Affirmative Actiion certifictation

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Last I checked, Affirmative Action required that an employer or educational institution must provide a proportionately fair share of openings to black employees that they offer whites. Albeit it being outdated terminology, many state/local contract documents for bidding use recycled material from decades ago. I don't remember ever having seen an AA certification document, but since we all have to follow equal employment opportunity guidelines now, you really couldn't break this law even if you tried nowadays.
 

GoldDigger

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There is some confusion between two related terms.

Equal Opportunity, as in "an equal opportunity employer" means that there is no discrimination against a person who is part of a "protected class". The list of protected classes changes from time to time and also may vary by location under state as opposed to Federal rules.
You have to meet this criterion to stay in business.

Affirmative Action is a bit stronger, and is not mandated just to stay in business. It basically means that, all without discriminating in any way against majority applicants, you are making a positive (affirmative) effort to recruit minorities and/or members of protected classes.
I do not know whether you are allowed to self-certify on this or if there is a standards organization involved. (NRAAL = Nationally Recognized Affirmative Action Lab?) :)
 

Carultch

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
There is some confusion between two related terms.

Equal Opportunity, as in "an equal opportunity employer" means that there is no discrimination against a person who is part of a "protected class". The list of protected classes changes from time to time and also may vary by location under state as opposed to Federal rules.
You have to meet this criterion to stay in business.

Affirmative Action is a bit stronger, and is not mandated just to stay in business. It basically means that, all without discriminating in any way against majority applicants, you are making a positive (affirmative) effort to recruit minorities and/or members of protected classes.
I do not know whether you are allowed to self-certify on this or if there is a standards organization involved. (NRAAL = Nationally Recognized Affirmative Action Lab?) :)


"Equal opportunity" and "affirmative action" are complete opposite terms.

Affirmative action precisely is discrimination. Discrimination to give opportunities to classes of people who have been victims of discrimination in the past. An effort to level the playing field, by doing the reverse of the same bad practices of the past.

To go by the literal meaning of what I would like to think equal opportunity means, means that you have a policy of being color blind/ race blind/gender blind (etcetera) in all of your hiring practices. That's what the term itself would tell me, however it is very likely a word whose actual meaning has been skewed by the political correctness police.
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
"Equal opportunity" and "affirmative action" are complete opposite terms.

Affirmative action precisely is discrimination. Discrimination to give opportunities to classes of people who have been victims of discrimination in the past. An effort to level the playing field, by doing the reverse of the same bad practices of the past.

To go by the literal meaning of what I would like to think equal opportunity means, means that you have a policy of being color blind/ race blind/gender blind (etcetera) in all of your hiring practices. That's what the term itself would tell me, however it is very likely a word whose actual meaning has been skewed by the political correctness police.

Actually doing the SAME bad thing, just choosing a different group of victims.

The only way I can think of that this doesn't become a reverse deal is if, for example, there was a trade school in your area that happened to have a mostly minority student population and you went to all their job fairs and advertised "help wanted" in local publications serving mostly minority readership, and your non-minority candidates basically found you by accident or word-of-mouth. Why any rational employer would want to limit their pool of potential candidates is beyond me...oh wait, this is a creature of political activists. Forget about the whole "rational" thing. :rant:
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
"Equal opportunity" and "affirmative action" are complete opposite terms.

equal opportunity is a finely executed four wheel drift by a skilled driver in
a suitable car built for the purpose.

affirmative action is drifting in dad's muscle car by an 18 year old with a 6 pack
of PBR's on the seat next to him.

lotta smoke, very dramatic, and the four wheel drift will beat it every time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72hTSFkYVAo
 
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