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The State of North Carolina is committed to the provision of Equal Employment Opportunity. Equal Employment is recognized by State government and the State Personnel Commission as a social, legal, and economic obligation involving all aspects of employment policies and practices. Its successful implementation provides substantial positive benefits to State government and to its employees enabling fuller use of human resources, skills, and talents. The purpose of the State government EEO program is to promote equal employment opportunities through a positive, continuing, results-oriented program. Each agency/university EEO program is to provide a formal and effective system for achieving full utilization of all employees at all levels and in all segments of the agency/university workforce in the most timely manner possible. The objectives and timetables established for underutilized individuals serves as a measure of progress toward the state's goal of full utilization. [OSP-Equal Employment Opportunity Planning and Resource Guide, 1995.] The Right to Equal Employment Opportunity Every citizen of the United States of America has the right to equal employment opportunity guaranteed by the Constitution and State Laws. Constitutional and statutory provisions include those that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, or disabilities. In recent years the chief source of enforcement powers for this right has been Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and its amendments. The primary legal obligation of employers is to eliminate employment practices which operate to prevent qualified individuals from having equal employment opportunities. It is not enough for an employer to simply state a non-discrimination policy, nor is it enough to simply refrain from obviously discriminatory treatment. An employment practice which has the effect of denying equal opportunity to any citizen is illegal unless it can be justified as necessary for the employer's operation. Furthermore, practices with such a disparate impact are illegal whether or not the employer intended it to have this effect. State Requirements on Equal Employment Opportunity The State's policy is to take positive measures to ensure that equal employment opportunity is available to all citizens. NC's State Personnel Commission adopted its policy on August 12, 1977. This established the intent of the State to ensure greater utilization of all persons in its workforce. Responsibility for implementing this policy rests with the Governor and it is delegated to the head of every State department/agency/university with employees subject to the jurisdiction of the State Personnel Act. Accordingly, each department/agency/university is to develop an EEO plan or update of its current plan annually. The plan is submitted to the Office of State Personnel in March of each year. In 1980 the State Personnel Commission adopted a policy prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace. The policy prohibits the sexual harassment of applicants and employees and requires state departments/agencies/universities as entities of the State to establish programs and policies to ensure that the work site is free of sexual harassment. State departments/agencies/universities are required to submit these programs and policies to the Office of State Personnel on an annual basis, separately or as an addendum to the EEO plan. |
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Human Resources - 1607 Mail Service Center - Raleigh, NC 27699-1607 - (919) 715-4501 |
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