JULY 7, 2000

REF: EOD-2000-21

                                                                            MEMORANDUM

To:                 Solicitor
                      Assistant Secretaries
                      Inspector General
                      Bureau Directors and Office Heads

From:             John Berry, Assistant Secretary - Po. Budget
 

Subject:         Request for Information and Data For Apparent Under-Represented Occupations and Past Recruitment Efforts

During the past three years of implementing our Strategic Plan for Improving Diversity, we have seen some success in our efforts to improve workforce diversity in the Department. However, after reviewing the Departments historical employment data, it is very clear that we must take more proactive measures to address the apparent severe under-representation of minorities and women in certain occupations and in most, if not all, of the bureaus. We will continue to use all  reasonable methods to eliminate barriers and to identify ways of locating diverse candidates. The purpose of this memorandum is to request your assistance in analyzing historical data to enable the Department to determine if we should include additional factors in our hiring decisions.

Therefore, I am asking that you conduct the following analysis of your Bureaus employment practices (with a breakdown by occupation):

A. Identify all apparent under-represented occupations by race, national origin and gender and the percentages of under-representation as compared to the Relevant Civilian Labor Force.

(1) Provide information on how you arrived at the percentage of apparent under-representation.

(2) Provide any information and/or data (covering the past five years) which will show the efforts made to eliminate the apparent under-representation of the occupations you identified.

(3) Provide consolidated reports or data (covering the past five years) which delineates the applicant flow of all occupations with apparent under-represented groups. This information should include the number of minority and women candidates who (a) applied for the particular under-represented occupation and (b) were referred to the selecting official. Include the race, national origin and gender of the selectee.

(4) Provide information on separations from apparent under-represented occupations over the past five years. Provide information on the race, national origin, and gender of the employees who separated during this period. Provide information covering the circumstances under which the separations occurred (e.g., retirements, transfers to other Federal agencies, reassignments to another bureau, terminations, or voluntary resignations).

(5) Provide documentary and anecdotal evidence of any practices or barriers that may have contributed to the apparent under-representation of minorities and women.

(6) Provide documentation of any remedial action your bureau has undertaken to deal with the apparent under-represented occupations.

B. Identify any interests you have in seeking internal diversity to bring a wider variety of perspectives to bear on the range of issues with which your Bureau deals and to promote community trust and confidence in the Agency. Provide specific examples of why you need internal diversity to further the operational mission of your Bureau, and your estimate of how many minority (identify which minority group) and women hires you will need to accomplish this objective.

C. Provide any anecdotal information (covering the past five years) which delineates the availability of minority and women candidates for particular vacancies and any rationale as to why these individuals were not selected.

D. Provide information (covering the past five years) which delineates your targeted recruitment and outreach efforts and describe in detail how these efforts support increased participation of minorities and women in employment with DOT. Include information such as the area of consideration for announcements and how you attempted to reach under-represented groups. Include initiatives that you view as having been successful as well as any that were unsuccessful.

E. Provide information on efforts to retain employees in your workforce over the past five years.

F. Identify occupations for which there has been historical under-representation or virtual absence of minorities and women.

G. Provide copies of Affirmative Employment Plans (AEP) currently in effect, which were forwarded to EEOC or to the Departments Office for Equal Opportunity (OEO) for approval.

I am requiring that you forward this information to the Department's Office for Equal Opportunity by close of business July 20, 2000. Questions concerning this matter should be referred to Samuel Bowser of OEO on (202)208-5549.

cc: Robert E. Walter, Assistant Solicitor
     Branch of Personnel Litigation & Civil Rights
 

Melodee Stith, Director
Office Equal Opportunity