Affirmative Action Program (AAP)
An AAP is a formal program with specific requirements. Such requirements include,
among other things:
- An equal opportunity policy statement that states, among other things,
that the contractor will recruit, hire, train and promote persons in all job
titles, and ensure that all other personnel actions are administered without
regard to disability.
- A duty to review personnel processes to ensure that they provide for
careful, thorough, and systematic consideration of the job qualifications of
applicants and employees with known disabilities for job vacancies filled either
by hiring or promotion, and for all training opportunities offered or available.
- A schedule for the periodic review of all physical and mental job
qualification standards to ensure that any qualification standards that tend to
screen out
qualified individuals with disabilities are job-related for the position
in question and consistent with business necessity.
- If an employee with a known disability is having significant difficulty
performing his or her job and it is reasonable to conclude that the performance
problem may be related to the known disability, the contractor must
confidentially ask the employee if the problem is related to the employee's
disability. If the employee responds that the problem is, then the contractor
must confidentially ask whether the employee needs a reasonable accommodation.
- Appropriate outreach and positive recruitment activities, the scope of
which will depend on the contractor's size and resources and the extent to which
existing employment practices are adequate. Recruitment efforts should
incorporate special efforts to reach
individuals with disabilities.
- An audit and reporting system that will (1) measure the effectiveness of
the contractor's AAP; (2) indicate any need for remedial action;
(3) determine the degree to which the contractor's AAP objectives have been attained; (4)
determine whether individuals with known disabilities have had the opportunity
to participate in all company-sponsored educational, training, recreational, and
social activities; and (5) measure the contractor's compliance
with its AAP obligations.
Applicable regulations
U.S. Department of Labor
