The Advantage, April 1999

EEOC Announces Mediation Program Expansion

President Clinton has requested and Congress has allocated $13 million in new funding for the current fiscal year at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). These funds are earmarked for the agency's national mediation program.

According to EEOC Chairwoman Ida L. Castro, this additional money will be used to hire nearly 100 new mediators around the country. Expansion of the mediation program is one of the primary tools the EEOC will use to increase its efficiency in processing a growing case load. "Mediation is one means by which the EEOC will continue to reduce its average charge processing time, which will result in better service to both charging parties and employers," the agency said.

Participation in the program is voluntary, confidential, and requires the consent of both the charging party and the employer. After EEOC determines that a charge is appropriate for mediation, the charging party's consent is required. If the charging party consents, then the employer's participation is requested.

If the charging party does not select mediation or if a mediation session fails to resolve the dispute, the case is forwarded for investigation under EEOC's traditional charge-handling process. An administrative firewall has been built between the mediation program and the agency's charge processing operations. All that happens in mediation is confidential and not made part of any subsequent investigation or litigation activities. According to Alex Durbin, Regional Director for the EEOC's Region IX, "All documents used in the mediation process will be destroyed if mediation is not successful. When mediation fails, the case is turned over to EEOC's investigative staff and it will progress as though there had never been a mediation session."

Because of the new funds received by the agency, cost of the mediation process is born by the EEOC, not the employer or charging party. There is no cost for participation. That is seen as another positive benefit of the program by many employers and workers alike. Since mediation has been shown to be a successful method of handling a portion of EEOC's complaint load, it is hoped that expansion of the program will reduce some of the backlog the agency has experienced in the past few years.

For more information about the EEOC's mediation program, visit the agency's web site at: http://www.eeoc.gov/mediate/index.html

Web Search Service for College Grads' First Jobs

Entrepreneur magazine reports on a successful business started by Sara Sutton and Rachel Bell. Together they own a job search service for college students who are looking for their first jobs. The two have achieved considerable success in their business partnership since founding their company in 1995. Last year's revenues came in at around $3 million. Not bad for a couple of 24-year-old folks who have been pals since childhood.

Use of their site, http://www.JobDirect.com is free to college students and recent graduates. They can post resumes and hunt through job listings at no charge.

Employers can use the site for a fee, which often reaches up to five figures for monthly access to entry-level candidates. When an employer searches for qualified candidates in the database and finds someone they wish to talk with, the service sends an email message to the candidates who can then decide if they wish to have their resumes forwarded to the interested company.

This may not be for your company, but if you need to sift through a great many new college graduates in your candidate mix, it just might become cost effective.

Donate to Charity When You Buy on the Web

According to PC Magazine (April 6, 1999), most people have charitable urges. They volunteer, they donate, they help. Though many people want to support their favorite causes they feel that they just don't have the time or the energy, or perhaps even the financial freedom to do so.

A new web start-up company called GreaterGood.com says it intends to lead the way in cause-related e-commerce. It has created a relationship with many vendors including 1-800-Flowers and Amazon.com, as well as several not-for-profit organizations.

When customers shop as they normally would, and pay regular prices, at least five percent of whatever they spend is sent directly to the not-for-profit organization of their choice. (GreaterGood.com also takes a cut.)

You can use the new service in two ways. Go directly to the GreaterGood.com web site, pick a cause, and shop at the store of your choice, or visit the web site of your favorite not-for-profit organization, and link into the stores from there.

Currently, GreaterGood.com lists the following organizations in its not-for-profit directory: Special Olympics, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Discovery Institute, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, National Federation of the Blind, National Parks & Conservation Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Save the Children, Share Our Strength, The Humane Society of the United States, The Nature Conservancy, The Wilderness Society, and Wildlife Habitat Council.

You will find this service at: http://www.GreaterGood.com

California State Regulations Now on Web

California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL) was directed by the State Legislature to make state regulations available for free on the internet. (SB 1910, 1996) The original deadline for completing that project was July 1, 1998. The project must have been bigger than the politicians realized because it took an extra six months to complete. As of February 1st, the California Code of Regulations (CCR) is now on the web for anyone to access.

Regulated parties, employers especially, are expecting to save the sometimes large subscription fees they used to have to pay for private publisher issues of the codes and their updates. Web copies of the codes are being updated continuously.

As you can imagine, there are a substantial number of state codes. Finding what you want could be nearly impossible if it weren't for an on-site search tool that helps find any particular topic or regulation.

You can get to these new on-line regulations in one of two ways. Either start with the state's homepage at: http://www.ca.gov and look for "regulations" or visit OAL's page at http://ccr.oal.ca.gov You will find user guide help at the site also.

Other web resources for state and federal regulations which you might find helpful include:

IRS Mileage Rate Drops as of April 1st

If your organization reimburses employees who use their personal cars for business purposes, you should be aware that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has dropped the standard reimbursement for business mileage from $.325 per mile to $.31 per mile as of April 1, 1999.

While employers may reimburse mileage expenses at any rate they wish, if they pay more than the IRS rate, it is necessary to treat the excess as taxable income to the employee.

(Do you think the drop in mileage expense allowance took into account the sudden jump to $2.00 per gallon gas in the San Francisco Bay Area recently?)

Job Application Fees Prohibited in California

While we already alerted you to this new development in a recent edition of our "Special Report for HR Professionals," we want to reiterate in case you missed it.

Here is what the California Chamber of Commerce has to say about the issue of pre-employment testing and training. "Pre-employment drug testing, physical exams, finger printing and criminal background checks often are used by employers as tools in screening applicants for employment. Some employers may even be mandated by statute, contract or certification requirements to obtain fingerprints and do criminal background checks. These requirements have added a great deal of expense to the application process.

"Recently, California Labor Code Section 450(b) was added specifically to prohibit employers from requiring applicants to pay a fee or consideration of any type for any of the following purposes:

"The penalty for violating this new law is a misdemeanor. While the law addresses the question of not permitting an employer to request a fee to process an application, it does not specifically address other costs of fees associated with pre-employment testing or background checks. Currently there are no cases interpreting this section; however, employers may want to take a conservative view toward passing on other pre-employment costs to applicants."

There are other laws that specifically require employers to pay certain costs associated with employment. Included are costs of any pre-employment (or post-employment) medical examination. Employers must also pay for any required photograph or bond.

Budget Increase Proposal Means More Reviews by OFCCP

President Clinton and the Department of Labor have released their plans for increasing budgets at both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). The administration has asked Congress to approve an additional $33 million for the EEOC and a bump of $10.9 million for the OFCCP. If approved, the new budgets would become effective October 1, 1999 for Fiscal Year 2000.

OFCCP has said it could conduct 700 more compliance audits with the extra money. Each of the 6,500 FY2000 audits it forecasts could cost $500 more than those conducted during the current fiscal year. The agency did not indicate how many of the 6,500 audits would be the 30-minute compliance checks begun in the last two weeks of the last fiscal year. We would expect the number to reach to nearly 50% of total reviews. In September 1998, OFCCP Compliance Officers nearly doubled the total reviews for their fiscal year by scheduling a flurry of compliance checks during the final two weeks of the budget year. Of course, a higher total number of reviews at the end of a year looks good on the report which must be submitted to Congress.

Along with more reviews, OFCCP has said $4.2 million of next year's budget increase would be used "to increase outreach, education, and technical assistance to federal contractors and to help women obtain nontraditional jobs as part of the agency's pay initiative."

No mention was made about the recent moves made by OFCCP to insist contractors be held accountable for equal pay based on similar job content. A current debate rages among employer/contractor community members and the agency over the legality and propriety of OFCCP's push toward comparable worth. Employers claim their only obligation is to follow requirements of the law which call for equal pay for equal work based on skills, efforts and responsibilities.

California Governor Appoints New Director for Department of Fair Employment and Housing

California's administration officially changed in January with the swearing in of Governor Gray Davis. After eight years under republican management, the state has a new leader from the democratic side of the political fence. Early on, Governor Davis asked most state department heads to remain in their jobs until he could affect a reasonable transition to new appointees.

Nancy Gutierrez has served in the role of Director at the state's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) for most of the time former Governor Pete Wilson was in office. She held that position longer than any of her predecessors. At the end of April she will leave her desk for the last time.

Ms. Gutierrez gained the respect and admiration of most state officials, advocacy groups, employers and employees during her tenure. Following a 30-year career with Pacific Bell, which ended with her assignment as Human Resource Director for the company, she has dedicated her efforts to leading the state's equal opportunity enforcement agency. She endorsed and encouraged her department managers in their liaison efforts with employers throughout the state. Education has been her focus during her years in office. She leaves a staff which is well trained and competent. (Editor Note: Many of us who have worked directly with Ms. Gutierrez through the years will miss her.)

Ms. Gutierrez is to be followed as Director of DFEH by Mr. Dennis W. Hayashi. Although his appointment has yet to be confirmed by the State Senate, he stands ready to assume his new position at the end of April.

Mr. Hayashi, 46, a native of San Francisco, has more than 20 years of experience in enforcing civil rights laws. Since 1993 he has served the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services as director for the Office of Human Rights and later as counselor to the deputy secretary. Mr. Hayashi also served as national director for the Japanese American Citizens League from 1991 to 1993. Previously, he was an attorney for the Asian Law

Caucus from 1979 to 1991 where he specialized in employment and racial discrimination cases.

Mr. Hayashi graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree from Occidental College and earned a juris doctor from Hastings College of Law.

Employers Needed for Study on Record Keeping and Government Reporting

Recent government proposals for changing employer record keeping requirements would likely cost employers a considerably greater amount of resources. At least that is a belief among many employers. To know for sure, it is necessary to do some coordinated study of the proposed new requirements and how they will specifically impact your operations.

Proposed government changes include:

A cross section of employer representation is needed. It is important that the study include representatives from each of the following categories:

The study will be conducted under the guidance of professor Rebecca Thacker at Ohio State. You can contribute to this effort by helping to estimate how much extra time and expense will be required of your organization by the proposed government reporting changes.

If you are willing to contribute to this study effort, please contact The Management Advantage, Inc. at 925-671-0404 or by email at recordstudy@management-advantage.com. We will assemble all responses and forward them to Professor Thacker.

(PLEASE NOTE: Timing is very important. If you volunteer early, you may be included. If you volunteer many weeks or months after this publication is released in April 1999, there may no longer be an opportunity to participate.)

A Gentle Word on Behalf of Our Business

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