Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
9a
BRIEFING ITEM
Date of Meeting
September 8, 2020
DATE: August 21, 2020
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Cynthia Alvarez, Sr. Manager Employee Relations, Human Resources
Sanders Mayo, Sr. Employee Relations Consultant
SUBJECT: 2020 Port of Seattle Affirmative Action Program
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this briefing is to present to the Port Commission the key results of the Port of
Seattle’s 2020 Affirmative Action (AA) Program.
2020 Key Highlights:
• To meet the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) AA reporting
requirements, the Port’s AA Program grew from one annual AA Plan to three annual AA
Plans. Now, in addition to an annual AA plan for Women & Minorities (Executive Order
11246), we have annual AA Plans for Individuals with Disabilities (Section 503 of the
Rehabilitation Act) and Protected Veterans (VEVRAA - The Vietnam Era Veterans'
Readjustment Assistance Act).
• Updates to the Port’s EEO Job Groups structure created better alignment between
salary grades and EEO Job Groups and provided better clarity of employee
demographics within EEO Job Groups. The following changes expanded the Port’s EEO
Job Groups from 15 to 17.
o Separated Commissioned Police out of Protective Services into two new EEO Job
Groups; Commissioned Police and Commissioned Police-Command.
o Renamed Protective Services EEO Job Groups as Non-Commissioned Protective
Services and Non-Commissioned Protective Services-Command.
o Removed Officials and Administrators 3 EEO Job Group.
o Added Professional Group 3 EEO Group.
• The number of women and minorities in the Port of Seattle’s workforce reflects the
availability of qualified women and minorities in the communities from which we recruit
and hire. Consistent with the last six AA Plans for Women and Minorities, the Port has
no required placement goals.
• The Port’s 2020 EEO Compensation Analysis did not identify salary disparities
attributable to race or gender.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. _9a___ Page 2 of 6
Meeting Date: September 8, 2020
Template revised September 22, 2016.
• OFCCP set the aspirational goal of 7% representation of individuals with disabilities
within each EEO Job Group. This utilization goal is not a rigid and inflexible quota which
must be met, nor is it to be considered either a ceiling or a floor for the employment of
individuals with disabilities. Port-wide we have almost 5% of our workforce who self-
report as individuals with disabilities. Seven out of our 17 EEO Job Groups align with the
7% aspirational goal. Moving forward we will continue to educate employees of the
importance to self-identify demographic data (race, gender, disability, veteran status)
for more accurate workforce demographics for both our AA reporting and equity goals.
We will also continue to look for opportunities to expand our efforts to recruit, hire, and
retain individuals with disabilities.
• Thirteen out of our 17 EEO Job Groups meet OFCCP’s benchmark of 6.7% representation
of Protected Veterans. We have no required placements goals for the 4 EEO Job Groups
which did not meet the 6.7% benchmark because of the Port’s 9.25% overall
representation of Protected Veterans, the Port’s good faith efforts to recruit, hire, and
retain, and the Port’s nationally recognized Veterans Fellowship Program.
BACKGROUND
As a federal contractor, the Port of Seattle is required meet OFCCP’s AA reporting
requirements, which includes the following:
• Develop annual AA Plans for Women and Minorities, Protected Veterans and Individuals
with Disabilities.
• Conduct an annual EEO Compensation Analysis.
• Monitor the effectiveness of the Port’s AA Program on a continuing basis through the
development and implementation of an internal audit and reporting system that
measures the program effectiveness.
• Provide annual AA compliance training to employees involved in the recruitment,
selection, promotion, performance management and related processes to include
review of the three AA Plans, and their roles and responsibilities in its implementation
to ensure women and minorities, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans
are treated in a non-discriminatory manner in all employment practices and business
decisions.
HOW RESULTS ARE MEASURED
In accordance with OFCCP guidelines, on October 31
st
of each year the Port extracts employee
data from our HRIS/Payroll system to compare the percentages of women and minorities in
each of our 17 EEO Job Groups to the percentages of qualified women and minorities within the
Port’s general recruitment area (King, Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston, and Kitsap counties). This
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. _9a___ Page 3 of 6
Meeting Date: September 8, 2020
Template revised September 22, 2016.
type of review, comparing incumbency to external availability, is called a Utilization Analysis
and is required for only the AA Plan for Women and Minorities. For all federal contractors,
OFCCP sets the 7% aspirational goal for individuals with disabilities and 6.7% benchmark for
protected veterans.
An underutilization exists when the Utilization Analysis shows the percentage of women or
minorities within an EEO Job Group is less than would be reasonably expected given the
availability of qualified women and minorities within the employer’s workforce and externally
within the employer’s recruitment area. Placement goals are set when an employer has an
underutilization within an EEO Job Group. A placement goal serves as target, not a quota or
set-aside, that employers make good faith efforts to meet.
2020 Utilization Analysis for Women and Minorities
EEO JOB GROUP
TOTAL
EMPLOYEES
2,062
WOMEN
Total: 678 - 32.85%
MINORITY
Total: 642 – 31.10%
Utilization
Availability
Difference
Utilization
Availability
Difference
Officials/Administrators 1
22
7
8.1
-1.1
6
4.9
+1.1
Officials/Administrators 2
40
19
17.6
+1.4
11
9.5
+1.5
Professionals 1
250
90
92.1
-2.1
57
57.7
-0.7
Professionals 2
377
148
162.4
-14.4
117
99.4
+17.6
Professionals 3
56
32
28.1
+3.9
24
14.3
+9.7
Admin. Support 1
11
8
9.2
-1.2
4
3.4
+0.6
Admin. Support 2
56
53
49.6
+3.4
22
17.7
+4.3
Admin. Support 3
11
8
8.5
-0.5
4
3.1
0.9
Paraprofessionals
77
60
52.4
+7.6
34
24
+10
Technicians
132
46
53.4
-7.4
58
38.8
+19.2
Skilled Craft 1
101
6
5.4
+0.6
21
23.7
-2.7
Skilled Craft 2
315
14
17.6
-3.6
76
82.7
-6.7
Service-Maintenance
158
64
73.9
-9.3
65
57.3
+7.7
Commissioned Police
89
11
14.2
-3.2
14
17.9
-3.9
Commissioned Police
Command
26
4
3.4
+0.6
7
4.2
+2.8
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. _9a___ Page 4 of 6
Meeting Date: September 8, 2020
Template revised September 22, 2016.
Non-Commissioned
Protective Services
306
103
103.2
-0.2
112
86.1
+25.9
Non-Commissioned
Protective Services
Command
37
5
9.2
-4.2
10
9.3
+0.7
(Please see Appendix A for comparison to 2019 Utilization Analysis Table)
PORT DEMOGRAPHICS V. COUNTY (KING, PIERCE, SNOHOMISH) DEMOGRAPHICS
Port of Seattle
King County
Pierce County
Snohomish County
Female
32.8%
49.7%
50.1%
49.8%
Male
67.2%
50.3%
49.9%
50.2%
Port of Seattle
King County
Pierce County
Snohomish County
White
68.9%
66.2%
74.3%
77%
Minority
31.1%
33.8%
25.7%
23%
MOVING FORWARD
The Port of Seattle’s Affirmative Action Program is aligned with our portwide goals to
demonstrate strong commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion at the port and across the
region and to operate as a highly effective public agency.
The absence of underutilization in our EEO job groups in our 2020 AA Plan for Women and
Minorities indicates the Port has met its OFCCP compliance requirements. We recognize this as
an important accomplishment while also recognizing the importance of increasing the overall
representation of women and minorities, especially in Skilled Crafts, Commissioned Police,
Professionals, Technicians, Service-Maintenance, and Non-Commissioned Protected Services
EEO Job Groups.
The Port of Seattle will continue to improve the AA Program by doing the following:
1. Continuing to ask employee to self-identify race, gender, disability status, and veteran
status to more accurately reflect our workforce demographics within our 3 AA Plans.
2. Expanding outreach and recruitment of individuals with disabilities.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. _9a___ Page 5 of 6
Meeting Date: September 8, 2020
Template revised September 22, 2016.
3. Continuing the targeted recruitment of women, minorities, and protected veterans to
ensure diverse applicant pools by attending job fairs and community events, offering
internships, and evaluating job descriptions to remove requirements which create
artificial barriers.
4. Maintaining and expanding the Veteran’s Fellowship Program.
5. Conducting annual audits of the 3 AA Plans to measures the program effectiveness.
6. Providing annual AA compliance training to employees to ensure women and
minorities, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans are treated in a non-
discriminatory manner in all employment practices and business decisions.
In conclusion, it’s important to note that moving forward the success of the Port’s AA Program
is connected to the success of the important work underway by the Office of Equity, Diversity,
and Inclusion (OEDI). Addressing institutional oppression within the Port and infusing equity in
all our programs, policies, and business practices supports the fundamental purpose of
affirmative action, which is to attract, hire, develop and retain a workforce that reflects the
diversity of our community at all levels of the Port.
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING
(1) Presentation slides
(2) Appendix A: 2019 Utilization Analysis Table for Women & Minorities
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS
September 24, 2019 – 2019 AAP Commission Briefing
October 9, 2018 – 2018 AAP Commission Briefing
June 13, 2017 – 2017 AAP Commission Briefing
September 27, 2016 – 2016 AAP Commission Briefing
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. _9a___ Page 6 of 6
Meeting Date: September 8, 2020
Template revised September 22, 2016.
Appendix A:
2019 Utilization Analysis for Women & Minorities
EEO JOB GROUP
TOTAL
EMPLOYEES
WOMEN
MINORITY
Utilization
Availability
Difference
Utilization
Availability
Difference
Officials/Administrators
1
30
11
11
--
5
6
-1
Officials/Administrators
2
115
44
40
+4
35
27
+8
Officials/Administrators
3
223
71
77
-6
47
56
-9
Professionals 1
321
135
142
-7
107
92
+15
Professionals 2
144
82
82
--
59
45
+14
Admin. Support 1
76
53
55
-2
27
22
+5
Admin. Support 2
26
20
19
+1
7
7
--
Admin. Support 3
22
14
16
-2
9
9
--
Skilled Craft 1
95
5
6
-1
23
22
+1
Skilled Craft 2
308
15
18
-3
71
80
-9
Protective Services
343
88
103
-15
101
109
-8
Protective Services
Leadership
57
8
11
-3
15
15
--
Service-Maintenance
102
29
37
-8
35
35
--
Technicians
32
18
15
+3
8
8
--
Paraprofessionals
79
58
54
+4
33
25
+8
