Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 40 - LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT › Part IX - Apprenticeship › Chapter 5 - Louisiana State Plan for Equal Opportunity in Apprenticeship › Section IX-509 - Affirmative Action Plans

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Adoption
				of Affirmative Action Plans. A sponsor's commitment to equal opportunity in
				recruitment, selection, employment, and training of apprentices shall include
				the adoption of a written affirmative action plan.
B. Definition of Affirmative Action.
				Affirmative action is not merely passive nondiscrimination. It includes
				procedures, methods, and programs for the identification, positive recruitment,
				training, and motivation of present and potential minority and female (minority
				and nonminority) apprentices, including the establishment of goals and
				timetables. It is action which will equalize opportunity in apprenticeship so
				as to allow full utilization of the work potential of minorities and women. The
				overall result to be sought is equal opportunity in apprenticeship for all
				individuals participating in or seeking entrance to the nation's labor
				force.
C. Outreach and Positive
				Recruitment. An acceptable affirmative action plan must also include adequate
				provision for outreach and positive recruitment that would reasonably be
				expected to increase minority and female participation in apprenticeship by
				expanding the opportunity of minorities and women to become eligible for
				apprentice selection. The affirmative action plan shall set forth the specific
				steps the sponsor intends to take in the areas listed below in order to achieve
				these objectives.
1. Disseminate Information
				Concerning the Nature of Apprenticeship, Availability of Apprenticeship
				Opportunities, Source of Apprenticeship Applicants, and the Equal Opportunity
				Policy of the Sponsor. For programs accepting applications only at specified
				intervals, such information shall be disseminated at least 30 days in advance
				of the earliest date for applications at each interval. For programs
				customarily receiving applications throughout the year, such information shall
				be regularly disseminated but not less than semi-annually. Such information
				shall be given to the apprenticeship division, U.S. Department of Labor, local
				schools, employment service offices, women's centers, outreach programs, and
				community organizations which can effectively reach minority groups and women,
				and published in newspapers which are circulated in the minority community and
				among women, as well as the general areas in which the program sponsor
				operates.
2. Participate 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. Cooperate with local school boards and
				vocational education systems to develop programs for preparing students to meet
				the standards and criteria required to qualify for entry into apprenticeship
				programs.
4. Provide 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 necessary action to aid the sponsor in meeting its obligations under this
				plan.
5. Engage in programs such as
				Outreach for the positive recruitment and preparation of potential applicants
				for apprenticeship; where appropriate and feasible, such programs shall provide
				for pre-testing experience and training. If no such programs are in existence,
				the sponsor shall seek to initiate these programs, or, when available, to
				obtain financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor. In initiating
				and conducting these programs, the sponsor may be required to work with other
				sponsors and appropriate community organizations. The sponsor also shall
				initiate programs to prepare women to enter traditionally male
				programs.
6. Encourage
				establishment and use of programs of preapprenticeship, preparatory trade
				training, or other programs designed to afford related work experience or to
				prepare candidates for apprenticeship. A sponsor shall make appropriate
				provision in its affirmative action plan to assure that those who complete such
				programs are afforded full and equal opportunity for admission into the
				apprenticeship program.
7. Utilize
				journeypersons to assist in the implementation of the sponsor's affirmative
				action program.
8. Grant advanced
				standing or credit on the basis of previously acquired experience, training,
				skills, or aptitude for all applicants equally.
9. Admit to apprenticeship persons whose age
				exceeds the maximum age for admission to the program, where such action assists
				the sponsor in achieving its affirmative action obligations.
10. Take any other action necessary to ensure
				that recruitment, selection, employment, and training of apprentices during
				apprenticeship, shall be without discrimination because of race, color,
				religion, national origin, or sex, such as general publication of
				apprenticeship opportunities and advantages in advertisements, industry
				reports, articles, etc.; use of present minority and female apprentices and
				journeypersons as recruiters; career counseling; periodic auditing of
				affirmative action programs and activities; and development of reasonable
				procedures between sponsors and employers of apprentices to ensure that equal
				employment opportunity is being granted including reporting systems, on-site
				reviews, briefing sessions, etc.