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Contact Information:
145 Trent Drive Hall
Box 90012
Durham, NC 27708
Phone: (919) 684-8222
Fax: (919) 684-8580

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EEO/Affirmative Action

General Description
We implement and monitor the Equal Opportunity Policy throughout Duke University and the Health System.  This policy guides us in our institutional commitment to diversity and fairness, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, national origin, or veteran status, and prohibits discrimination in all personnel matters.  We serve as liaison between Duke, and the federal and state governments, in matters related to contract compliance and other regulatory matters.

The office's responsibilities include:
Designing and conducting studies which benchmark and illustrate the outcome of efforts undertaken at the University to attract, retain, and enable women and minorities to succeed in accomplishing their educational and career goals.

Reviewing and monitoring faculty and staff personnel policies and practices including, but not limited to recruitment, selection, compensation, training opportunities, promotion, and termination.

Providing guidance and technical training for members of the University community

Offering consultations on matters related to affirmative action and equal opportunity laws and regulations

Developing and annually updating the Affirmative Action Plans for Women and Minorities, and for Veterans and Persons with Disabilities
   

 

New Leave Rights Covered Under FMLA for Military Families

As a result of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008 (NDAA), the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) has been amended to include two new leave rights for military families. These new FMLA rights which became effective on January 28th are: 1) a new qualifying reason for leave, and, 2) a new leave entitlement for military caregivers.

1) The new qualifying reason for leave entitles an employee to take up to 12 weeks of leave for a “qualifying exigency” which is due to a spouse, son, daughter, or parent being on active duty, or having been notified of an impending call to active duty, in support of a contingency operation. Although a formal definition of “qualifying exigency” has yet to be published, the Department of Labor encourages everyone to provide this type of leave to all qualifying employees.

2) The new military caregiver leave entitlement applies to an “eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered service member who is recovering from a serious illness or injury sustained in the line of duty on active duty.” This leave provides the employee with up to 26 weeks of leave in “a single 12-month period” to care for the service member.

Further information regarding the changes to FMLA and how they should be administered can be found through the following links provided by the Department of Labor:

Title I of the FMLA, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008

Compliance Assistance – Family and Medical Leave Act


Another Record Setting Year in 2007 for OFCCP

2007 represented another record setting year for the Office for Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) in terms of the amount of financial remedies obtained, the number of workers recompensed, and the number of compliance evaluations conducted.  In summary, approximately 5,000 reviews resulted in over $51 million collected in back pay and annualized salary and benefits for over 22,000 U.S. employees; 98% of the settlements involved some form of systemic discrimination. These financial remedies represent a 78% increase since fiscal year 2001 and provide further incentive for federal contractors to ensure that their workplace is free from discrimination. For further information please see OFCCP 2007 enforcement updates by clicking here.

Updated on February 19, 2008   (Source: Peopleclick EEO and AA Digest, (35), published 2/5/08)

The attached presentation briefy details important considerations regarding e-mail communication in the workplace: E-mail communication.pdf


EEOC Fact Sheet on Employment Tests and Selection Procedures

On December 3, 2007 the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published a fact sheet on employment tests and selection procedures to assist employers who wish to use tests to screen applicants for hire and employees for promotions. While the use of tests and selection procedures may prove useful for applicant assessment, employers should be aware of their legal responsibilities to ensure that such tests are administered in a standardized fashion and, generally, do not discriminate, or have an adverse impact, against any one particular group or demographic. The fact sheet details the types of employment and selection procedures currently in use, a summary of governing EEO Laws, a brief summary of recent EEOC litigation and settlements, as well as employer best practices for testing and selection.  

Department of Labor

Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced its new Compliance Assistance Web Portal, designed to help members of the regulated community understand and comply with federal employment laws and regulations administered by DOL.

Located at www.dol.gov/compliance, the redesigned Compliance Assistance Portal is an enhanced, more user-friendly version of the department's previous compliance assistance Web site. A central gateway to "all things compliance assistance," the intuitive portal directs users to easy-to-navigate information including e-tools, fact sheets on a variety of employment law issues, regulatory text, frequently asked questions and a wealth of additional compliance assistance information provided by DOL's agencies.

The portal also features an improved navigation scheme to allow searches for compliance information "by topic" and "by audience;" users need not know the name of a particular law to locate key information. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/opa/
OPA20051849.htm.

 

 

 
   
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