Exhibit B: Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity
. The City of Tampa requires that all awards/contracts exceeding or that can be reasonably expected to exceed a total of $10,000.00 over any period, when the Bidder has fifteen or more employees; and/or all awards/contracts exceeding or that can be reasonably expected to exceed a total amount of $50,000.00 over any period and regardless of the number of employees must comply with the City's Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Ordinance.Affirmative Action
An Affirmative Action Program means a written, results-oriented program meeting the requirements of all applicable regulations, whereby an Awardee/Contractor or Subcontractor makes a good-faith effort to employ women and minorities at all levels of employment, and to treat employees equally without regard to their status as a woman or as a minority.
An Affirmative Action Plan is defined as a written narrative plan designed to remedy the effects of under-utilization and past discrimination and to assist an employer to achieve its employment goals for women and minorities through good-faith efforts in all areas of employment and contracting.
Affirmative Action Programs are reviewed and approved by the City's Women and Minority Business Enterprises (W/MBE) Office. Upon approval of an Affirmative Action Program, a Certificate of Approval, valid for two years, shall be issued to the Awardee/Contractor.
1. Equal Employment Opportunity Requirements. During the period of this award/contract, said Awardee/Contractor agrees as follows:
all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, handicap, familial status, or marital status.a. The Awardee/Contractor shall not discriminate against any employee, or applicant for employment, because of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, handicap, familial status, or marital status. As used herein, the words "shall not discriminate" shall mean and include without limitation the following:
i. Recruited, whether by advertising or other means; compensated, whether in the form of rates of pay, or other forms of compensation; selected for training, including apprenticeship; promoted; upgraded; demoted; downgraded; transferred; laid off; and terminated.
ii. The Awardee/Contractor agrees to and shall post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, notices to be provided by the awarding/contracting officers setting forth the provisions of the EEO clause.
b. The Awardee/Contractor shall, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees, placed by or on behalf of the Awardee/Contractor, state that
c. The Awardee/Contractor shall send to each labor union or representative of workers with which the Awardee/Contractor may have a collective bargaining agreement or other contract or understanding a notice advising the labor union or workers' representatives of the Awardee/Contractor's commitments under the City's Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Ordinance and other City Code or Ordinance and shall post copies of the notice in conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for employment. The Awardee/Contractor shall register all workers in the skilled trades who are below the journeyman level with the U.S. Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training.
d. The Awardee/Contractor shall furnish all information and reports required by the City and shall permit access to the books, records`, and accounts of the Awardee/Contractor during normal business hours for the purpose of investigation so as to ascertain compliance with the Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Ordinance and Program.
e. The Awardee/Contractor shall, specifically or by reference, include the provisions of paragraphs 1.a. through 1.h. of this Equal Employment Opportunity clause in every subcontract or purchase order so that such provisions will be binding upon each Subcontractor or Vendor.
f. The Awardee/Contractor and its Subcontractors, if any, shall file compliance reports at reasonable times and intervals with the City in the form and to the extent prescribed. Compliance reports filed at such times directed shall contain information as to employment practices, policies, programs and statistics of the Awardee/Contractor and its Subcontractors.
g. The Awardee/Contractor shall take such action with respect to any Subcontractor as the City may direct as a means of enforcing the provisions of paragraphs 1.a. through 1.h. herein, including penalties and sanctions for noncompliance.
h. A finding, as hereinafter provided, that a refusal by the Awardee/Contractor or the Subcontractor to comply with any portions of this program, as herein provided and described, may subject the offending party to the penalties provided in Sections 26.5-141 and 26.5-178 of the City Code.
2. Affirmative Action Requirements. No applicable award/contract shall be made/executed on behalf of the City unless at least one of the following requirements is met:
a. The workforce reflects local labor pool demographics. The Awardee/Contractor has demonstrated that its workforce reflects the demographic characteristics of the available pool of labor skills normally utilized by the Awardee/Contractor, based on the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (OFCCP) guidelines, as they may be amended, and that each applicable Subcontractor has met one of the requirements of this section. If an Awardee/Contractor or Subcontractor has the applicable Tampa-area workforce, it shall meet this requirement if its Tampa-area workforce reflects local demographic characteristics of the available pool of labor skills.
b. Equal Employment Opportunity clause and Affirmative Action Program. The Awardee/Contractor has demonstrated good-faith efforts to comply with Section 25.6-176 of the ordinance and has an existing Affirmative Action Program to be submitted to and approved by the City. The Awardee/Contractor must demonstrate that each Subcontractor has met one of the requirements of this section. An Affirmative Action Program shall be approved if it is pursuant to an order of a federal court with jurisdiction over the Awardee/Contractor's employment practices, or if it meets the standard of the EEOC and OFCCP guidelines, as they may be amended.
3. Other Requirements. Each Bidder shall submit any information required by the ordinance in duplicate to the Director of Purchasing as part of the bid documents. Each Bidder shall file, as part of the documents of such award/contract, employment information in such form as may be required by the City and shall ensure that each Subcontractor, if applicable, also files such information.
4. Non-Compliance With Requirements. A determination by the City that the Bidder, Awardee, Contractor, Subcontractor, Offeror or Vendor fails to comply with the provisions of the Ordinance shall subject the offending party to any or all of the following penalties:
a. Declare the Bidder's bid non-responsive and ineligible to receive the involved award/contract.
b. Withhold from the Awardee/Contractor in violation ten percent of all future payments under the involved award/contract until it is determined that the Awardee/Contractor is in compliance.
c. Withhold from the Awardee/Contractor in violation of all future payments under the involved award/contract until it is determined that the Awardee/Contractor is in compliance.
d. Exclusion from submitting a bid for any future procurement by the City until such time as the Awardee/Contractor demonstrates that it will comply with all of the provisions of the ordinance.e. Termination, by the City, of the award/contract.
For additional information concerning Affirmative Action Programs, contact the W/MBE Office at 813/274-8192.