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sary in carrying out its responsibilities under this subpart.

(b) The Office will report to Congress on the implementation and operation of the program on a Governmentwide basis not later than January 31 of each year, as required by law. Such reports will include assessments of agencies progress, or lack of progress, in meeting the objectives of the program.

Subpart C-Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Program

AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 7201; 42 U.S.C. 2000e; 38 U.S.C. 101(2), 2011(3), 2014; 5 U.S.C. 3112; 29 U.S.C. 791(b).

SOURCE: 48 FR 193, Jan. 4, 1983, unless otherwise noted.

§ 720.301 Purpose and authority.

This subpart sets forth requirements for agency disabled veteran affirmative action programs (DVAAPs) designed to promote Federal employment and advancement opportunities for qualified disabled veterans. The regulations in this subpart are prescribed pursuant to responsibilities assigned to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) under section 403 of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended (38 U.S.C. 2014), and section 307 of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 3112).

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ministration and the devotion of adequate resources to the program.

(c) Problem Analysis.

(1) Annually, OPM will provide appropriate data on the employment of disabled veterans to each agency participating in the Central Personnel Data File (CPDF). These data will be taken from CPDF. For DVAAP purposes, CPDF data are considered to be the offical record of the status of disabled veteran employment within each participating agency. Each participating agency is responsible for assuring that such records are timely, accurate, and complete.

(2) CPDF data must be analyzed by participating agencies to identify problem areas and deficiencies in the employment and advancement of disabled veterans. (OPM will establish with each agency not participating in CPDF, the nature and extent of data to be used in identifying problems and deficiencies.) Based on this analysis, agencies shall develop methods to improve the recruitment, hiring, placement, and advancement of disabled veterans, or revise or redirect existing methods, as necessary. These methods must then be translated into action items.

§ 720.304 Agency plan.

(a) Plan Development. As part of the affirmative action plan it prepares pursuant to section 501(b) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791 (b)) ("Section 501(b) Plan"), each Department, agency, or instrumentality in the executive branch must have an up-to-date affirmative action plan for the employment and advancement of disabled veterans.

(1) Each agency must review its plan on an annual basis, together with its accomplishments for the previous fiscal year, updated employment data, and any changes in agency mission or structure, and update the plan as necessary. Agency operating components and field installations required to develop separate plans under paragraph (b) of this section, below, must perform the same type of annual review and update of their plans.

(2) Plans shall cover a time period of not less than one year and may cover a

longer period if concurrent with the agency's Section 501(b) Plan. Each plan must specify the period of time it

covers.

(3) Initial plans for fiscal year 1983 required under this subpart must be developed by January 30, 1983 and must be in effect on that day.

(b) Plan Coverage.

(1) Each agency must have an agencywide plan covering all of its operating components and field installations. Agencywide plans shall include instructions assigning specific responsibilities on affirmative actions to be taken by the agency's various operating components and field installations to promote the employment and advancement of disabled veterans. OPM must be informed when headquarters offices require plans at the field or installation level.

(2) Agency operating components and field installations must have a copy of the plan covering them, and must implement their responsibilities under it. OPM may require operating components and field installations to develop separate plans in accordance with program guidance and/or instructions.

(c) Plan

Submission. Affirmative action plans developed under this section shall be submitted to OPM upon request. The Office of Personnel Management will review a selection of agency plans each fiscal year.

(d) Plan Certification. Each agency must certify to OPM by December 1 of each year that it has an up-to-date plan as required by this section. This certification must indicate the date the agency's most recent plan was effective or was last amended.

(e) Plan Content. Disabled veteran affirmative action plans shall, at a minimum, contain:

(1) A statement of the agency's policy with regard to the employment and advancement of disabled veterans, especially those who are 30 percent or more disabled.

(2) The name and title of the official assigned overall responsibility for development and implementation of the action plan.

(3) An assessment of the current status of disabled veteran employment within the agency, with emphasis on

those veterans who are 30 percent or more disabled.

(4) A description of recruiting methods which will be used to seek out disabled veteran applicants, including special steps to be taken to recruit veterans who are 30 percent or more disabled.

(5) A description of how the agency will provide or improve internal advancement opportunities for disabled veterans.

(6) A description of how the agency will inform its operating components and field installations, on a regular basis, of their responsibilities for employing and advancing disabled veter

ans.

(7) A description of how the agency will monitor, review, and evaluate its planned efforts, including implementation at operating component and field installation levels during the period covered by the plan.

§ 720.305 Agency accomplishment reports.

(a) Not later than December 1 of each year, agencies must submit an annual accomplishment report on their disabled veterans affirmative action program to the Office of Personnel Management, covering the previous fiscal year.

(b) Agency annual accomplishment reports must describe:

(1) Methods used to recruit and employ disabled veterans, especially those who are 30 percent or more disabled.

(2) Methods used to provide or improve internal advancement opportunities for disabled veterans.

(3) A description of how the activities of major operating components and field installations were monitored, reviewed, and evaluated.

(4) An explanation of the agency's progress in implementing its affirmative action plan during the fiscal year. Where progress has not been shown, the report will cite reasons for the lack of progress, along with specific plans for overcoming cited obstacles to progress.

§ 720.306 Responsibilities of The Office of Personnel Management

(a) Program Review. OPM will monitor agency program implementation through review of agency plans, direct agency contact, review of employment data, and through other appropriate means. As it deems appropriate, OPM will conduct onsite evaluations of program effectiveness, both at agency headquarters and at field installations or operating components.

(b) Technical Assistance. The Office of Personnel Management will provide technical assistance, guidance, instructions, data, and other information as appropriate to supplement and support agency programs for disabled veterans, through the Federal Personnel Manual (FPM).

(c) Semiannual Reports. As provided by 38 U.S.C. 2014(d), OPM will, on at least a semiannual basis, publish reports on Government-wide progress in implementing affirmative action programs for disabled veterans.

(d) Report to Congress. As required by 38 U.S.C. 2014(e), OPM will report to Congress each year on the implementation and progress of the program. These reports will include specific assessments of agency progress or lack of progress in meeting the objectives of the program.

§ 720.307 Interagency report clearance.

The reports contained in this regulation have been cleared in accordance with FPMR 101-11.11 and assigned interagency report control number 0305-OPM-AN.

Subparts D-I-[Reserved]

Subpart J-Equal Opportunity Without Regard to Politics or Marital Status

§ 720.901 Equal opportunity without regard to politics or marital status.

(a) In appointments and position changes. In determining the merit and fitness of a person for competitive appointment or appointment by noncompetitive action to a position in the competitive service, an appointing officer shall not discriminate on the basis of the person's political affiliations,

except when required by statute, or on the basis of marital status

(b) In adverse actions and termination of probationers. An agency may not take an adverse action against an employee covered by part 752 of this chapter, not effect the termination of a probationer under part 315 of this chapter, (1) for political reasons, except when required by statute, or (2) because of marital status.

(5 U.S.C. 2301, 2302, 7202, 7203, 7204) [44 FR 48149, Aug. 17, 1979]

APPENDIX-GUIDELINES FOR THE DEVEL

OPMENT OF A FEDERAL RECRUITMENT
PROGRAM TO IMPLEMENT 5 U.S.C.
SECTION 7201, AS AMENDED 1

I. Background Information. A. In 1964 the Congress adopted a basic anti-discrimination policy for Federal employment, stating:

It is the policy of the United States to insure equal employment opportunities for employees without discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. [5 U.S.C. 7151]2

In 1978, Congress reaffirmed and amended this policy as part of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 [Sec. 310 of Pub. L. 95454], requiring immediate development of a recruitment program designed to eliminate underrepresentation of minority groups in specific Federal job categories. Section 310 directs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission:

1. To establish Guidelines proposed to be used for a program designed to eliminate such underrepresentation;

2. To make, in consultation with OPM, initial determinations of underrepresentation which are proposed to be used in this program; and

3. To transmit the determinations made under (2) above to the Executive Agencies, the Office of Personnel Management and the Congress, within 60 days of enactment.

'This Section originally was Section 701(b) (2nd Proviso) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub. L. 88-352, July 2, 1964), codified as 5 U.S.C. 7151. Section 7151 was further amended by Section 310 of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. This Act also redesignated Section 7151 as Section 7201, effective January 11, 1979. (Sec. 703(a)(1) of the Act.)

2 Ibid.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is directed by this amendment:

1. To issue regulations to implement a program under EEOC Guidelines within 180 days after enactment, which shall provide that Executive agencies conduct continuing recruitment programs to carry out the antidiscrimination policy in a manner designed to eliminate underrepresentation in identified categories of civil service;

2. To provide continuing assistance to Federal agencies in carrying out such programs; 3. To conduct a continuing program of evaluation and oversight to determine the effectiveness of such programs;

4. To establish occupational, professional and other groupings within which appropriate recruitment will occur, based upon the determinations of underrepresentation pursuant to these Guidelines; and

5. To report annually to the Congress on this program, not later than January 31 of each year.

Congress further directed that the recruitment program must be administered consistent with provisions of Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978.^

B. In framing these Guidelines and making its initial determinations of underrepresentation, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Commission) is acting pursuant to its obligations and authority under 5 U.S.C. 7201, as amended; Section 717 of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 (issued pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) and Executive Order 12067, issued under this Plan (43 FR 28967, June 30, 1978). This Commission must develop and/or ensure the development of uniform, coherent and effective standards for administration and enforcement of all Federal anti-discrimination and equal employment opportunity laws, policies and programs, and to ensure the elimination of duplication and inconsistency in such programs.

C. A review of the legislative history of Federal equal employment opportunity policy provides further guidance on the scope and nature of determinations and guidelines to be issued for this program.

The basic policy statement on Federal equal employment policy enacted by the Congress in 1964 (5 U.S.C. 7151, redesignated as section 7201) gave the President authority for implementation. Executive Order 11246 (1966), expanded and supersed

'This Office was created by Reorganization Plan No. 2, issued pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 901 et seq. It will assume personnel management functions of the present Office of Personnel Management on January 1, 1979.

Conference Report on Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, No. 95-1272, p. 145.

ed by Executive Order 11478 (1969) with respect to Federal employment, required Federal agencies to develop affirmative action programs designed to eliminate discrimination and assure equal employment opportunity.

In 1972, Congress found that serious discrimination persisted in Federal employment. It found that minorities and women were significantly absent at higher levels in Federal employment, and severely underrepresented in some Federal agencies and in some geographic areas where they constituted significant proportions of the population. After a detailed review of Federal employment practices and statistics, the Congress concluded that:

The disproportionate distribution of minorities and women throughout the Federal bureaucracy and their exclusion from higher level policy-making and supervisory positions indicates the government's failure to pursue its policy of equal employment opportunity.5

Congress found that this exclusion resulted from overt and "systemic" discriminatory practices.

These findings, among others, led Congress to extend title VII coverage to Federal employment in Section 717 of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972.

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*

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 clearly states, for the first time, that "it is the policy of the United States *** to provide * a Federal workforce reflective of the Nation's diversity * *" 6 The Act establishes in law as the first merit principle that recruitment should be designed to achieve a Federal workforce from "all segments of society." Among the personnel practices prohibited by the Act is discrimination prohibited under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.' Therefore, the Civil Service Reform Act and its directive for a special recruitment program clearly unite requirements for basic Federal personnel policy with requirements for Federal equal employment policy.

It is clear from the legislative history of Federal equal employment policy that the legal standards of title VII must be applied to Federal employment. Thus, guidelines for a recruitment program designed to eliminate underrepresentation in Federal agency employment must be developed consistent

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with the framework of affirmative action programs.

D. Guided by the review of the legislative history, and the responsibilities and authorities cited in I(B) of this appendix, the Commission is issuing these Guidelines to provide a framework for development of recruitment program regulations by OPM. The Commission may later provide more detailed guidance, through consultation with OPM, designed to achieve an overall Federal equal employment program which is consistent with, and which effectively implements title VII requirements.

II. Initial Determinations of Underrepresentation. A. Pursuant to Section 7201, underrepresentation exists when the percentages of minority and female Federal employees in specific grades are less than their percentages in the civilian labor force. "Minority" refers only to those groups classified as "minority" for the purpose of data collection by the Commission and OPM in fur

therance of Federal equal employment opportunity policies. The civilian labor force includes all persons 16 years of age and over except the armed forces, who are employed or seeking employment. Such a determination of underrepresentation is designated in these Guidelines as "below the Section 7201 level".

B. The Commission has examined existing data on Federal employment and the civilian labor force and has made initial determinations of underrepresentation of groups by race, national origin and sex in specific grades of the major Federal pay systems, under the legal authorities cited in I(B), of this appendix.

C. The Table which follows shows the grades at which the percentage of each group in the Federal workforce falls below its percentage in the civilian labor force. The table covers four major Federal pay systems which account for more than 95 percent of Federal employees, excluding the Postal Service."

Civilian Labor Force and Federal Employment Grades at Which Minorities and Women Are Below the 7201 Level, by Selected Pay Systems, and by Sex, Race, and National Origin-1977

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Sources: Civilian Labor Force information based on data from the Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Employment and Earnings, Vol. 25, No. 1, January 1978.
Information on grades below 7201 level based on Office of Personnel Management data from Equal Employment
Opportunity Statistics, November 20, 1977 (publication in process).

D. The initial determinations of underrepresentation were based upon average 1977 labor force data from the Current Popula

tion Survey published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Employment and Earnings, January 1978), and 1977 Federal work

"The initial determinations are based on data for only those agencies covered by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. The Com

mission will make subsequent determinations on other agencies covered by title VII, e.g. the U.S. Postal Service, TVA, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Reserve Board.

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