Section 4. The corporation shall have the authority to develop a flexible professional personnel system as necessary to attract and hire qualified professional employees to enhance the zoos. The corporation shall establish said professional personnel system, in consultation with the human resources division within the executive office for administration and finance. The corporation shall set, in consultation with said office, salary scales and establish job classifications for its employees which shall not be subject to the provisions of section forty-six of chapter thirty. The corporation shall possess the management flexibility to establish employment qualifications and to remove and or discipline its employees. The corporation shall establish professional standards of performance and conduct for its employees. All corporation employees shall have the authority to solicit and collect both private and public donations, grants, bequests and devises, conditional or otherwise, of money, real and personal property, services or other things of value on the corporation's behalf and for the corporation's benefit, consistent with the provisions of section four chapter two hundred and sixty-eight A. Neither the corporation nor any of its officers, members, agents, employees, consultants or advisors shall be subject to the provisions of section three B and sections fifteen through twenty-nine inclusive, of chapter seven; sections nine A, forty-five, forty-six C through H, and fifty-two, of chapter thirty; and chapter thirty-one; provided, that in purchasing products or services, the corporation shall at all times follow generally accepted business practices.

The corporation shall be an equal opportunity employer and shall not discriminate in employment practices on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, national origin or physical handicap. The corporation shall establish an affirmative action plan intended to recruit qualified minorities and women into all job levels at the zoos. In making hiring decisions, the corporation shall give preference to persons residing in the municipalities in which the zoos are geographically located.

The corporation shall be subject to section one and chapter one hundred and fifty-one B, shall be deemed to be an agency of the commonwealth for purposes of section two, and shall be subject to the enforcement jurisdiction of the commission against discrimination under said chapter one hundred and fifty-one B. The corporation shall develop policies and programs for affirmative action in employment, procurement and contracting in accordance with law and consistent with general policies and programs of the commonwealth.