(a) The contractor will not discriminate against employees or applicants for employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, age, disability or marital status, and will undertake or continue existing programs of affirmative action to ensure that minority group members and women are afforded equal employment opportunities without discrimination. For purposes of this article affirmative action shall mean recruitment, employment, job assignment, promotion, upgradings, demotion, transfer, layoff, or termination and rates of pay or other forms of compensation.

(b) At the request of the contracting agency, the contractor shall request each employment agency, labor union, or authorized representative of workers with which it has a collective bargaining or other agreement or understanding, to furnish a written statement that such employment agency, labor union or representative will not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, age, disability or marital status and that such union or representative will affirmatively cooperate in the implementation of the contractor's obligations herein.

(c) The contractor shall state, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees, that, in the performance of the state contract, all qualified applicants will be afforded equal employment opportunities without discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, age, disability or marital status. 2. The contractor will include the provisions of subdivision one of this section in every subcontract, except as provided in subdivision six of this section, in such a manner that the provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor as to work in connection with the state contract. 3. The provisions of this section shall not be binding upon contractors or subcontractors in the performance of work or the provision of services or any other activity that are unrelated, separate or distinct from the state contract as expressed by its terms. 4. In the implementation of this section, the contracting agency shall consider compliance by a contractor or subcontractor with the requirements of any federal law concerning equal employment opportunity which effectuates the purpose of this section. The contracting agency shall determine whether the imposition of the requirements of the provisions hereof duplicate or conflict with any such law and if such duplication or conflict exists, the contracting agency shall waive the applicability of this section to the extent of such duplication or conflict. 5. The director shall promulgate rules and regulations to ensure that contractors and subcontractors undertake programs of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity as required by this section. Such rules and regulations as they pertain to any particular agency shall be developed after consultation with contracting agencies. Such rules and regulations may require a contractor, after notice in a bid solicitation, to submit an equal employment opportunity program after bid opening and prior to the award of any contract, and may require the contractor or subcontractor to submit compliance reports relating to the contractor's or subcontractor's operation and implementation of any equal employment opportunity program in effect as of the date the contract is executed. The contracting agency may recommend to the director that the director take appropriate action according to the procedures set forth in section three hundred sixteen of this article against the contractor for noncompliance with the requirements of this section. The contracting agency shall be responsible for monitoring compliance with this section. 6. The requirements of this section shall not apply to any employment outside this state or application for employment outside this state or solicitations or advertisements therefor, or any existing programs of affirmative action regarding employment outside this state and the effect of contract provisions required by subdivision one of this section shall be so limited. * NB Repealed December 31, 2024