Minnesota Administrative Rules
Agency 149 - Human Rights Department
Chapter 5000 - COMPLAINTS; PROCEDURES; COMPLIANCE
CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTOR'S AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLANS
Part 5000.3535 - EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY CLAUSE REQUIRED

Universal Citation: MN Rules 5000.3535

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 13, September 23, 2024

Each contracting state agency and each contractor must include the following equal opportunity clause in each of its covered state and state-assisted construction contracts (and modifications, renewals, or extensions if not included in the original contract):

"STANDARD STATE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT SPECIFICATIONS

1. The contractor must implement the specific affirmative action standards provided in paragraphs 4(a) to (o) of these specifications. The goals set forth in the solicitation from which this contract resulted are expressed as percentages of the total hours of employment and training of minority and female utilization the contractor must reasonably be able to achieve in each construction trade in which it has employees in the covered area. The contractor must make substantially uniform progress toward its goals in each craft during the period specified.

2. Neither the provisions of any collective bargaining agreement, nor the failure by a union with whom the contractor has a collective bargaining agreement, to refer either minorities or women shall excuse the contractor's obligations under these specifications, Minnesota Statutes, section 363A.36 of the Minnesota Human Rights Act, or the rules adopted under the act.

3. In order for the nonworking training hours of apprentices and trainees to be counted in meeting the goals, such apprentices and trainees must be employed by the contractor during the training period, and the contractor must have made a commitment to employ the apprentices and trainees at the completion of their training, subject to the availability of employment opportunities. Trainees must be trained according to training programs approved by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, or the United States Department of Labor.

4. The contractor must take specific affirmative action to ensure equal employment opportunity. The evaluation of the contractor's compliance with these specifications must be based upon its effort to achieve maximum results from its actions. The contractor must document these efforts fully, and must implement affirmative action steps at least as extensive as the following:

(a) Make a good faith effort to maintain a working environment free of harassment, intimidation, and coercion at all sites, and in all facilities at which the contractor's employees are assigned to work. The contractor must specifically ensure that all lead supervisors, superintendents, and other on-site supervisory personnel are aware of and carry out the contractor's obligation to maintain such a working environment, with specific attention to minority or female persons working at such sites or in such facilities.

(b) Establish and maintain a current list of minority and female recruitment sources, provide written notification to minority and female recruitment sources and to community organizations when the contractor or its unions have employment opportunities available, and maintain a record of the organizations' responses.

(c) Maintain a current file of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of each minority and female off-the-street applicant and minority or female referral from a union, a recruitment source, or community organization and of what action was taken with respect to each person. If the person was sent to the union hiring hall for referral and was not referred back to the contractor by the union or, if referred, not employed by the contractor, this must be documented in the file with the reason therefore, along with whatever additional actions the contractor may have taken.

(d) Provide immediate written notification to the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights when the union or unions with which the contractor has a collective bargaining agreement has not referred to the contractor a minority person or woman sent by the contractor, or when the contractor has other information that the union referral process has impeded the contractor's efforts to meet its obligations.

(e) Develop on-the-job training opportunities and/or participate in training programs for the areas which expressly include minorities and women, including upgrading programs and apprenticeship and trainee programs relevant to the contractor's employment needs, especially those programs funded or approved by the state of Minnesota. The contractor must provide notice of these programs to the sources compiled under (b).

(f) Disseminate the contractor's equal employment opportunity policy by providing notice of the policy to unions and training programs and requesting their cooperation in assisting the contractor in meeting its equal employment opportunity obligations; by including it in any policy manual and collective bargaining agreement; by publicizing it in the company newspaper, annual report, etc.; by specific review of the policy with all management personnel and with all minority and female employees at least once a year; and by posting the company equal employment opportunity policy on bulletin boards accessible to all employees at each location where construction work is performed.

(g) Review, at least annually, the company's equal employment opportunity policy and affirmative action obligations under these specifications with all employees having any responsibility for hiring, assignment, layoff, termination, or other employment decisions including specific review of these items with on-site supervisory personnel such as superintendents, general lead supervisors, etc., prior to the first day of construction work at any job site. A written record must be made and maintained identifying the time and place of these meetings, persons attending, subject matter discussed, and disposition of the subject matter.

(h) Disseminate the contractor's equal employment opportunity policy externally by including it in any advertising in the news media, specifically including minority and female news media, and providing written notification to and discussing the contractor's equal employment opportunity policy with other contractors and subcontractors with whom the contractor does or anticipates doing business.

(i) Direct its recruitment efforts, both oral and written, to minority, female, and community organizations, to schools with minority and female students, and to minority and female recruitment and training organizations serving the contractor's recruitment area and employment needs. Not later than one month prior to the date for the acceptance of applications for apprenticeship or other training by any recruitment source the contractor must send written notification to organizations such as the above, describing the openings, screening procedures, and tests to be used in the selection process.

(j) Encourage present minority and female employees to recruit other minority persons and women and, where reasonable, provide after school, summer, and vacation employment to minority and female youth both on the site and in other areas of a contractor's work force.

(k) Conduct, at least annually, an inventory and evaluation at least of all minority and female personnel for promotional opportunities and encourage these employees to seek or to prepare for, through appropriate training, such opportunities.

(l) Ensure that seniority practices, job classifications, work assignments, and other personnel practices do not have a discriminatory effect by continually monitoring all personnel and employment related activities to ensure that the equal employment opportunity policy and the contractor's obligations under these specifications are being carried out.

(m) Ensure that all facilities and company activities are nonsegregated except that separate or single-user toilet and necessary changing facilities shall be provided to assure privacy between the sexes.

(n) Document and maintain a record of all solicitations of offers for subcontracts from minority and female construction contractors and suppliers, including circulation of solicitations to minority and female contractor associations and other business associations.

(o) Conduct a review, at least annually, of all supervisors' adherence to and performance under the contractor's equal employment opportunity policies and affirmative action obligations.

5. Contractors are encouraged to participate in voluntary associations which assist in fulfilling one or more of their affirmative action obligations (4(a) to (o)). The efforts of a contractor association, joint contractor-union, contractor-community, or other similar group of which the contractor is a member and participant, may be asserted as fulfilling any one or more of its obligations under 4(a) to (o) of these specifications provided that the contractor actively participates in the group, makes every effort to assure that the group has a positive impact on the employment of minorities and women in the industry, ensures that the concrete benefits of the program are reflected in the contractor's minority and female workforce participation, makes a good faith effort to meet its individual goals and timetables, and can provide access to documentation which demonstrates the effectiveness of actions taken on behalf of the contractor. The obligation to comply, however, is the contractor's and failure of such a group to fulfill an obligation must not be defense for the contractor's noncompliance.

6. A single goal for minorities and a separate single goal for women have been established. The contractor, however, is required to provide equal employment opportunity and to take affirmative action for all minority groups, both female and male, and all women, both minority and nonminority. Consequently, the contractor may be in violation of part 5000.3520 if a particular group is employed in a substantially disparate manner (for example, even though the contractor has achieved its goals for women generally, the contractor may be in violation of part 5000.3520 if a specific minority group is underutilized).

7. The contractor must not use the goals and timetables or affirmative action standards to discriminate against any person because of race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or age.

8. The contractor must not enter into any subcontract with any person or firm debarred from government contracts under the federal Executive Order 11246 or a local human rights ordinance, or whose certificate of compliance has been suspended or revoked pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 363A.36.

9. The contractor must carry out such sanctions for violation of these specifications and of the equal opportunity clause, including suspension, termination, and cancellation of existing contracts as may be imposed or ordered pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 363A.36, and its implementing rules. Any contractor who fails to carry out such sanctions will be in violation of these specifications and Minnesota Statutes, section 363A.36.

10. The contractor, in fulfilling its obligations under these specifications, must implement specific affirmative action steps, at least as extensive as those standards prescribed in paragraph 4, so as to achieve maximum results from its efforts to ensure equal employment opportunity. If the contractor fails to comply with the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, section 363A.36, its implementing rules, or these specifications, the commissioner must proceed in accordance with part 5000.3570.

11. The contractor must designate a responsible official to monitor all employment-related activity to ensure that the company equal employment opportunity policy is being carried out, to submit reports relating to the provisions hereof as may be required by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, and to keep records. Records must at least include for each employee the name, address, telephone numbers, construction trade, union affiliation if any, employee identification number when assigned, social security number, race, sex, status (for example, mechanic, apprentice trainee, helper, or laborer), dates of changes in status, hours worked per week in the indicated trade, rate of pay, and locations at which the work was performed. Records must be maintained in an easily understandable and retrievable form; however, to the degree that existing records satisfy this requirement, contractors must not be required to maintain separate records.

12. Nothing provided in this part will be construed as a limitation upon the application of other state or federal laws which establish different standards of compliance or upon the application of requirements for the hiring of local or other area residents."

Statutory Authority: MS s 363.074; 363A.37

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