§ 28-5.1-3. Affirmative action. (a) The state equal opportunity office shall assign an equal opportunity officer as a liaison to agencies of state government.

(b) Each state department or agency, excluding the legislative branch of state government, shall annually prepare an affirmative action plan. These plans shall be prepared in accordance with the criteria and deadlines set forth by the state equal opportunity office. These deadlines shall provide, without limitation, that affirmative action plans for each fiscal year be submitted to the state equal opportunity office and the house fiscal advisor no later than March 31. These plans shall be submitted to and shall be subject to review and approval by the state equal opportunity office.

(c) Any affirmative action plan required under this section deemed unsatisfactory by the state equal opportunity office shall be withdrawn and amended according to equal opportunity office criteria, in order to attain positive measures for compliance. The state equal opportunity office shall make every effort by informal conference, conciliation and persuasion to achieve compliance with affirmative action requirements.

(d) The state equal opportunity office shall effect and promote the efficient transaction of its business and the timely handling of complaints and other matters before it, and shall make recommendations to appropriate state officials for affirmative action steps towards the achievement of equal opportunity.

(e) The state equal opportunity administrator shall serve as the chief executive officer of the state equal opportunity office, and shall be responsible for monitoring and enforcing all equal opportunity laws, programs, and policies within state government.

(f) No later than July 1 each state department or agency, excluding the legislative branch of state government, shall submit to the state equal opportunity office and the house fiscal advisor sufficient data to enable the state equal opportunity office and the house fiscal advisor to determine whether the agency achieved the hiring goals contained in its affirmative action plan for the previous year. If the hiring goals contained in the previous year's plan were not met, the agency shall also submit with the data a detailed explanation as to why the goals were not achieved.

(g) Standards for review of affirmative action plans shall be established by the state equal opportunity office, except where superseded by federal law.

(h) For purposes of this section, "agency" includes, without limitation, all departments, public and quasi-public agencies, authorities, boards, and commissions of the state, excluding the legislative branch of state government.

(i) The state equal opportunity office shall continually review all policies, procedures, and practices for tendencies to discriminate and for institutional or systemic barriers for equal opportunity, and it shall make recommendations with reference to any tendencies or barriers in its annual reports to the governor and the general assembly.

(j) Relevant provisions of this section also apply to expanding the pool of applicants for all positions where no list exists. The equal opportunity administrator is authorized to develop and implement recruitment plans to assure that adequate consideration is given to qualified minority applicants in those job categories where a manifest imbalance exists, excluding those job categories in the legislative branch of state government.

History of Section. (P.L. 1988, ch. 149, § 1; P.L. 1992, ch. 133, art. 95, § 1; P.L. 1994, ch. 133, § 3.)