[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 2, Parts 700 to 1199]
[Revised as of January 1, 1998]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR720]
[Page 6-10]
TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (Continued)
PART 720--AFFIRMATIVE EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS--Table of Contents
Subpart B--Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program
Sec. 720.201 Regulatory requirements.
This subpart contains the regulations of the Office of Personnel
Management which implement the above provisions of title 5, United
States Code, and are prescribed by the Office under authority of 5
U.S.C. 7201.
Sec. 720.202 Definitions.
For the purposes of this subpart:
(a) Underrepresentation means a situation in which the number of
women or members of a minority group within a category of civil service
employment constitutes a lower percentage of the total number of
employees within the employment category than the percentage women or
the minority constitutes within the civilian labor force of the United
States, in accordance with Sec. 720.205 (c) and (d).
(b) Category of civil service employment means such groupings of
Federal jobs by grades and/or occupations as the Office of Personnel
Management deems appropriate within the General Schedule and the
prevailing wage systems.
(c) Minority refers only to those groups classified as ``minority''
for the purpose of data collection by the Office of Personnel Management
and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in furtherance of
Federal equal employment opportunity policies. The term, ``women,''
includes nonminority as well as minority women.
(d) Civilian labor force (CLF) includes all persons 16 years of age
and over, except those in the armed forces, who are employed or who are
unemployed and seeking work. CLF data are defined by the Bureau of the
Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics and are reported in the most
recent decennial or mid-decade census, or current population survey,
under title 13 of the United States Code or any other reliable
statistical study.
(e) Recruitment means the total process by which the Federal
Government and the Federal agencies locate, identify and assist in the
employment of qualified applicants from underrepresented groups for job
openings in categories of employment where underrepresentation has been
determined. It includes both innovative internal and external
recruitment actions. It is also intended to cover processes designed to
prepare qualifiable applicants (those who have the potential but do not
presently meet valid qualification requirements) for such job openings
through
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programs of training, work experience or both.
(f) Applicant pool means all types of listings from which selections
may be made, including (but not limited to) promotion lists, competitive
certificates and inventories of eligibles, applicant supply files, and
lists of eligibles for certain noncompetitive appointments.
Sec. 720.203 Responsibilities of the Office of Personnel Management.
(a) The Office of Personnel Management will provide appropriate data
to assist Federal agencies in making determinations of
underrepresentation. The process for making such determinations is
described in sections II and III (c) of the ``Guidelines for the
Development of a Federal Recruitment Program to Implement 5 U.S.C. 7201,
as amended'' (See appendix to this part). The Office will develop and
publish more specific criteria for statistical measurements to be used
by individual agencies, and will develop further guidance on--
(1) Agency employment statistics and civilian labor force statistics
to be used in making determinations of underrepresentation, on a
national, regional or other geographic basis as appropriate;
(2) Groupings of grades and/or other occupational categories to be
used in implementing agency programs;
(3) Occupational categories and job series for which expanded
external recruitment efforts are most appropriate, and those for which
expanded and innovative internal recruitment is appropriate; and
(4) Other factors which may be considered by the agency, in
consultation with Office of Personnel Management, to make determinations
of underrepresentation and to develop recruitment programs focused on
specific occupational categories.
(b) The Office will assist agencies in carrying out their programs
by--
(1) Identifying major recruitment sources of women and members of
minority groups and providing guidance on internal and external
recruitment activities directed toward the solution of specific
underrepresentation problem;
(2) Supplementing agency recruitment efforts, utilizing existing
networks for dissemination of job information, and involving the
participation of minority group and women's organizations where
practicable;
(3) Examining existing Federal personnel procedures to identify
those which (i) may serve as impediments to innovative internal and
external recruitment and (ii) are within the administrative control of
the Office or the Federal agencies;
(4) Determining whether applicant pools used in filling jobs in a
category of employment where underrepresentation exists include
sufficient candidates from any underrepresentated groups, except where
the agency controls such pools (see Sec. 720.204(c));
(5) Providing such other support, as the Office deems appropriate.
(c) The Office will monitor and, in conjunction with the personnel
management evaluation program of the Office, evaluate agency programs to
determine their effectiveness in eliminating underrrepresentation.
(d) The Office will work with agencies to develop effective
mechanisms for providing information on Federal job opportunities
targeted to reach candidates from underrepresented groups.
(e) The Office will conduct a continuing program of guidance and
instruction to supplement these regulations.
(f) The Office will coordinate further activities to implement equal
opportunity recruitment programs under this subpart with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission consistent with law, Executive Order
12067, and Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978.
Sec. 720.204 Agency programs.
(a) Each Executive agency having positions in the pay systems
covered by this program must conduct a continuing program for the
recruitment of minorities and women for positions in the agency and its
components to carry out the policy of the United States to insure equal
employment opportunities without discrimination because of race, color,
religion, sex or national origin. The head of each agency must
specifically assign responsibility for program implementation to an
appropriate
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agency official. All agency officials who have responsibility for the
program will be evaluated on their effectiveness in carrying it out as
part of their periodic performance appraisals.
(b) Programs established under this subpart must be designed to
cover recruitment for all positions in pay plans covered by this program
including part-time and temporary positions.
(c) Where an agency or the Office of Personnel Management has
determined that an applicant pool does not adequately provide for
consideration of candidates from any underrepresented group, the agency
or agency component must take one or more of the following actions:
(1) Expand or otherwise redirect their recruitment activities in
ways designed to increase the number of candidates from underrepresented
groups in that applicant pool;
(2) Use selection methods involving other applicant pools which
include sufficient numbers of members of underrepresented groups;
(3) Notify the office responsible for administering that applicant
pool, and request its reopening of application receipt in support of
expanded recruitment activities or certifying from equivalent registers
existing in other geographic areas; and/or
(4) Take such other action consistent with law which will contribute
to the elimination of underrepresentation in the category of employment
involved.
(d) Agencies must notify and seek advice and assistance from the
Office of Personnel Management in cases where their equal opportunity
recruitment programs are not making measurable progress in eliminating
identified underrepresentation in the agency work force.
Sec. 720.205 Agency plans.
(a) Each agency must have an up-to-date equal opportunity
recruitment program plan covering recruitment for positions at various
organizational levels and geographic locations within the agency. Such
plans must be available for review in appropriate offices of the agency
and must be submitted to the Office of Personnel Management on request.
In accordance with agreement reached between the Office and the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, such plans must be incorporated in
the agency's equal employment opportunity plans required under section
717 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, pursuant to regulations
and instructions of the Commission, provided they are separable parts of
those plans for purposes of review by and submission to the Office of
Personnel Management. Agency organizational and geographical components
which are required to develop and submit Equal Employment Opportunity
plans, under instructions issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, must also have up-to-date special recruitment program plans.
On a determination by the Office of Personnel Management, in
consultation with EEOC, that additional component plans are needed to
implement an agency's program effectively, the Office will instruct the
agency to develop additional plans. Agencies must comply with such
instructions.
(b) Agency plans must include annual specific determinations of
underrepresentation for each group and must be accompanied by
quantifiable indices by which progress toward eliminating
underrepresentation can be measured.
(c) Where an agency or agency component is located in a geographical
area where the percentage of underrepresented groups in the area
civilian labor force is higher than their percentage in the national
labor force, the agency or component must base its plans on the higher
level of representation in the relevant civilian labor force.
(d) Where an agency or agency component is located in a geographical
area where participation of a particular underrepresented group is
significantly lower than its participation in the national labor force,
the agency or component may, in consultation with the Office of
Personnel Management, use the lower percentage in determining
underrepresentation. An agency may not use a figure lower than the
relevant regional or nationwide labor force percentage where recruitment
on a regional or nationwide basis is feasible for particular categories
of employment. Factors such as size of the agency or unit, nature of
jobs and their
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wage or pay scale may be considered in focusing recruitment for various
job categories.
(e) In addition to the underrepresentation determinations described
in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of this section, agency plans must, at a
minimum, include:
(1) An assessment of grades or job categories and numbers of jobs in
such categories expected to be filled in the current year, and on a
longer term basis (based on anticipated turnover, expansion, hiring
limits and other relevant factors) identification of those occupational
categories and positions suitable for external recruitment, and
description of special targeted recruitment programs for such jobs and
positions;
(2) A similar assessment for job categories and positions likely to
be filled by recruitment from within the agency and/or the Federal civil
service system and a description of recruitment programs developed to
increase minority and female candidates from internal sources for such
positions;
(3) A further assessment of internal availability of candidates from
underrepresentated groups for higher job progressions by identifying
job-related skills, knowledges and abilities which may be obtained at
lower levels in the same or similar occupational series, or through
other experience;
(4) A description of methods the agency intends to use to locate and
develop minority and female candidates for each category of
underrepresentation and an indication of how such methods differ from
and expand upon the recruitment activities of the agency prior to
establishment of the special recruitment program or the last revision to
the agency's plans;
(5) A description of specific, special efforts planned by the agency
(or agency component) to recruit in communities, educational
institutions, and other likely sources of qualified minority and female
candidates;
(6) A description of efforts which will be undertaken by the agency
to identify jobs which can be redesigned so as to improve opportunities
for minorities and women, including jobs requiring bilingual or
bicultural capabilities or not requiring English fluency.
(7) A list of priorities for special recruitment program activities
based on agency identification of:
(i) Immediate and longer range job openings for each occupational/
grade-level grouping for which underrepresentation has been determined;
(ii) Hiring authorities which may be used to fill such jobs;
(iii) The possible impact of its actions on underrepresentation.
(8) Identification of training and job development programs the
agency will use to provide skills, knowledge and abilities to qualify
increased numbers of minorities and women for occupational series and
grade levels where they are significantly underrepresented.
(9) Identification of problems for which the assistance of the
Office of Personnel Management is needed and will be requested.
(f) Equal opportunity recruitment program plans must be consistent
with agency Upward Mobility program plans and should be developed with
full consideration of the agency's overall recruiting and staffing
planning objectives.
(g) All plans required under this subpart must be developed not
later than October 1, 1979.
[44 FR 22031, Apr. 13, 1979, as amended at 44 FR 33046, June 8, 1979]
Sec. 720.206 Selection guidelines.
This subpart sets forth requirements for a recruitment program, not
a selection program. Nevertheless, agencies are advised that all
selection processes including job qualifications, personnel procedures
and criteria must be consistent with the Uniform Guidelines on Employee
Selection Procedures (43 FR 38290; August 25, 1978).
Sec. 720.207 Reports.
(a) Not later than November 1 of each year, agencies must submit an
annual report on their equal opportunity recruitment program to the
Office of Personnel Management, in a form prescribed by the Office. The
Office may require submission of any additional reports it considers
necessary in carrying out its responsibilities under this subpart.
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(b) The Office will report to Congress on the implementation and
operation of the program on a Governmentwide basis not later than
January 31 of each year, as required by law. Such reports will include
assessments of agencies progress, or lack of progress, in meeting the
objectives of the program.