Goals and timetables are set by employers for the employment of people of color, women, and persons with disabilities along with time frames for achieving these goals. Unlike quotas and preferences, implementing affirmative action goals does not constitute a requirement that unqualified persons be hired into employment with the agency. Employers are encouraged to make good faith efforts to achieve these hiring goals. The objective is to hire the qualified candidate and to be inclusive of protected group members when they are in the candidate pool. There is a misconception that affirmative action allows managers and supervisors to hire unqualified protected group members.
Affirmative action is intended to make opportunities available to all qualified candidates.
Supervisors and managers need applicants' protected class information in order to hire affirmatively. Supervisors and managers frequently hire racial minorities, women and persons with disabilities even without protected class data. They do this by working with agency human resource and affirmative action personnel to create a process from beginning to end that is inclusive of protected group and non-protected group members, being aware of personal biases and assumptions, and considering all candidates. Recruitment of protected group members is only done when a disparity exists in the job classification of the job being filled. Unqualified people are hired because of affirmative action.