Affirmative Action Plan

Affirmative Action Plan

An Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) is a tool used by management to ensure equal employment opportunities for all applicants and existing employees. Subcontractors of the Federal Government, such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, are required to have an Affirmative Action Program to maintain compliance with federal regulations. 

Using quantitative analysis, our affirmative action plan compares the composition of our workforce to that of other relevant labor pools. Historically, minorities and women haven’t been employed at the rate that would be expected, considering their availability in a relevant labor pool. 

The program is designed to be action-oriented, containing practical steps that are created to address the underemployment of these demographics. The affirmative action plan also includes internal reporting and auditing systems to track the progress we make in assembling a workforce more reflective of our community and free of discrimination in the hiring process.

Download the current AAP here

Equity Advisor Program Library

Our Equity Advisors use these resources to help ensure that search committees are operating with a fair approach, inviting inclusivity and upholding the principles of equal opportunity throughout the entire candidate evaluation process. Equity Advisors fully engage as peer-members of their assigned search committees offering real-time, best-practice strategies to appropriately address common challenges in the process of fair recruitments. For a more detailed description of the program and role, please refer to the program outline. 

LBNL Staff who are interested in becoming Equity Advisors can fill out the Equity Advisor Interest Form here.

Advisors can access their resources here.

Berkeley Lab Workforce Demographics

The Lab's 5-Year Workforce Demographic Dashboard includes all Berkeley Lab employees* as of July 1, 2017-2021. 

Click on the following link access high-level synopsis of the dashboard data.  


Note: Percentages of individual groups and categories may not add up to 100 percent as some employee self-select data is blank. To help make this (and the DOE workforce data) more accurate, please access your self-select information, and confirm its accuracy in UCPath. 

Refer to this guide on how to do this.

Definitions used by the DOE for National Lab Workforce Data Include

URM: Under-Represented Minorities defined as African American/Black, Native American/Alaskan Native, or Hispanic/Latinx (or combination)

OPC: Other People of Color include Asian/Asian American and Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian 

Two-or-More: Persons self-identifying with two or more racial categories, or at least one non-white racial category and Hispanic/Latinx


Questions? If you have questions about this data, please contact the FAIR office at fair@lbl.gov. 

FAQs

"Why Verify Self-ID Now?" 

Verify your demographic now: http://ucpath.universityofcalifornia.edu/   

To self-identify; log into UCPath, find "Employee Actions" on the left column, then select "Personal Information” and find the self-identify options.

Why? On July 1 and September 30 of each year, the Lab takes a snapshot of our workforce demographics. To ensure an accurate reflection of the Lab population, all employees are encouraged to voluntarily and quickly update their self-identification across a number of categories in UCPath including:

Why is this data important?

Our commitment to diversity is best supported with accurate data when as many employees as possible count themselves in. Self-identification is voluntary, but we encourage employees to confirm if their profile information in UCPath is accurate or choose “decline to state.”

How will this information be protected?

This information is stored in UCPath (the University of California’s central HR  system of record), and is treated as confidential data.

Where can I get more information?

Click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1raAssJ89C16zoWYUNSvKr6mwXTmpEtBw/view?usp=sharing

Submit your questions to FAIR@lbl.gov.


What does “Affirmative Action” and “Equal Employment Opportunity” mean? 

The Laboratory is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. This means that the Lab complies with federal requirements by undertaking affirmative action and making efforts to ensure inclusion and equity for minorities and women, for persons with disabilities, and for covered veterans. 


What is an Affirmative Action Compliance Program? 

Consistent with its affirmative action obligations and all other operative legal requirements, the Laboratory's affirmative action program includes implementation of policies, practices, and procedures to ensure that all qualified applicants and employees are receiving an equal opportunity for recruitment, selection, advancement, and every other term and privilege associated with employment at the Laboratory. 


How are “Underrepresented Minorities (URMs)” defined?

URMs is a term provided by the Federal Government to describe the demographic dataset of historically identified minority groups: African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Latinx, Pacific Islander, Asian or Underrepresented Genders. The data self-identified characteristics are confidentially recorded in the Lab’s personnel database as part of our Federal Contractors required Affirmative Action Plan (AAP). 

Demographics are reviewed for statistically significant disproportionate gaps between the demographic make-up of the available qualified candidate pool as compared to the demographic result in a particular workforce in that same field. Currently, underrepresented minorities are particularly underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) nationwide.


Who is Responsible for Implementing the Affirmative Action Plan?

The Laboratory Director, the Chief Human Resources Officer, the Equal Opportunity Officer, and the Chief Diversity Officer work together to administer the Affirmative Action Compliance Program.

Laboratory Division directors are responsible for implementing the Affirmative Action Compliance Program within the units for which they are responsible, with particular attention to hiring, promotion, and employee development, and for evaluating managers and supervisors on their effectiveness, including their good-faith efforts to implement the program.