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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 7278 ORDINANCE NO. _1 � AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES BECAUSE OF AGE, RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX OR NATIONAL ORIGIN BY ANY EMPLOYER OR GENERAL CONTRACTOR DOING BUSINESS WITH THE CITY OR ANY LABOR ORGANIZATION FURNISHING OR REFERRING EMPLOYEE APPLICANTS TO ANY EM- PLOYER OR GENERAL CONTRACTOR DOING BUSINESS WITH THE CITY; PROVIDING FOR ASSURANCE OF NONDISCRIMINATION IN ALL PURCHASE ORDERS OR CONTRACTS WITH THE CITY; PRO- HIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES BECAUSE OF AGE, RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX OR NATIONAL ORIGIN BY ANY EMPLOYER, EMPLOYMENT AGENCY OR LABOR ORGANIZATION; PROVIDING FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF THE INDEPENDENT CON- TRACTOR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CITY OF FORT WORTH AND ANY PERSON, FIRM OR, CORPORATION ENGAGED IN OR BIDDING ON CONTRACTS FOR PUBLIC WORK; DESIGNATING AND EMPOWERING THE FORT WORTH HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION TO ADMINISTER THIS ORDINANCE; PROVIDING CERTAIN PROCEDURAL AND ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES; PROVIDING FOR WAIVER OF THE PROVISIONS HEREOF; PROVIDING FOR EXCLUSIONS AS NOT BEING UNLAWFUL; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF OTHER ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH; REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 6842 AND ALL OTHER ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A PENALTY; AND NAMING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS: SECTION 1. Whenever the following terms are used in this ordinance, same shall have the meanings respectively- ascribed to them in this section: "Employee" means an individual employed by an employer, except that the term "employee" shall not include any person elected to public office in any state or political subdivision of any state by the qualified voters thereof. The exemption set forth in the preceding sentence shall not include employees subject to the civil service laws of a state government, gov- ernmental agency or political subdivision. "Employer or General Contractor" means a person who has fifteen (15) or more employees, or any agent of such a person. "Employment Agency" means any person regularly undertak- ing with or without compensation to procure employees for an employer or to procure for employees opportunities to work for an employer and includes an agent of such a person. "Labor Organization" means an organization, agency or em- ployee representation committee, group or association in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rate of pay, hours or other terms or conditions of employment. "Person" includes one or more individuals, labor unions, partnerships, joint ventures, associations, corporations, mutual companies, joint stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organi- zations, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy or receivers. "Religion" includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate an employee's or prospective employee's religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business. SECTION 2. A. That it shall be unlawful for any employer or general contractor doing business with the City, or any agent of any such employer or general contractor, or any labor organization or employment agency which engages in referring employee appli- cants to any such employer or general contractor to discriminate against any individual because of age, race, color, religion, sex or national origin in any manner involving employment, in- cluding the recruitment of applicants for employment, advertis- ing, hiring, layoff, termination of employment, promotion, demo- tion, transfer, compensation, employment classification, training -2- and selection for training or any other terms, conditions or privileges of employment. That no bid submitted to the City by an employer or gen- eral contractor shall be considered, nor shall any purchase order be issued, nor contract awarded by the City to such em- ployer or general contractor, unless said employer or general contractor has executed as a provision contained in such pur- chase order, contract or agreement a covenant assuring that its employees are not discriminated against, as prohibited by the terms of this ordinance. That it shall be the responsibility, obligation and duty of any such employer or general contractor to ascertain and fur- nish covenants to the City that no labor organization, subcon- tractor or employment agency either furnishing or referring em- ployee applicants to such employer or general contractor is discriminating against its employees, as prohibited by the terms of this ordinance. That any employer, general contractor, labor organization or employment agency subject to the provisions hereof shall post, in a conspicuous place available to all employees and applicants for employment, notices apprising employees and applicants of this ordinance. B. It shall be unlawful for an employer: (1) To fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his com- pensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of such individual's age, race, color, religion, sex or national origin. (2) To limit, segregate or classify his employ- ees or applicants for employment in any way which -3- would deprive or tend to deprive any individ- ual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee be- cause of such individual's age, race, color, religion, sex or national origin. C. It shall be unlawful for an employment agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment or otherwise to discriminate against any individual because of his age, race, color, religion, sex or national origin, or to classify or refer for employment any individual on the basis of his age, race, color, religion, sex or national origin. D. It shall be unlawful for a labor organization: (1) To exclude or to expel from its membership or otherwise to discriminate against any individ- ual because of his age, race, color, religion, sex or national origin. (2) To limit, segregate or classify its member- ship or applicants for membership or to classify or fail or refuse to refer for employment any individual in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment oppor- tunities or would limit such employment oppor- tunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee or as an applicant for employment because of such individual's age, race, color, religion, sex or national origin. (3) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against any individual in violation of this section. -4- E. It shall be unlawful for any employer or labor organi- zation to discriminate against any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex or national origin in admission to or employment in any program established to provide apprentice- ship or other training. F. It shall be unlawful for any employer to discriminate against any of his employees or applicants for employment or for an employment agency to discriminate against any individual or for a labor organization to discriminate against any member thereof or applicant for membership because such individual, member or applicant for membership has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by this section or because such individual, member or applicant for membership has made a charge, testified, assisted or participated in any manner in an investi- gation, proceeding, hearing or litigation under this section. G. It shall be unlawful for an employer, labor organization or employment agency to print or publish or cause to be printed or published any notice or advertisement relating to employment by such an employer, or membership in or any classification or referral for employment by such a labor organization, or relat- ing to any classification or referral for employment by such an employment agency indicating any preference, limitation, speci- fication or discrimination based upon age, race, color, religion, sex or national origin, except that such a notice or advertise- ment may indicate a preference, limitation, specification or discrimination based upon religion, sex or national origin when religion, sex or national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification for employment. H. It shall be unlawful for any person to aid, incite, compel, coerce, intimidate or participate in the doing of any -5- act declared to be unlawful by the provisions of this ordi- nance or to obstruct or prevent any person from enforcing or complying with the provisions of this ordinance. SECTION 3. That neither this ordinance, nor any section or provision thereof, shall be interpreted or applied so as to interfere with, impair or destroy the independent contractor relation- ship between the City of Fort worth and any person, firm or corporation bidding on or engaged in the performance of any existing contract for public work as an independent contractor of the City of Fort Worth. SECTION 4. That it is the intention of the City Council of the City of Fort Worth that the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission shall be authorized to enforce the provisions of this ordinance under the supervision of -the City Manager, in compliance with the provisions of Section 2 of Chapter V of the Charter of the City of Fort Worth. A. Following complaint and provided that there is justi- fiable reason to believe there is a violation of any provision hereof, such Commission is authorized to investigate and resolve any such complaint involving any employer, general contractor, labor organization or employment agency subject to the provi- sions of this ordinance. If such complaint cannot be resolved in a manner satisfactory to such Commission, it may refer same to the City Attorney and/or to the appropriate federal office. Nothing said or done during and as a part of any such in- vestigation or attempt at resolution shall be made public with- out the written consent of the persons concerned. -6- B. (1) Whenever a charge is filed by or on behalf of a person claiming to be aggrieved which alleges that an employer, general contractor, employment agency or labor organization has engaged in an un- lawful employment practice, the Fort Worth Human Re- lations Commission may cause a notice of the charge (including the date, place and circumstances of the alleged unlawful employment practice) to be served upon such employer, general contractor, employment agency or labor organization (hereinafter referred to as "respondent") within ten (10) days and may make an investigation thereof. (2) Any such charge shall be in writing, under oath or affirmation and shall contain such informa- tion and be in such form as the Fort Worth Human Re- lations Commission requires. Such charge shall be filed within one hundred and eighty (180) days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred. Such charges shall not be made public. (3) Should the Fort Worth Human Relations Com- mission determine, after such investigation, that there is not reasonable cause to believe that the charge is true, such Commission shall dismiss the charge and promptly notify the person claiming to be aggrieved and the respondent of such action. (4) If the aforesaid investigation determines that there is reasonable cause to believe that the charge is true, the Fort Worth Human Relations Com- mission may endeavor to eliminate any such alleged -7- unlawful employment practice by informal methods of conference, conciliation and persuasion. SECTION 5. That upon approval of the City Council, the application of the provisions of Subsection A of Section 2 of this ordi- nance may be waived or suspended in cases or classes of cases where the size or nature of the purchase, contract, job or services, or other special circumstances, make compliance here- with impracticable or unnecessary. That the following are specifically excluded as not being unlawful employment practices: (a) Discrimination on the basis of age, religion, sex or national origin where the same is a bona fide occupational qualification; (b) Discrimination on the basis of seniority or merit; (c) Discrimination on the basis of quantity or quality of production; (d) Discrimination on the basis of an ability test; (e) Discrimination with respect to compensation based upon sex, as authorized by minimum wage provi- sions; (f) Discrimination based upon preferential treat- ment to Indians; (g) Absence of preferential treatment as a re- sult of existing numbers or percentage imbalance in the races, sexes or national origins; (h) Certain discriminatory hiring practices by religious corporations, associations, educational j institutions or societies; -8- .r.r,e ,., V�,. :.rp. l i d4 zti,%+k^.�"+:a,.rks.r a„Y.�r�ilf'kr •E�^' (i) Any action or measure taken with respect to an individual who is a member of the Communist Party,- (j) arty;(j) Discrimination with respect to illegal aliens; (k) Discrimination based upon laws creating special rights or preference for veterans; (1) Discrimination based upon the ages of individuals who are less than forty (40) years of age or more than sixty-five (65) years of age; (m) Observation of the terms of a bona fide seniority system or any bona fide employee bene- . •,, ' fit plan, such as a retirement, pension or insur- ance plan, which is not a subterfuge to evade the purposes of this ordinance, except that no such employee benefit plan shall excuse the otherwise unlawful failure to hire any individ- ual, and i (n) Discharge or other discipline of an individual for good cause. That it is the intention of the City Council, and the City Council finds that the above and foregoing employment practices declared not to be unlawful under the provisions of 42 U.S,.C. 2000e-2 (e) , (f) , (g) , (b) , (i) and (j) , as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-11, 29,U.S.C. 623 (f) and 29 U.S.C. 631 shall not be deemed to be unlawful employment practices under the provisions hereof. i -9- I That employers of fourteen (14) employees or less and purchases and contracts of less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) are excluded from the provisions of Subsection A of Section 2 of this ordinance. SECTION 6. That it is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared void, ineffective or unconstitutional by the valid judgment or final decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, such voidness, ineffectiveness or unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections hereof, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation herein of any such void, ineffective or unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. SECTION 7. That this ordinance shall be and is hereby declared to be cumulative of the provisions of those prior ordinances of the City of Fort Worth and amendments thereto regulating em- ployment practices, except in those instances where the provi- sions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with such prior ordinances, in which instances said conflicting provisions of such prior ordinances are hereby repealed. Ordinance No. 6842 be, and the same is hereby repealed in its entirety. SECTION 8. That all pending litigation and existing violations, both civil and criminal, whether pending in court or not, under -10- those prior ordinances of the City of Fort Worth and amend- ments thereto regulating employment practices, superseded by this ordinance shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be prosecuted until final disposition by the courts; nor shall this ordinance either add to or detract from any other civil remedy available. SECTION 9. That any person, firm, association of persons, company or corporation, or their agents, servants or employees, who violate, disobey, omit, neglect or refuse to comply with any provision of this ordinance shall be punished by a fine not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) , and each day that a violation exists is hereby declared to be a distinct and sepa- rate offense and punishable as such, all as provided for in Section 1-5 of Chapter I of the Code of the City of Fort Worth (1964) , as amended. SECTION 10. That this ordinance shall become effective and be in full force and effect from and after its passage and publication as required by law, and it is so ordained. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: 5.M*'r-F,-6_4*w� S. G. JOHNDROE, JR., City Attorney -11- ATTACHMENT I ANALYSIS: AMENDMENTS TO FAIR EMPLOYMENT ORDINANCE N0. 6842 i These amendments do not delete any of the provisions of the current Fair Employment Ordinance No. 6842 but incorporate additional provisions that bring the present ordinance in line with Title VII of the U. S. Civil Rights Act. The amendments to the current Fair Employment Ordinance are summarized as follows: 'Section 1 provides for definition of essential terms used in the text of the ordinance. -Section 2 establishes additional unlawful acts including: (1) Employers with 15 or more employees cannot discriminate in Illi hiring, termination, compensation, terms, conditions or privi- leges of employment or limit, segregate or classify employees or applicants in any way that deprives an individual of employment opportunities or adversely affects his status as an employee. (2) An employment agency cannot discriminate in referring individuals for employment. (3) A labor organization cannot discriminate by excluding or expel- ling an individual from its membership or limit, segregate or classify its membership or applicants in any way that deprives an individual of employment opportunities or adversely affect his status as an employee. (4) A person cannot discriminate against an individual in terms of his participation in an apprenticeship or training program. (5) A person cannot discriminate against an individual because he has opposed an unlawful practice of employment discrimination or has iacted to prevent or eliminate such discrimination. (6) An employer, labor organization or employment agency cannot dis- criminate in publishing notices of employment. (7) A person cannot take action that could cause someone to commit any act of discrimination determined unlawful. This section extends the current ordinance to include those unlawful employment acts by employers, labor organizations and employment agencies covered under Title VII of the U. S. Civil Rights Act. 'Section 3 is the same as the current Fort Worth Ordinance. 'Section 4 sets forth the procedures for administering the ordinance and processing complaints of discrimination filed under the ordinance. -Section 5 specifies prohibitions under the ordinance. 'Section 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 remains the same as the present ordinance. ATTACHMENT II A NEW EMPLOYMENT ORDINANCE FOR FORT WORTH The following key questions are important in considering a new employment ordinance for the City of Fort Worth. Q. Why does the present Fort Worth employment ordinance need to be amended at this time? A. The present employment ordinance only covers employers and general contractors doing business with the City of Fort Worth. The ordinance does not cover employers with 15 or more employees that are not under contract to do business with the City of Fort Worth. The present ordinance should be updated to bring it into compliance with Title VII of the U. S. Civil Rights Act to include all employers with 15 or more employees operating a business within the corporate jurisdiction of Fort Worth. Such a change could be a noteworthy action in commemorating the Bicentennial celebration. i i Q. How can a new employment ordinance for Fort Worth deal with problems of duplication by different levels of government? j A. A new ordinance will allow the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to contract with the City of Fort Worth. Under the terms of this contract, EEOC can refer employment discrimination cases they receive from Fort Worth to the City of Fort Worth for local investigation and resolution. This arrangement means that such cases will be handled by one governmental agency at a time instead of several different levels of government at the same time. This kind of arrangement provides a savings in time, cost, efficiency and bureaucratic red tape. Q. What will a new employment ordinance cost the City of Fort Worth? A. The new ordinance will not cost the City of Fort Worth any additional funds. In fact, it will bring money into the City because EEOC will pay the cost of handling cases referred to the City under the terms of the contract arrangements. Q. Will a new employment ordinance help solve problems or create new problems? A. A new ordinance will not create new problems since it simply brings the current Fort Worth ordinance into compliance with Federal Law and the cases referred to the City by EEOC are those already filed with the federal government. Q. How can a new employment ordinance assist in efficient and rapid processing of discrimination cases? A. As of the end of April 1975, there were 793 outstanding cases filed with EEOC from just the general Fort Worth area. This represents a significant backlog of cases which results in a minimum of 4.3 months delay before cases can begin to be processed. New cases come into EEOC from the general Fort Worth area at the rate of 50 cases per month. Since Fort Worth represents only one area the backlog tends to continue to increase and the delay in processing cases is extended when compared to the number of cases being resolved and the time required to process cases. If the City through a new ordinance is given responsibility for handling Fort Worth cases, the backlog and processing delay can be cut down, since the case load referred by EEOC will be limited to Fort Worth. Page -2- Q. How can a new employment ordinance be helpful to employers and employees? A. Employers can have cases processed more rapidly and at a local level. For example, some of the benefits to local employers in having cases processed rapidly are in the form of financial savings, where cash settlements are awarded retroactive to the date of the initial complAint. Employees who file complaints benefit by having the rapid resolution of cases without unnecessary delay and uncertainty. Q. What does it mean if a new employment ordinance is not passed? A. The Fort Worth employment ordinance will not be in compliance with Title VII of the U. S. Civil Rights Act. EEOC cannot contract to refer cases filed with the federal government to a responsible local body for processing and resolution. Employers and employees will continue to face increasing backlogs and delays which can prove costly to companies against whom cases are filed. There will be continued duplication of effort between different levels of government which results in excessive costs to the tax payer as well as lose of general efficiency. s I f k FILE V JOHNDROE �z LINE City of Fort Worth, Texas BAILIFF Mayoror and Council Communication GRAHAM +W&L DATE REFERENCE NUMBER SUBJECT: PAGE STURNS 12/22/75 G-2928 Amendment to Fair Employment Ordinance 1 of On June 6, 1973, the original Fort Worth Fair Employment Ordinance No. 6842 went into effect. Auer two years of enforcement, the Human Re- lations Commission has determined that the existing ordinance is limited in its coverage and should be amended. The Human Relations Commission is recommending that the Fair Employ- ment Ordinance be amended to provide expanded coverage similar to that provided under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972: Title VII of the U. S. Civil Rights Act of 1964. Attachments I and II summarizes the amendments and provide information in the form of questions and answers about the proposed amended ordinance. The Department of Law has pre- pared these amendments to Ordinance 46842. The amended ordinance is enclosed as attachment III. The HRC is not only concerned about expanded equal employment oppor- tunities coverage but by incorporating these amendments into ordinance 46842 the City of Fort Worth will be in a position to negotiate a 706 contract with the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Such a contract will allow EEOC to refer to the City of Fort Worth for investigation and resolution at the local level employment discrim- ination cases filed with the federal government. Under such a con- tractual arrangement costs will be paid by the federal government and no additional cost will be necessary for the City to become a referral agency. Recommendation It is recommended that the City Council amend the attached Fair Employment Ordinance 46842. RNL:lm attachments SUBMITTED BY: DISPOSITION COUNCIL: PROC ED JBY PPROVED ❑ OTHER (DESCRIBE) ITY ECREDATECITY MANAGER oZ-2- i i Adopted i Final Adoption City Council Minute Book page Nos. .�2 Published"d Filedf22 of L�Lr I `,:J . ity Secretary it INFORMAL 1tEPORT TO CITY COUNCIL ME1IM13ERS No. 2914 y�ANTgEO June 2, 1977 �oj.f ORrTo the Mayor and Members of the City Council ho v �s �rexay. Subject: CITY'S ACTIVITIES WITH REGARD TO CONTRACT COMPLIANCE e» As requested by the City Council on May 3, 1977, the attached report from the Human Relations Commission summarizes activities by the City in attempting to enforce the Equal Employment Opportunity's ordinance govern- ing firms doing business with the City. Respectfull 'submitted, R. N. Line City Manager RNL:ms Attachments ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS. _�„ �r������ 1� � � ,:w ^`i HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION 1000 1HROCKMORTON STREET FORT WORTH, TEXAS 76102 335-7211 / AREA CODE 917 TO: City Council FROM: Human Relations Commission SUBJECT: Application of City's Employment Ordinance to Vendors or General Contractors Doing Business With the City. Pursuant to the request of the City Council, the following report is hereby submitted: I. Legal Authority A. Ordinance 46842. On May 29, 1973, the City Council passed an ordinance which prohibited discrimination in employment practices by firms doing business with the City of Fort Worth. Specifically stated, the Ordinance read, "That it shall be unlawful for any employer or general contractor doing business with the City, or any agent of any such employer or general contractor, or any labor organization or employment agency that engages in referring employee applicants to any such employer or general con- tractor to discriminate against any individual because of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex or age" (Section 1). The penalty for not being in compliance with the City Ordinance was set forth as, "a fine of not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), and each day that a violation exists is hereby declared to be a distinct and separate offense and punishable as such", (Section 9). Furthermore, a requirement was specified whereby, "That no bid submitted to the City by an employer or general contractor shall be considered, nor shall any purchase order be issued nor contract awarded by the City to such employer or general contractor unless said employer or general contractor has executed as a provision contained in such purchase order, contract or agreement a covenant assuring that its employees are not discriminated against as prohibited by the terms of this ordinance" (Section 2). The Ordinance had further specified that the City Manager or his designated representative be authorized to administer the provisions of the ordinance. 2 - Ordinance #6842 was in effect until December 22, 1975, at which time the Ordinance was repealed by the enactment of Ordinance #7278. B. Ordinance #7278. December 22, 1975, marked the passage of Ordinance #7278. The Ordinance retained the contract compliance provisions of Ordinance #6842 but expanded coverage similar to that provided under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972; Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964. The expanded coverage allowed the City of Fort Worth to be recognized by EEOC under Section 706(c) of Title VII and operate under a 709 contract. The amendments essentially brought into coverage employers who were not under the jurisdiction of Ordinance #6842. That Ordinance had only covered vendors that did business with the City of Fort Worth. The new ordinance included all employers with 15 or more employees operating a business within the corporate Jurisdiction of Fort Worth. Ordinance #7278 further designated the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission to enforce the provisions of the Ordinance under the general supervision of the City Manager. Ordinance #7278 was amended on August 9, 1976, for the purpose of clarifying certain sections. II. Administrative Histo Under Ordinance #6842, the Community Affairs Division of the Department of Human Resources was originally charged with the responsibility of enforcing Contract Compliance. The Division had initially developed procedures to function with vendors who had been doing business with the City. (Attachment 1) Further- more, a packet of information was developed and sent to approximately 200 vendors. (Attachment 2) A follow-up survey was scheduled for the vendors, but a delay occurred because an EEO Division was established and given the responsibility for Contract Compliance in November, 1974. The Division was comprised of the l - 3 - EEO Director until January, 1975, when two staff members were added to perform the Divison's duties. In March, 1975, the Department of Human Resources submitted a request for $169,066 for the 1975-76 budget. It was proposed that these funds be used to employ 15 additional staff persons for the EEO office. The request was deleted from the City Manager's proposed budget due to a lack of funds, but it was noted as an "unfinanced program need". The City Council, during this review, did not add this request back into the budget; however, the budget office did recommend and the City Council approved the addition of one Community Affairs Specialist position for Contract Compliance. (Attachment 3) On October 1, 1975, the EEO Division was transferred from the Department of Human Resources to the Personnel Department and retained responsibility for enforcing Ordinance #6842. With the passage of 07278, the Human Relations Commission was designated with the responsibility of administrating the Ordinance, including the Contract Compliance provisions. However, the Commission allowed administration of the Contract Compliance provisions to be retained by the EEO Division located in Personnel until March 1, 1977. At such time, the Commission reasserted its responsibility over the Contract Compliance provisions of #7278. On March 1, 1977, the Human Relations Commission received an additional staff member from the EEO Division to carry out 'the provisions of Contract Com- pliance and to assist in the processing of complaints against firms or contractors doing business with the City. Activities which have been undertaken before and since this date include the following: 1. A review of Federal documents pertinent to Contract Compliance and the procedures required by the various Federal agencies and their respons- ibilities for ensuring the compliance by government contractors which can be used for implementing the provisions of the city FEP ordinance. - 4 - 2. A survey of 105 state and local anti-discrimination agencies for informa- tion concerning contract compliance and the procedures used to enforce compliance. Fifty-four responses were received and provides a base for the development of the City's compliance procedures. Further corres- pondence with agencies shall point out the problems associated with carrying out compliance procedures. 3. A survey of vendors who did business with the City during the fiscal year 1975-76 was accomplished. For that period, a total of 1452 vendors were recognized that had received more than $500 from the City for services or commodities during that fiscal year. The preparation of a list of vendors for the period of October 1, 1976, to the present is scheduled but not completed. 4. The basic groundwork for developing contract compliance procedures and converting the procedures into a manual has been accomplished and a rough draft of a manual is underway. 5. Procedures have been developed whereby, when a reasonable cause deter- mination is made and the company refuses to conciliate, the City Manager may recommend that the City discontinue doing business with the company until it is in compliance or attempt to conciliate the case again. (Attachment 4) 6. The processing and investigating of charges of discrimination filed against companies that do business with the City. III. Past Contract Compliance Procedures As related to the requirements of both ordinances 46842 and 97278 a pro- vision requiring the execution of a covenant by an employer or general contractor before the submission of a bid, or the issuance of a purchase order or the award- ing of a contract, has not been fully administered. More specifically, it was recently observed that the specification and contract documents for public con- - 5 - struction work projects had included a copy of the ordinance ($7278 but before it was fully amended). Further, on the contract document .there was no specific reference to'the ordinance, to the possible penalties for non-compliance, nor was a covenant executed as required in Section Two(A), #7278. (Attachment 5) Related to the activities of the Purchasing Department, the requirements of the employment ordinance are cited in small type at the bottom of the "Invitation to Bid and Bid Quotation Form". No further mention is made of the requirements or provisions of the ordinance other than that the prospective bidder will not discriminate. Therep sent quotation form also cites City Ordinance #6842 which was repealed by the employment ordinance #7278, December 22, 1975. (Attachment 6) IV. Recommendations The following activities will be implemented at an early date to more effectively apply Contract Compliance provisions. The holding of a pre-bid conference with the officials of a company or general contractor to discuss and affirm the intention of' these officials to carry out the provisions of Ordinance #7278. At the pre-bid confer- ence, if appropriate, company officials should submit a Work Force Report, an Affirmative Action Plan, and notices of outstanding charges filed with local, state or federal agencies during preceding twelve months. A covenant should be signed by the officials during the pre-bid confer- ence. Furthermore, a clause should be inserted which specifies, "Failure to comply with any of the provisions of the Ordinance shall represent a breach of contract." The posting of notices in conspicuous places by employers doing business with the city notifying employees and applicants for employment about the � r - 6 - provisions of Ordinance #7278. Solicitation from officials during the pre-bid conference for a commit- ment to utilize minority contractors where possible from the local area. Furthermore, a list of minority contractors will be maintained which can be referred to the prospective bidders during the pre-bid conference. Providing technical assistance to aid the contractor or the bidder in operating non=discriminatory employment practices and to develop an affirmative action plan. Establish monitoring and reporting systems which obtain information as to the compliance status of firms doing business with the city. The establishment of the Executive Director of the Human Relations Commission or his representative, as a liaison official to operate with the City Departments which are charged with the responsibility of administering the grants that the City of Fort Worth receives from federal and state funding agencies. Essentially, this activity would endeavor to coordinate all efforts related to Contract Compliance provisions of the City into one central office. This consolidation would bring about a more administratively efficient and effective process as compared to the present fragmented system.