Affirmative Action and Employment

Nondiscrimination requires the elimination of all existing discriminatory conditions, whether purposeful or inadvertent. An employer must carefully and systematically examine all of its employment policies to be sure that they do not operate to the detriment of any person on grounds of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The employer must also ensure that the practices of those responsible in matters of employment, including all supervisors, are nondiscriminatory.

Affirmative Action requires the employer to do more than ensure employment neutrality with regard to race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. As the phrase implies, affirmative action requires the employer to make additional efforts to recruit, hire, and promote qualified members of groups formerly excluded, even if that exclusion cannot be traced to particular discriminatory actions on the part of the employer. The premise of the affirmative action concept is that unless positive steps are undertaken to overcome the effects of unintentional discrimination, a benign neutrality in employment practices will tend to perpetuate the status quo indefinitely.

• Foster effective affirmative action/equal opportunity programs nationwide.
• Establish and maintain ethical standards for the profession.
• Liaison with federal, state and local agencies involved with equal opportunity compliance in employment and education.
• Promote the professional growth and development of our members.
• Sponsor education and training programs.
• Sponsor and conduct research.