOP

▪ EEOP must be updated, submitted and approved every four years (for agencies that meet the employee threshold)

▪ EEO Officer’s job is not finished once the EEOP is complete; it has actually just begun

▪ Begin efforts to remedy problem areas as soon as possible


▪ An effective method of capturing necessary data is key to paving the way for EEO compliance

▪ Without a reliable method of keeping track of applicants, hires, promotions, disciplinary actions, etc. there will be no way to accurately analyze the data for the EEOP

• Reliable HRIS systems, applicant tracking systems, etc. are key


▪ Agencies should strive for consistency in the methods and techniques used by hiring managers, supervisors, and recruiters

• Inadequately trained managers and supervisors can unknowingly

contribute to utilization goals and disparity

▪ If you are unsure of where to start or are overwhelmed by the various pieces of the puzzle, GET HELP!!

AUDIT PROCESS

Audit Process

▪ FTA is required to conduct compliance reviews

▪ They may review all or a portion of the agency's compliance

▪ EEO complaints or prior findings may increase the likelihood of a compliance review

▪ If a complaint is received and approved for investigation, FTA will conduct a compliance review

QUESTIONS?

fta compliance 101: keeping up with circular 4704 · •availability analysis (data report)...

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