Chatham to implement new two-year Equal Employment Opportunity plan

Screenshot from the county's drafted EEO Plan
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A new Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Plan will ensure and focus on equitable practices in Chatham County’s employment terms and conditions over the next two years and work to increase diversity among county employees.

The plan, approved by the county’s board of commissioners in April, focuses on complying with federal anti-discrimination laws, and creating a more equitable, fair and diverse workplace. It will also include an analysis of county programs and policies, the race and gender composition of staff, the development of a method and working group, and more.

Courtney Jones, the county’s human resources analyst who will spearhead the initiative, said the plan began as an effort to more formally keep a record of its employment policies and practices.

“This does not mean that the county has not done this in the past, but it does create more formal avenues for auditing our existing programs and policies,” Jone told the News + Record in an email interview, “to make sure that we are not, either intentionally or unintentionally, discriminating against a particular group of people. It is simply a more formal system of checks and balances.”

An EEO plan is a comprehensive document “that analyzes a recipient’s relevant labor market data, as well as the recipient’s employment practices, to identify possible barriers to the participation of women and minorities in all levels of a recipient’s workforce,” according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Jones said this project began as a larger human resources project, with the county wishing to obtain “substantial equivalency” with the N.C. Office of State Human Resources. Such a status would give the county greater flexibility in personnel matters. Jones said that EEO plans are known to help improve recruitment, increase customer satisfaction and increase employee morale and engagement.

Jones will serve as the county’s EEO Officer, advising staff on implementation and maintenance of the plan in addition to her existing responsibilities as human resources analyst. This role will include providing counseling to staff and managers, investigating complaints and evaluating county data to identify any barriers to employment and make recommendations. Jones will also lead the county’s EEO Working Group, which included 10 other county employees at the time of Jones’ presentation to the board.

The group’s work will focus on improving equitable practices during recruitment and selection, promotions, demotions, transfers, compensation, training, benefits and discipline.

“In addition to monitoring ourselves and our practices, the other main priority is to ensure diversity in employment,” Jones said.

During her April 19 presentation to the board, Jones specifically noted the lack of African American and Hispanic male county employees in certain job categories, and the importance of the county examining what factors might contribute to that. The group’s proposal indicated that of Chatham’s 14 male officials or administrators, 100% were white; of its 39 male “professionals,” 91% were white.

Two of the goals listed in the proposal were to increase the representation of Hispanic/Latinx employees across all county job categories, as well as to increase African American males in the officials/administration category. The EEO team was also created with diversity in mind, Jones said, though it is currently led more heavily by women.

“I’m very proud that Chatham County is taking this on and looking at making a real, I hope, difference,” Commissioner Karen Howard said about the plan at the April 19 meeting. “There is no way to get around fixing something if you don’t have the people directly impacted in solution making.”

Jones said implementing the plan is important because it lets county employees and residents know that staff recognizes the “importance of and our commitment to a safe, fair and inclusive workplace.”

“This work is also important because in order to create real change, you are forced to look inside yourself and your organization first – it starts with being intentional,” she said. “This is a very important first step and I am anxious and excited to see where this work takes us.”

Reporter Hannah McClellan can be reached at hannah@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @HannerMcClellan.