Code of Maine Rules › 12 - DEPARTMENT OF LABOR › 181 - MAINE STANDING COMMITTEE ON APPRENTICESHIP › Chapter 2 - RULES PERTAINING TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR EMPLOYMENT IN REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS IN THE STATE OF MAINE › Section 181-2-4 - Affirmative action program

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
a.
Definition and Purpose
1. An
				affirmative action program is designed to ensure equal opportunity and prevent
				discrimination in apprenticeship programs. An affirmative action program is
				more than mere passive nondiscrimination. Such a program requires the sponsor
				to take affirmative steps to encourage and promote equal opportunity, to create
				an environment free from discrimination, and to address any barriers to equal
				opportunity in apprenticeship. An affirmative action program is more than a
				paperwork exercise. It includes those policies, practices, and procedures,
				including self-analyses, that the sponsor implements to ensure that all
				qualified applicants and apprentices are receiving an equal opportunity for
				recruitment, selection, advancement, retention and every other term and
				privilege associated with apprenticeship. An affirmative action program should
				be a part of the way the sponsor regularly conducts its apprenticeship
				program.
2. A central premise
				underlying affirmative action is that, absent discrimination, over time a
				sponsor's apprenticeship program, generally, will reflect the sex, race,
				ethnicity, and disability profile of the labor pools from which the sponsor
				recruits and selects. Consistent with this premise, affirmative action programs
				contain a diagnostic component which includes quantitative analyses designed to
				evaluate the composition of the sponsor's apprenticeship program and compare it
				to the composition of the relevant labor pools. If women, individuals with
				disabilities, or individuals from a particular minority group, for example, are
				not being admitted into apprenticeship at a rate to be expected given their
				availability in the relevant labor pool, the sponsor's affirmative action
				program must include specific, practical steps designed to address any barriers
				to equal opportunity that may be contributing to this
				underutilization.
3. Effective
				affirmative action programs include internal auditing and reporting systems as
				a means of measuring the sponsor's progress toward achieving an apprenticeship
				program that would be expected absent discrimination.
4. An affirmative action program also ensures
				equal opportunity in apprenticeship by incorporating the sponsor's commitment
				to equality in every aspect of the apprenticeship program. Therefore, as part
				of its affirmative action program, a sponsor must monitor and examine its
				employment practices, policies and decisions and evaluate the impact such
				practices, policies and decisions have on the recruitment, selection and
				advancement of apprentices. It must evaluate the impact of its employment and
				personnel policies on minorities, women, and persons with disabilities, and
				revise such policies accordingly where such policies or practices are found to
				create a barrier to equal opportunity.
5. The commitments contained in an
				affirmative action program are not intended and must not be used to
				discriminate against any qualified applicant or apprentice on the basis of
				race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age (40 or
				older), genetic information, or disability.