(A) Full utilization. The following
provisions apply whenever an administrative review under paragraph (C) of this
rule finds no need for apprenticeship program modification to ensure compliance
with the equal employment opportunity (EEO) provisions of the rules in division
5101:11 of the Administrative Code, nor find any barriers to equal opportunity
for female, minority, or disabled people, and a deficiency analysis under
paragraph (D) of this rule reveals no under-utilization of female, minority,
Hispanic, or disabled people in the program.
(1) Minimum contents. The
sponsor's affirmative action plan (AAP) may be limited to describing the
methods for reviews and analyses under rule 5101:11-6-02 of the Administrative
Code; the community collaboration activities under paragraph (D) of the present
rule; and the activities mandated under Chapter 5101:11-5 of the Administrative
Code, for the purpose of meeting general EEO requirements.
(2) Other activities. As
a matter of best practice, sponsors are encouraged to consider conducting the
following outreach, recruitment, and retention activities, to assist sponsors
in avoiding barriers to equal opportunity in apprenticeship.
(a) Targeted activities described in paragraph (C) of this
rule;
(b) Exit interviews of each apprentice who leaves the
sponsor's apprenticeship program prior to receiving a certificate of
completion to understand better why the apprentice is leaving the program and
to help shape the sponsor's retention activities.
(B) Response to an administrative review
finding.
(1) When an
administrative review identifies a practice, policy, or employment decision
that creates a barrier to equal opportunity, the sponsor will revise such
policies accordingly and describe the change both in the AAP and the
standards.
(2) When an
administrative review identifies an apprenticeship program modification that is
needed to ensure fulfillment of the EEO and affirmative action obligations
under the rules in division 5101:11 of the Administrative Code, the sponsor is
to promptly implement such modification and describe it both in the AAP and the
standards.
(3) Where a sponsor has
determined pursuant to such a review that there are problem areas with respect
to its outreach, recruitment, and retention activities for individuals with
disabilities, the sponsor will undertake targeted activities as prescribed
under paragraph (C) of this rule in response to a finding of under-utilization,
and will provide for these activities in its AAP.
(C) Response to a deficiency finding.
Targeted activities. Where a deficiency analysis finds underutilization of
female, minority, and/or Hispanic individuals in apprenticeship resulting in
adoption of a utilization goal, the sponsor will undertake targeted outreach,
recruitment, and retention activities that are likely to increase participation
by the affected group(s) in apprenticeship, and to expand the opportunity of
individuals in such group(s) to become eligible for apprenticeship selection,
and improve retention of apprentices from the group(s) affected. These
activities are to include substantive working relationships with community
organizations and leaders that have an interest in serving the target
populations. In its AAP, every sponsor subject to the targeted activities
requirement, will: set forth the specific targeted outreach, recruitment, and
retention activities it plans to take for the upcoming program year; list the
community entities with which the sponsor will collaborate; and describe the
nature of this collaboration. Targeted activities are to include at a
minimum:
(1) Dissemination in the
following manner, of information concerning the nature and benefits of
apprenticeship, requirements for admission to apprenticeship, availability of
apprenticeship opportunities, sources of apprenticeship applications, and the
equal opportunity policy of the sponsor.
(a) Programs that accept applications only at specified intervals
will disseminate such information at least thirty days in advance of the
earliest date for application at each interval. Programs that adopt this
strategy and that customarily take applications throughout the year, will
disseminate the information regularly, but not less than
semiannually.
(b) This information is to be disseminated to the council office,
local high schools, local community colleges, local vocational, career and
technical schools, employment service offices, Ohio public workforce system
local job centers, women's centers, outreach programs, and community-based
organizations which can effectively reach minorities and women, and other
groups serving the underutilized group.
(c) The sponsor is to advertise openings for apprenticeship
opportunities by publishing advertisements in media, electronic or otherwise,
which provide contact with the groups targeted for recruitment, as well as
media that reach the general public in areas where the program sponsor operates
and those that have wide circulation in the relevant recruitment
areas.
(2) Participation in
annual workshops conducted by employment service agencies for the purpose of
familiarizing school, employment service, and other appropriate personnel with
the apprenticeship system and current opportunities therein.
(3) Internal
communication of the sponsor's equal opportunity policy in such a manner
as to foster understanding, acceptance and support among the sponsor's
various officers, supervisors, employees, and members, and to encourage such
persons to take the necessary action to aid the sponsor in meeting its
obligations under division 5101:11 of the Administrative Code.
(4) Utilization of
journey workers to assist in the implementation of the sponsor's
affirmative action plan, for instance by participating in recruitment events,
EEO training, related conferences, apprentice orientation, etc.
(D) Collaboration with other entities.
Every AAP is to include the following provisions.
(1) The sponsor is to
collaborate with other organizations (for instance, community organizations and
other sponsors) in positive recruitment and preparation of female, Hispanic,
and/or racial minority applicants for apprenticeship. Where appropriate and
feasible, such initiatives will provide for pre-testing of experience and
training. Wherever possible, such activities are to include operation of a
state-recognized pre-apprenticeship program. If no such program exists in the
area, the sponsor will seek to develop one, and/or to obtain financial
assistance for such efforts. Any apprenticeship program that trains for a
traditionally male occupation, is to engage in one or more initiatives to
prepare and encourage women to enter that training.
(2) To encourage the
establishment and use of programs designed to prepare significant numbers of
female and minority individuals for apprenticeship, through such activities as
pre-apprenticeship and preparatory occupational training, a sponsor's
affirmative action is to ensure that people served by these initiatives are
afforded full and equal opportunity for admission to the apprenticeship
program.
(E) Updating plans. Sponsors are to
review their affirmative action plans annually and update them where necessary,
including the goals. In the course of this review, the sponsor
will:
(1) Evaluate and document
after every selection cycle for registering apprentices the overall
effectiveness of affirmative action activities;
(2) Refine its targeted
outreach, recruitment, and retention activities as needed; and
(3) Maintain records of
its targeted outreach, recruitment, and retention activities and records
related to its evaluation of these activities.
(F) Compliance. Compliance with the
requirements of this rule will be determined by whether a sponsor that has a
finding of under-utilization has met its goals, or failing that, whether it has
made good faith efforts to meet them. Its "good faith efforts" will
be judged by whether it is following its affirmative action plan and attempting
to make it work, including evaluation and changes in its program where
necessary to obtain the maximum effectiveness toward the attainment of its
goals. In the event of the failure of the sponsor to meet its goals, it will be
given an opportunity to demonstrate that it has made every "good faith
effort" to meet its commitments. All the actions of the sponsor will be
reviewed and evaluated in determining whether such good faith efforts have been
made.
(G) Adjustment of program standards for
affirmative action. Where a sponsor, despite its good faith efforts, fails to
meet its goals within a reasonable period, the council office may direct that
specific changes be made in its affirmative action plan and/or standards,
including where appropriate, its planned selection procedure(s), in order to
obtain maximum effectiveness toward the attainment of its goals.
(H) Nondiscrimination. The commitments
contained in the sponsor's AAP are not intended, and are not to be used,
to discriminate against any qualified applicant or apprentice on the basis of
race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age over forty years, Hispanic
ethnicity, sexual orientation, genetic information, or disability. In
establishing utilization goals, the following principles apply:
(1) Utilization goals are
not to be rigid and inflexible quotas for the selection of particular groups as
apprentices.
(2) Utilization goals
will not provide a sponsor with a justification to extend a preference to any
individual, select an individual, or adversely affect an individual's
status as an apprentice, on the basis of that person's race, sex, or
ethnicity.
(3) Utilization goals
will not create set-asides for specific groups, nor are they intended to
directly achieve equality of completion rates or career success among
apprentices from all demographic groups.
(4) Utilization goals are
not to be used to supersede eligibility requirements for apprenticeship.
Affirmative action plans prescribed by rules under division 5101:11 of the
Administrative Code, do not require sponsors to select a person who lacks
qualifications to participate in the apprenticeship program successfully, or
select a less-qualified person in preference to a more qualified
one.
