ABSTRACT
With the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Act in 1972, federal prohibitions against discrimination in hiring, firing, promotion, compensation, and other conditions of employment were extended for the first time to state and local governments. Since then, precisely what is entailed by “equal employment opportunity” and the related (if even more controversial) policy of “affirmative action” has become the focus of heated debate. Nevertheless, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that monitors and enforces the implementation of the 1972 act, has left little room for doubt about what it expects of state and local governments. Employers are advised that:
The most important measure of an Affirmative Action Program is its RESULTS.
Extensive efforts to develop procedures, analyses, data collection systems, report forms and file written policy statements are meaningless unless the end product will be measure-able, yearly improvements in hiring, training and promotion of minorities and females in all parts of your organization. 1
