employment equity in your workplace · 2012-12-20 · need to understand and support employment...

Achieving and Sustaining Employment Equity: A Five-Step Process

Step 4 Establishing and Sustaining an

Employment Equity Plan

Implementing Employment Equity in Your Workplace Step 4 - Establishing and Sustaining an Employment Equity Plan

September 2012 of 37

Table of Contents

Introduction _________________________________________________________ 3 Communication, Consultation/Collaboration and Record Keeping for Step 4 _______ 4 Reference Documents ________________________________________________ 5

Task A: Sustain Accountability, Communication, Consultation/Collaboration and Record Keeping ______________________________________________________ 6

Accountability _______________________________________________________ 6 Communication ______________________________________________________ 7 Consultation/Collaboration _____________________________________________ 8 Record Keeping _____________________________________________________ 9 Exercise for Task A __________________________________________________ 10

Task B: Make All Reasonable Efforts to Implement Your Plan _______________ 12 Reasonable Efforts __________________________________________________ 12 Regulatory Requirement ______________________________________________ 14 Exercise for Task B __________________________________________________ 16

Task C: Monitor for Reasonable Progress ________________________________ 18 Updating Data ______________________________________________________ 18 Assessment of Reasonable Progress ____________________________________ 20 Exercise for Task C _________________________________________________ 21

Task D: Monitor and Assess New Employment Policies and Practices ________ 23

Task E: Revise Your Employment Equity Plan ____________________________ 24 Revising the Plan ___________________________________________________ 24 Revising Core Mechanisms ___________________________________________ 25 Revising Representation Goals ________________________________________ 26 Revising Measures to Remove Barriers __________________________________ 27 Revising Special Measures, Positive Policies and Practices and the Monitoring Mechanism ________________________________________________________ 28 Regulatory Requirement ______________________________________________ 29 Exercise for Task E __________________________________________________ 30

Test your knowledge of Step 4 _________________________________________ 32



Introduction

Step 4 is for organizations that have completed an employment equity plan. It provides guidance on how to sustain your employment equity plan once it has been developed and put in place. Your organization must make all reasonable efforts to implement its employment equity plan to ensure that reasonable progress is achieved toward a favourable workplace environment and a representative workforce. Once you have implemented your employment equity program, you must carry out ongoing employment equity activities to ensure that the work accomplished continues, with a view to achieving (or sustaining, as the case may be) full representation and creating a positive work environment. Upon completion of Step 4, you will have:

• continued to implement monitoring and revision procedures of both the employment equity program and plan;

• created the basis for a favourable workplace environment (one that is fair, equitable and free of employment barriers);

• made all reasonable efforts to ensure that reasonable progress is achieved toward a workforce that is representative of the available Canadian workforce;

• made reasonable progress towards eliminating areas of under-representation; and

• reviewed and revised your employment equity plan before it expires. Important note: If your workforce analysis did not reveal any gaps in representation and your employment systems review did not identify any barriers to the employment of designated group members, you are not required to have an employment equity plan. However, you must implement an employment equity program. Consult the “Establishing Employment Equity Without an Official Plan” document in the “Reference Documents” section to find out more about implementing an effective employment equity program when an official plan is not required. If you have questions regarding these tasks, send an e-mail to: [email protected] If your question relates to WEIMS, send an email to: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]





Communication, Consultation/Collaboration and Record Keeping for Step 4

Communication Consultation/Collaboration Record Keeping

In Step 1, communicating information from senior positions in the organization to employees plays a significant role in the success of your employment equity program. This ongoing communication regarding the program must be with employees, employee representatives and bargaining agents.

Consultation requires that information be given and received by all individuals involved. Through ongoing consultations, you will involve employees, management, employee representatives and bargaining agents in your employment equity program, which will increase the program's sustainability and success.

Record keeping plays a significant role in tracking your progress and efforts to implement your employment equity program. Record keeping becomes particularly critical when your organization is chosen for a compliance audit.



Reference Documents

The following reference documents are attached to this document: Implementing an Employment Equity Program without a Plan ImplementingEEWithoutPlan.pdf

Example of an Employment Equity Bulletin Bulletin.pdf

Example of a Progress Report ProgressReport.pdf

Achievement Table AchievementTable.pdf

Checklist for Step 4 ChecklistStep4.pdf

Revising Representation Goals Diagram RevisionGoals.pdf

Revising Measures to Remove Barriers Diagram RevisionBarriers.pdf

Video: Upload Data UploadData.swf If you do not see the attachments in the left menu when you open the .pdf document, you can display them by following these instructions:

1. Click on “View” 2. Click on “Show/Hide” 3. Click on “Navigation panes” 4. Click on “Attachments”



Task A: Sustain Accountability, Communication, Consultation/Collaboration and Record Keeping

Accountability

The responsibilities of the senior officer accountable for employment equity do not end once the employment equity plan is developed and the employment equity program is being implemented. The implementation of employment equity is continuous. The responsible senior officer and his or her team must be accountable for the successes and failures of all ongoing employment equity activities. They are also responsible for evaluating progress and undertaking actions to correct issues that may be having a negative impact on the employment equity process and on achieving quantitative goals. In addition, accountability must be applied to each person involved in achieving an employment equity goal or measure.



Communication

Communication is required to ensure that all staff is provided with the information they need to understand and support employment equity in your workplace. You must communicate information related to employment equity to all staff at least once a year. More frequent updates (for example, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly) are strongly encouraged but will depend on what works best in your organization. Frequent communication enables you to: Convey to employees

• the importance of employment equity • the benefits to be gained through an equitable workplace

environment • the message that management will not tolerate discrimination

based on gender, race, culture, disability or ethnicity

Regularly remind employees that

• they may update their self-identification information • the information they provide is:

o for employment equity purposes o kept confidential o kept separate from personnel files

• identification as a designated group member is voluntary

Inform employees

• of the employment equity efforts undertaken by your organization • on progress made to implement employment equity • on the implementation of a favourable workplace environment and

a representative workforce Communications with employees take the form of a progress report or a reminder bulletin. Consult the following documents in the reference documents to see examples of periodic communications:

• Example of an Employment Equity Bulletin • Example of a Progress Report



Consultation/Collaboration

It is essential to maintain the mechanisms that were created and put in place in Step 1 concerning consultation and collaboration. These mechanisms are part of ongoing strategies that form the basis of a sustainable employment equity program and ensure the success of an employment equity plan. When? Consult with employee representatives and bargaining agents at least

once every year. More frequent consultations are strongly encouraged.

How? Organizations often maintain an ongoing employment equity committee to ensure regular and informed consultations.

Why? Consultation : • enables employee representatives and bargaining agents

o to respond to how initiatives are progressing; and o to contribute to any new actions or emerging issues.

• ensures the perspectives of employees and bargaining agents are taken into consideration when your organization undertakes activities related to employment equity.

Collaboration : • encourages participation in implementing employment equity

activities. • plays a key role in ensuring that employees develop a personal

interest in the success of your employment equity program.

What is the impact?

• Increasing employee personal interest in the success of employment equity.

• Ensuring the activities you implement have a high degree of success. • Ensuring everyone understands the purpose of employment equity in

general and in the workplace.



Record Keeping

As with all corporate initiatives or programs, record keeping is integral to demonstrating work done and results achieved, as well as for determining how best to move forward with implementing employment equity. You must maintain the following records as evidence of successfully implementing employment equity:

• a record of each employee's: o designated group membership; o occupational group classification (EEOG); o salary; o salary increases; o promotions;

• a copy of the self-identification questionnaire and any other related information provided to employees;

• a copy of all information used to conduct workforce analyses; • a summary of the workforce analyses results; • a description of the employment systems review activities and results; • a copy of the current employment equity plan and any previous version, as well

as a description of review and revision activities undertaken; • a record of monitoring activities undertaken in relation to employment equity

implementation; and • a record of activities undertaken and information provided to employees,

employee representatives and bargaining agents related to communication, consultation and collaboration activities.

These records must be kept for at least two years after the end of an employment equity plan to which the records relate. For terminated employees, keep a record of the terminated employee's employment equity data for a minimum of two years after the termination date. Good idea! A five-year life cycle is recommended for employment equity records as your organization will need this information as evidence in the event that you may be subject to a compliance audit.



Exercise for Task A

Respond to the three (3) following multiple choice questions. Question 1:

Now that you have implemented an employment equity program, what information must you communicate to employees?

a. Information on the employment equity files that are kept up to date. b. Information on the progress made to implement employment equity and

to achieve a favourable workplace environment and a representative workforce.

c. Information on the changes made to work conditions and on the new bonuses offered to certain employees who are members of designated groups.

Feedback You must regularly inform your employees of the efforts that you have put forth to achieve the goals of your employment equity plan, as well as the progress that has been made to establish an equitable work environment and a workforce that is representative of the four designated groups.

Question 2:

Which of the following statements is false? The consultation process is required to ensure that:

a. employee representatives, bargaining agents and employees understand the importance of the role held by the senior officer responsible for employment equity.

b. the organization takes into account the views of employee representatives, bargaining agents and employees when it undertakes activities related to employment equity.

c. the employment equity activities implemented by the organization achieve their goals with a high degree of success.

Feedback: The consultation process is needed to ensure that employee representatives, bargaining agents and employees understand the goal of employment equity and that during the process the organization takes into account the views of the latters in order that employment equity activities achieved their goals successfully.



Question 3: Why must you keep in place the mechanisms that you developed and implemented in Step 1 for accountability, communication, consultation/collaboration and record keeping?

a. To demonstrate that managers are indeed accountable within the organization.

b. To be able to use them to implement other employment equity programs. c. Because they are part of the ongoing strategies that form the basis of

an employment equity program and ensure the program's success.

Feedback: These mechanisms are needed to ensure that your employment equity program is sustained on a permanent and ongoing basis, and that the goals of your employment equity program are achieved.



Task B: Make All Reasonable Efforts to Implement Your Plan

Reasonable Efforts

To ensure that reasonable progress is made, you must make reasonable efforts to: • implement your employment equity plan; • monitor this implementation; and • review and revise the plan.

Where efforts to implement all or some key components of the employment equity plan are minimal or non-existent, you must be able to demonstrate that factors beyond your organization's control hindered its ability to achieve its goals and implement its employment equity plan. What is meant by "reasonable": What is considered as a "reasonable" effort will vary from one situation to another. Organizations must attain a representative workforce within a reasonable period of time. They must implement an employment equity plan to address all gaps in representation. The plan must contain acceptable goals and sufficient measures to support these goals. Their obligation is to implement all the elements of the plan in a manner that could be expected to produce the targeted results.

To assess whether or not you made reasonable efforts to implement your employment equity plan, ask yourself the three following questions:

• Was the measure carried out? • Was the quality of the measure carried out sufficient to create a reasonable

expectation of success? • Was the measure carried out according to the plan's deadlines?

Indicators that reasonable efforts were made:

• There is evidence of ongoing senior-level support for employment equity and its implementation.

• Accountability mechanisms are in use for the implementation of employment equity.

• Adequate resources (financial and human) are devoted to the implementation of each measure contained in your employment equity plan.

• A measure is replaced with a more appropriate measure where the measure was not implemented or was found to have no or little effect.

• New or additional measures, not originally included in the plan, were undertaken. This might include using internal expertise (employees, including members of designated groups) and external sources (such as community and advocacy organizations, employer associations, regional and national labour federations, government departments and agencies) to maximize your success in implementing employment equity.



Implementing employment equity does not require your organization to take measures that would cause undue hardship, to hire or promote unqualified people, or to create new positions within your organization. However, it does require a concerted effort and an ongoing commitment to achieve a representative workforce and a favourable workplace environment.



Regulatory Requirement

Regulatory Requirement on- Making Reasonable Progress and Reasonable Efforts

Pursuant to section 11 of the EEA every employer shall: “… ensure that its employment equity plan would, if implemented, constitute reasonable progress toward implementing employment equity as required by this Act.” The following criteria are used to evaluate this requirement: A - Reasonable Progress

� The organization has made reasonable progress in achieving its short-term goals at 80% or more.

� The organization established availability estimates based on the most recent Census and Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) data.

� Based on the Achievement Table and the new workforce analysis if: � the goals were met and/or there are no more gaps; an assessment of ongoing

requirements and if required, an assessment of outstanding requirements were done but an assessment of reasonable efforts was not necessary;

� the goals were met but gaps remain; an assessment of ongoing requirements and if required, an assessment of outstanding requirements were done and the updated EE plan was assessed to ensure that it meets the requirements but an assessment of reasonable efforts was not necessary;

� goals were not met and gaps were not sufficiently closed; an assessment of ongoing requirements and if required, an assessment of outstanding requirements were done, the updated EE plan was assessed to ensure that it meets the requirements and an assessment of reasonable efforts was done.



B - Reasonable Effort For each measure contained in the plan or for each measure selected as a sample, an assessment was done to determine whether or not the organization has made reasonable efforts. If: � all measures listed in the EE Plan were carried out within the specified

timeline, the organization has made reasonable efforts to ensure reasonable progress;

� some measures listed in the EE Plan were partially implemented within the specified timelines, an assessment of the efforts made for each measure that was not implemented was done as well as an assessment of the presence of extenuating circumstances;

� the employer failed to implement most of the measures listed in the EE Plan, an assessment of the efforts made for each measure that was not implemented was done as well as an assessment of the presence of extenuating circumstances.

� For each measure that was not implemented, where the timeline for implementation indicated in the original employment equity plan was not adhered to, the organization provided a reasonable explanation.

� There are indications of ongoing senior-level support for employment equity and its implementation. Adequate resources (financial and human) were devoted to the implementation of each measure contained in the plan.

� The organization has done all that might be reasonably be expected to effectively implement its plan, taking into account resources and constraints.

Reflection: Do you meet these criteria? If so, you can now move on to Task C of this step: Monitoring Reasonable Progress.



Exercise for Task B

Answer the following questions on making reasonable efforts to implement your employment equity plan. Question 1

Which of the following factors does NOT indicate that reasonable efforts were made?

a. Establishing and maintaining accountability mechanisms for employment equity implementation.

b. Ongoing support displayed by the organization's senior managers for employment equity and its implementation.

c. Replacing hiring goals that had little or no results with a goal to create new positions.

Feedback: Pursuant to section 6 of the Employment Equity Act, the obligation to implement employment equity does not require the employer to take measures that would cause undue hardship to the employer; to hire or promote unqualified individuals; or to create new positions in its workforce.

Question 2

You established an employment equity plan that includes effective and realistic goals as well as measures to support them. However, after two years, you have not made reasonable progress. What should you do to ensure progress is made?

a. Conduct a new workforce survey to increase the response rate in order to eliminate gaps in representation.

b. Increase recruiters' accountability so they monitor each of the goals and measures in your employment equity plan, and require them to submit a report on the progress made with regard to their goals and measures.

c. Implement an employment equity policy and communicate it to all employees in order to raise their awareness on the purpose of the Employment Equity Act.

Feedback: In the situation given, the equity plan includes effective and realistic goals and measures. Therefore, progress should be made. However, it does not appear that the accountability mechanisms are effective. Good accountability mechanisms must make it possible to measure the effectiveness of the goals, and modify the goals or measures, if needed, in order to ensure they are achieved. The Employment Equity Act stipulates that the employer must measure the effectiveness of the activities set out in the plan or whether the results achieved were those that were expected. If not, the employer must revise its plan and establish new goals that will enable it to achieve the desired results.



Question 3 Which elements of the employment equity plan are assessed to determine whether reasonable progress has been made?

a. The measures, special measures, and positive policies and practices. b. The activities pertaining to improving the work environment and accessing the

workforce. c. The short-term recruitment and promotion goals.

Feedback: It is the short-term recruitment and promotion goals that determine whether the employer has made reasonable progress. These goals must be achieved at 80% or more confirm that reasonable progress has been made.



Task C: Monitor for Reasonable Progress

Updating Data

Hiring and promotion goals in your employment equity plan must be sufficient to ensure that reasonable progress is made toward achieving full representation within the time frame of the plan. To effectively measure progress made toward achieving the goals you have set, you must first update your workforce information, workforce analysis, clustering analysis (if needed) and flow data analysis. 1. Maintain Workforce Information In Step 1, you collected all required workforce information. Now, it is necessary to keep the information accurate and current. When? As employees:

• are hired; • leave the organization; • are promoted; or • change employment status.

How? 1. Provide a self-identification questionnaire to all new employees and to employees who request to change or update information.

2. Keep track of hires, promotions and terminations within your workforce in WEIMS.

Important! If you have uploaded your employees' data into WEIMS using .txt files, it is strongly recommended that you modify those files and upload them again instead of manually modifying your employees' data directly in the system. If you manually modify data in WEIMS for an employee that exists in your files and you upload your files again, all manual modifications will be lost. However, if you have chosen to enter each of your employees manually in WEIMS, you can manually modify your data at any time. To see again how to upload employees' data into WEIMS, open the document “Upload Data” in the reference documents.



2. Update the Analyses Done in Step 2 You are required to update your analysis once every three years. However, in order to ensure that you respond effectively to developments in your organization and achieve your employment equity goals and measures, it is recommended that you complete workforce analyses quarterly or, at minimum, once every year. A new full workforce survey is also suggested, but not required, once every three years or after major changes in the workforce occur, such as a merger or an acquisition. Go back to Step 2 to see again how to do the following:

• A workforce analysis • A clustering analysis (if applicable) • A flow data analysis



Assessment of Reasonable Progress

Reasonable progress is determined by verifying to what extent you have achieved your hiring and promotion goals as established in Step 3 and included in your employment equity plan. The information used to conduct a flow data analysis is also used to verify if reasonable progress is being made toward closing gaps in representation in your workforce, and maintaining full representation where it exists. To assess your progress in achieving full representation of the designated groups, you can use the Achievement Table below. You may choose to use a different tool, but it must be capable of providing the required information. Fill out the Achievement Table: The Achievement Table is a combination of four sheets, one for each designated group. The instructions for completing the fields are provided on the first sheet of the Microsoft Excel workbook: Read Me - Instructions. To see the Achievement Table template, open the document “Achievement Table” in the reference documents. From the table, you will be able to determine whether reasonable progress has been made by:

• comparing your goal to your results for each designated group and EEOG where a goal was set; and

• calculating the extent to which your goal was met (as a percentage). A goal is considered achieved if it is attain at 80% or more.

If you do not meet your goal:

You must provide a reasonable explanation for the shortfall.

If you meet or exceed your goal:

Evaluate the measures you undertook to meet the goal and apply them to achieve your goals in other areas, where possible.

Note: The information your organization provides in the Achievement Table will be evaluated to assess if you have met your goals. Your organization's original workforce analysis, goals and updated workforce analysis will also be reviewed to ensure that the information contained in the Achievement Table is consistent.



Exercise for Task C

Note: This exercise can only be done online Scenario: You have a trucking company. Two years ago, you implemented an employment equity program. In your equity plan, you established the following three quantitative goals:

• Women in the Other Manual Workers EEOG: Hire ten women • Members of visible minorities in the Professionals EEOG: Hire nine members of

visible minorities • Aboriginal peoples in the Middle and Other Managers EEOG: Hire three

Aboriginal peoples

In two years, there have been a total of: • 20 new recruits in the Other Manual Workers EEOG, one of whom was a woman • 15 new recruits in the Professionals EEOG, two of whom were members of

visible minorities • Six new recruits in the Middle and Other Managers EEOG, three of whom were

Aboriginal peoples Question 1 To find out whether you made reasonable progress in achieving your quantitative goals, fill out the following achievement table by inserting the data given above. Question 2

According to your achievement table, which goals were achieved? a. All the goals were achieved. b. The goals for women and members of visible minorities were achieved. c. The goal for Aboriginal peoples was achieved.

Feedback: To determine whether progress was made, the goal must have been achieved at 80% or more. In the situations given, only the goal for Aboriginal peoples was achieved at 100%. The goal for women was only achieved at 10%, and the goal for members of visible minorities was only achieved at 22.2%.



Question 3 Which of the following reasons may explain why the goal for women in the Other Manual Workers EEOG was not achieved?

a. The goal to hire ten women in this EEOG was not ambitious enough. b. It was difficult to recruit women in this EEOG because of the nature of

the jobs (traditionally male positions). c. There are no explanations to give because, despite everything, we did hire

one woman. Feedback: The goal was to hire ten women, but only one was hired. Therefore, the goal was only achieved at 10%. The difficulty in achieving this goal in manual work positions may be caused by the nature of the job (traditionally male dominated).

Question 4

Which of the following reasons is NOT a contributing factor in explaining why the goal for members of visible minorities in the Professionals EEOG was not achieved?

a. It is difficult to obtain recognition of foreign-issued diplomas because the process for obtaining recognition is rather long.

b. There are very few members of visible minority professionals in our geographic region.

c. Referrals by existing staff continue to be the primary recruitment method. Feedback: The goal of hiring 9 members of the visible minority group was established by using the availability of this group in the organization's geographical region. Therefore, the low availability cannot be used as an excuse for not achieving the goal. However, the difficulty of obtaining diploma recognition and the word-of-mouth recruitment method are barriers in achieving this goal. The organization should consider implementing measures to eliminate those barriers.



Task D: Monitor and Assess New Employment Policies and Practices

In Step 2-2 - Conducting an Employment Systems Review, you identified the barriers barriers affecting members of designated groups and you have formulated recommendations to eliminate these barriers or reduce their impact. In Step 3 - Creating an Employment Equity Plan, you described the measures you would take to eliminate the barriers and the mechanisms you would use to study new human resource systems, policies and practices. During the life of the employment equity plan, you must ensure that this process is followed and the results are documented. It is important that you monitor all modifications to human resource systems and assess their impact on your employment equity goals. Before implementing new human resources policies and practices or modifying the existing ones, you must:

• review new policies and practices to assess their potential impact using the same assessment procedures outlined in Step 2; and

• review modifications to previously validated policies and practices to ensure that they do not develop barriers as changes and modifications are introduced.

Moreover, if new gaps in representation are found during monitoring and revision of the workforce analysis, you must:

• Conduct a new employment systems review to identify the barriers to employment and find the potential cause of the under-representation identified in the workforce.

• Conduct a clustering analysis when 20 or more members of a designated group are present in the same EEOG.

• Update your employment equity plan so it contains enough relevant measures and goals to fill all the gaps in representation and eliminate barriers to employment.

• Demonstrate that you made reasonable efforts and progress to carry out the employment equity plan and achieve the recruitment and promotion goals.

• Set up a process to control, review and revise the employment equity plan at least once every three years.



Task E: Revise Your Employment Equity Plan

Revising the Plan

To ensure the success of your organization's employment equity program, review and revise your employment equity plan frequently, make necessary changes and take corrective action where needed. When to review and revise the plan?

At least once every three years.

Why review and revise the plan?

To ensure that it adapts to changing circumstances, that reasonable progress is achieved and that reasonable efforts are always evident.

How to review and revise the plan?

By reviewing and revising: • the core mechanisms; • the representation goals; • the measures to remove barriers; • the special measures, positive policies and practices and the

monitoring mechanism; and • to ensure reasonable efforts and reasonable progress.

Review and Revision Records:

Detailed records of the review and revision of your employment equity plan are required. Example: One of your employment equity plan measures was to build a ramp to make your head office accessible. Upon completion, you could create a record as follows: “The ramp construction was completed within the timeline allotted by the employment equity plan. As a result, physical access to the premises is no longer a barrier to the hiring of persons with disabilities and it is no longer the cause of their overall under-representation in the workforce. This measure has been removed from the employment equity plan. The representation of this designated group will be monitored and, if gaps do not decrease within six months, a new employment systems review will be undertaken to identify any other barriers. New measures to remove the barriers and special measures to improve representation will be added to the employment equity plan.”

Don't forget! The plan must be reviewed in consultation with employment equity representatives and bargaining agents.



Revising Core Mechanisms

You must verify that all elements of your organization's accountability, communication, consultation/collaboration and record-keeping mechanisms outlined in your employment equity plan are in use and are contributing to a positive workplace environment. Mechanisms that have proven successful do not need to be revised. However, if any element of a mechanism has not produced the desired result, you must change the element and monitor the results of the change.



Revising Representation Goals

You must review and address all gaps in representation that remain and any new gaps that have developed. To do this, compare your previous workforce analysis to the updated workforce analysis you recently completed. The following diagram shows you how to revise your representation goals:

Indicate that the goal has been reached and

remove it from the plan

Is the representation gap filled? YES

Consider whether you can use these

measures, policies or practices to close

gaps in other areas

NO

Have you made reasonable progress to

close the gap?

Continue to implement the

measures related to this gap until it is

closed

YES

NO

Have you made reasonable efforts to implement the measures related to this

gap?

YESReview

employment systems

Hold the responsible person accountable

NO

Is it a new representation gap?

NO

Begin making reasonable efforts to implement the employment

equity plan measures

Develop new measures to

ensure that all barriers are

removed

AND

AND

Is the gap minor or significant?

Establish new numerical goals in the plan to close the gap

Review all employment systems related to the occupational group to identify barriers to the

employment of designated group

members

MINOR

SIGNIFICANT

YES

Add measures into the plan to remove those

barriers

AND

To print the diagram, open the document “Revising Representation Goals Diagram” in the reference documents.



Revising Measures to Remove Barriers

The review of the measures in the organization's employment equity plan that you have implemented will determine which measures were successful and which were not. A successful measure is one that supported the goal and enabled you to make reasonable progress toward eliminating the gap in representation that the measure was put in place to address. To ensure that all gaps in representation are closed and no new gaps develop, there cannot be any barriers to the employment of designated group members in your employment systems. To confirm that the measures you put in place are effective, follow the process described in the following diagram:

Record the measure used

Has the barrier been removed? YES

Consider if you can use the

measure in the removal of

barriers in other areas

AND

NO

How do you review the measure(s) implemented to eliminate the barrier?

Is it a new barrier?

Develop new measures to remove this barrier and

include them in your plan

NO

Remove the measure from

the planAND

Replace the measure with a new one

Modify the measure(s)

Add a new and/or special measure

YES

OR

OR

OR

To print the diagram, open the document “Revising Measures to Remove Barriers Diagram” in the reference documents.



Revising Special Measures, Positive Policies and Practices and the Monitoring Mechanism

To support your employment equity goals and measures to remove barriers, your organization's employment equity plan will include special measures, positive policies and practices and a monitoring mechanism. Each of these must be assessed to ensure that it is further achieving these goals and this barrier removal. Begin the assessment by determining the effect of the special measure, positive policy or practice and the monitoring mechanism. If the effect is desired: Continue to implement the action until it is no longer

necessary (positive policies and practices and the monitoring mechanism will often be ongoing).

If the effect is not desired:

Revise, change or add the special measure, positive policy or practice or the monitoring mechanism.

Example: You could implement a special measure to undertake targeted recruitment of visible minority professionals using the NAS Institute Job and Education Fairs for new Canadians, Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities. If you discover that it did not address the under-representation in the Professionals EEOG, but it did provide Skilled Crafts and Trades Workers, you would review the potential of using this special measure to address any representation gaps in the Skilled Crafts and Trades Workers EEOG and develop a new special measure, such as targeted recruitment with a different institute, for the under-representation of visible minorities in the Professionals EEOG.



Regulatory Requirement

Regulatory Requirement on- Periodic Review and Revision of the Employment Equity Plan

Pursuant to section 13 of the EEA every employer shall: “…at least once during the period in respect of which the short term numerical goals referred to in paragraph 10(1)(d) are established, review its employment equity plan and revise it by a) updating the numerical goals, taking into account the factors referred to in subsection 10(2); and b) making any other changes that are necessary as a result of an assessment made pursuant to paragraph 12(b) or as a result of changing circumstances.” The following criteria will be used to evaluate this requirement: If reasonable efforts were made and the plan was subsequently reviewed and

revised, an assessment of ongoing requirements was done. If reasonable efforts were made but the plan was not reviewed and/or revised,

extenuating circumstances justified the organization's inability to implement its plan.

If good faith efforts were made to implement the plan but some measures in the plan were not implemented and the plan may or may not have been reviewed and/or revised, extenuating circumstances justified the organization's inability to implement its plan.

If reasonable efforts were not made and there is an absence of good faith efforts and the onsite visit confirmed the findings, a non-compliance report was written recommending disbarment until the organization can demonstrate that reasonable efforts have been made.

Reflection: Do you meet these criteria?

• If you do and you are subject to the FCP, you now have completed implementing an employment equity program

• If you do and you are subject to the LEEP, you may now proceed to Step 5 of Implementing an Employment Equity Program: Submitting an Annual Report.



Exercise for Task E

For each scenario, use the information in the Achievement Table to answer the question. Scenario #1 To do the exercise, open the document “Achievement Table for Situation #1” in the reference documents. Question

Based on the data provided in the tables for Situation #1, what modifications would you make to your employment equity plan?

a. I would change the goal from hiring ten women to hiring five so that the goal is realistic.

b. I would add a goal of offering training and awareness sessions on discrimination to all employees to eliminate prejudices.

c. I would not change anything in the plan because I do not believe it is possible to eliminate prejudices.

Feedback: In this case, all of the organization's employees must be made aware of and trained on discrimination and prejudices in order to eliminate them. This measure, along with the goal of establishing links with women's' associations, will help support and achieve the goal of hiring women as truck drivers.



Scenario #2 To do the exercise, open the document “Achievement Table for Situation #2” in the reference documents. Question Based on the data provided in the above tables, what modifications would you make to your employment equity plan?

a. I would add to the plan the implementation of a policy on reasonable accommodations with a form for these requests, and I would inform employees of the changes.

b. I would add to the plan that persons with disabilities who apply for a position should be informed that the position is open only to persons with disabilities who do not have mobility impairment.

c. I would add to the plan a goal to automated the doors at headquarters. Feedback: To attract candidates and keep employees who have mobility impairment, it is essential for the organization to have building access via automatic doors. Scenario #3 To do the exercise, open the document “Achievement Table for Situation #3” in the reference documents. Question

Based on the data provided in the above tables, what modifications would you make to your employment equity plan?

a. I would increase the hiring goal from 10 to 20 so it corresponds to the rate of availability of visible minorities in this group.

b. I would add a goal of training employees on employment equity so they recommend candidates who are members of designated groups.

c. I would add a goal of asking employees to refer candidates who are visible minorities, with monetary compensation for those who recommend these potential candidates.

Feedback: Organizations must set up proactive initiatives to react to the effects of the word of mouth approach if it constitutes a barrier, and when it is intended to continue. These initiatives may include: a) informing employees that the organization would like them to refer qualified candidates who belong to the four designated groups; b) asking employees to recommend candidates who belong to a designated group; c) setting up incentive measures, such as monetary compensation, for employees who recommend candidates who belong to a designated group, etc.



Test your knowledge of Step 4

Are you and your organization ready to go on to Step 5 of implementing an employment equity program? Answer the following questions to find out. Task A - Sustain Mechanisms Established in Step 1 Question 1 Why must you maintain the accountability mechanism established in Step 1 and included in your employment equity plan?

a) To show employees that you take the employment equity program seriously. b) To sustain the achievement of your employment equity goals and

measures. c) So that members of the designated groups are responsible for the employment

equity goals of your organization. Feedback In order for your employment equity plan and program to achieve the expected results, the senior manager responsible for the program and other managers must be responsible for its success. You must therefore maintain accountability measures to support the achievement of the goals and measures described in your employment equity plan. Question 2

How often must you consult with employee representatives and bargaining agents? a. At least once every year. b. As needed, i.e., when there are activities for non-unionized and unionized

employees. c. At the end of the employment equity plan timelines, i.e., every three years.

Feedback You must consult with employee representatives and bargaining agents at least once every year, although more frequent consultations are strongly encouraged.

Question 3

You must keep records of your employment equity program. For how long must these records be kept?

a. Once my employment equity program is in place, I no longer have to keep these records.

b. I must keep these records for as long as our organization maintains the employment equity program.

c. I must keep them for at least two years after the end of my employment equity plan to which the records relate.

Feedback These records must be kept for at least two years after the end of your employment equity plan to which the records relate.



Task B - Make All Reasonable Efforts to Implement Your Plan Question 1

According to the Employment Equity Act, you must make reasonable efforts to implement your employment equity plan. What is meant by a "reasonable" effort?

a. I must achieve the goals of my employment equity plan, which will enable me to fill all the gaps in representation within three years.

b. My employment equity plan must contain goals and sufficient measures to address all gaps in representation within a reasonable period of time.

c. My employment equity plan includes many goals and measures to demonstrate the efforts I put forth to draft it.

Feedback What is considered as a "reasonable" effort will vary from one situation to another. Organizations must attain a representative workforce within a reasonable period of time. In doing so, you must implement an employment equity plan to address all gaps in representation. The plan must contain acceptable goals and sufficient measures to support these goals. Your obligation is to implement all the elements of the plan in a manner that could be expected to produce the targeted results.

Question 2

Which of the following statement is NOT an indicator that reasonable efforts have been made?

a. The continuous support of the organization's upper management toward employment equity and its implementation.

b. The replacement of a measure that has little effect on the short-term employment equity objectives by the creation of new positions.

c. The establishment of accountability measures for the employment equity implementation.

Feedback To demonstrate that reasonable efforts have been made and to ensure reasonable progress, you must replace measures that have little or no effect with more appropriate measures. The principle of employment equity does not oblige your organization to put in place measures that will cause undue hardship, to hire or promote unqualified personnel or to create new positions. However, it requires cooperative action and permanent engagement toward the achievement of a representative workforce and a supportive work environment.



Question 3 What must you do if you notice that reasonable efforts were not made to implement your employment equity plan?

a. Consult employee representatives and bargaining agents to take the necessary action to rectify the situation.

b. Ask the people designated as responsible for the plan's goals to explain why they did not put forth the effort, and take the necessary action to rectify the situation.

c. Ask designated group employees to help take the necessary action to rectify the situation.

Feedback When you discover that reasonable efforts are not being made to implement the employment equity plan, you must take steps to ensure that the situation is rectified and that the appropriate people are held accountable.

Task C - Monitor for Reasonable Progress Question 1

What information must you update in order to measure progress made? a. The workforce analysis and the employment systems review b. The workforce survey and the workforce analysis. c. The workforce data, the workforce analysis, the clustering analysis and

the flow data analysis. Rétroaction In order to properly measure the progress made towards the objectives established in your employment equity plan, you must first update your workforce data, your workforce analysis, your clustering analysis and your flow data analysis.

Question 2

How do you determine if you have made reasonable progress? a. Check if all the goals and measures of the plan are achieved. b. Check if all the short-term goals are being achieved at 80% or more. c. Check if all the long-term goals are being achieved at 80% or more.

Feedback

Your organization has made reasonable progress when all your short-term goals are achieved at 80% or more.



Question 3 What determines that a measure has been efficient?

a. The measure has been applied continuously. b. The measure has been approved by all members of the designated group in

the organization. c. The measure has eliminated the barrier.

Feedback An efficient measure must support an objective and allow you to make reasonable progress towards eliminating the representation gaps for which it was implemented. In order to fill all representation gaps and prevent future gaps, your employment systems must be exempt from any employment barriers for members of designated groups.

Task D: Monitor and Assess New Systems, Policies and Practices Question 1

What should you do before implementing a new human resource policy once you have implemented your employment equity program?

a. I must ensure that I keep all the information that was used to draft this new policy for employment equity purposes.

b. I must use the mechanism that was put in place to review new human resource systems, policies and practices to ensure that the new policy does not contain barriers.

c. I must perform another workforce analysis to verify that no new gaps were introduced by this new human resource policy.

Feedback When implementing a new human resource policy, you must use the mechanism that was established to review new human resource systems, policies and practices to ensure that the new policy does not contain barriers before it is put in place.

Question 2

Why must you examine the modification to policies and practices already validated?

a. To determine how to implement the modifications b. To establish follow-up measures to prevent new obstacles c. To ensure they will not create new employment barriers once the

modifications are integrated. Feedback When you modify policies and practices already validated, you must examine the proposed modifications to ensure they will not create new employment barriers once the modifications are integrated.



Question 3 Which of the following actions is NOT appropriate when you realize that they are still gaps after the examination of your new employment systems?

a. Conduct a new employment systems study. b. Update you employment equity plan. c. Conduct a new workforce survey.

Rétroaction When you examine your new systems and you realize that there are still representation gaps or that new gaps have appeared, you must conduct a nerw employment systems review and update your employment equity plan accordingly. Although it is desirable that your workforce data be up to date, it is not necessary to conduct a new workforce survey.

Task E: Revise Your Employment Equity Plan Question 1

Why must you review and revise your employment equity plan? a. To ensure that it adapts to changing circumstances, that reasonable

progress is achieved and that reasonable efforts are always evident. b. To add managers' names as the people responsible for achieving recruitment

and promotion goals. c. To confirm that it contains sufficient goals and measures to be completed.

Feedback To ensure the success of your organization's employment equity program, review and revise your employment equity plan frequently. This is critical to ensure that it adapts to changing circumstances, that reasonable progress is achieved and that reasonable efforts are always evident.

Question 2

How must you proceed to review your representation goals? a. I must compare my previous workforce analysis to the updated

workforce analysis in order to review and address all gaps in representation that remain and any new gaps that have developed.

b. I must compare the results of my original employment systems review with the results of my latest review to address all the barriers that remain, in addition to any new barriers.

c. I must compare the core goal I used to establish my goals with the one I updated to review all my goals.

Feedback You must review and address all gaps in representation that remain and any new gaps that have developed. To do this, compare your original workforce analysis to the updated workforce analysis you recently completed.



Question 3 After reviewing your special measures, positive policies and practices, and monitoring mechanism, what must you do if you find there are negative effects?

a. I must revise, replace or add to the special measure, positive policy or practice or the monitoring mechanism.

b. I must continue to apply the measure as long as necessary. c. I must hold a meeting with all members of the employment equity committee

to inform them of the situation. Feedback If you find any undesirable effects upon reviewing your special measures, positive policies and practices and monitoring mechanism, you must then revise, replace or add elements to the special measure, positive policy or practice or the monitoring mechanism in order to ensure that they produce effects that help you achieve your goals and measures for eliminating barriers to employment.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Labour ProgramFederal Contractors Program Visible Minorities

% # # %

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

0 0,0 0 0 0,0 N/A

Totals 0 0,0 0 0 N/A

Supervisors: Crafts & Trades

Administrative & Senior Clerical

Skilled Sales & Service Personnel

Skilled Crafts & Trades Workers

Other Manual Workers

Clerical Personnel

Intermediate Sales and Service Personnel

Semi-Skilled Manual Workers

Other Sales & Service personnel

Semi-Professionals & Technicians

Supervisors

Employment Equity Occupational Group (EEOG)

GoalTotal Number of New

Entrants

Percent of Goal Met

Achievement TableOrganization Name

Professionals

Hiring and Promotion Goals

Comments

Senior Managers

Number of New Entrants: Women

Middle & Other Managers

Sample Employment Equity Bulletin: Progress Report

May 2012 Page 1 of 2

To: All Employees Date: [Date]

From: [Full name of the Chief Executive Officer or President], [Title of Chief Executive Officer or President]

Subject: Current status of employment equity initiatives

[Organization's name] strives to ensure that employment equity efforts and progress achieve and sustain a positive workplace environment and a representative workforce where you feel proud and fulfilled.

Your employment equity committee has worked hard over the last quarter to make progress toward achieving the goal of a representative workforce and a favourable workplace environment at [Organization's name]. Current activities and successes demonstrate that we have come a long way in reaching our employment equity plan objectives.

We have formulated and are now implementing the following policies:

• an anti-harassment policy;

• an accommodation policy, which includes procedures for requesting accommodation and for responding efficiently and effectively to accommodation request; and

• an employment equity policy.

These policies are accessible to all employees on the employee information bulletin board, (located in the main entrance), through [Organization's name] human resources intranet pages or by request at the human resources department.

Our special recruitment initiative through WORKink (www.workink.com) has been very effective in generating qualified candidates who are representative of the Canadian labour market availability for persons with disabilities to fill vacant clerical positions throughout the organization. The selection process filled all of the vacant positions and resulted in the hiring of qualified persons with disabilities at a rate that is actually higher than availability. This enabled [Organization's name] to eliminate the gap for persons with disabilities in the Clerical Personnel occupational group sooner than projected. The employment equity committee is now pursuing other special initiatives to complement our current recruitment strategies to ensure that [Organization's name] recruits a group of qualified candidates for the Professionals occupational group that is representative of the availability of women and to ensure a representative number of Aboriginal peoples are part of the recruited group of qualified candidates for positions as Semi-Skilled Manual Workers. Final initiative proposals will be presented, approved and integrated into our employment equity plan within the next three months, so stay tuned!

Finally, work has now begun to build the ramp outside of the side entrance into the building. While construction is underway, please use only the main entrance to enter and exit the building.

http://www.workink.com/

Sample Employment Equity Bulletin: Progress Report


Fire evacuation plans have been modified to ensure security in case of emergencies. Fire and emergency captains have been trained in these temporary procedures and a briefing and drill will be given to all employees in the coming week to ensure that everybody is evacuated in a timely manner in the case of an emergency. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience in this matter.

If you have questions about employment equity or want to know how you can help, please feel free to contact [Employment equity contact's name], [Employment equity contact's title] at [Employment equity contact's phone number].

____________________________________________ [Name and title of President or Chief Executive Officer]

Implementing Employment Equity in your Workplace Step 4: Sustaining an Employment Equity Plan

Checklist

2012-09-25, 1:03 Page 1 of 1

To finalize task A - Sustaining accountability, communication, consultation, collaboration and record keeping, I:

upheld and enforced my accountability mechanism, and ensured that the senior official responsible for employment equity fulfills his or her duties;

continued implementation of my communication, consultation and collaboration mechanisms;

consulted and collaborated with employee representatives and bargaining agents on employment equity issues.

ensured maintenance of employment equity records;

continued to implement monitoring and revision procedures of both the employment equity program and plan.

To finalize Task B - Make all reasonable efforts to implement my employment equity plan, I:

made all reasonable efforts to ensure that reasonable progress is achieved toward a workforce that is representative of the available Canadian workforce.

To finalize Task C - Monitor for reasonable progress, I:

updated my workforce analysis ,clustering analysis and flow data analysis;

updated the results of the workforce survey by distributing a self-identification questionnaire to new employees and those employees who request it;

modified the database to reflect new data stemming from hires, promotions, terminations and any other modification of workforce information;

determined whether reasonable progress was made towards decreasing areas of under-representation.

To finalize Task D - Monitor and assess new human resource systems, policies and practices, I:

verified that the organization has an employment equity and an anti-harassment policy.

verified that the organization has in place a policy and procedures on accommodation to respond to the needs of both existing employees and candidates during a selection process.

set up a functional process to evaluate new policies and practices for identifying potential employment barriers as well as any employment system linked to a new representation gap.

continued to implement monitoring and revision procedures for the employment equity program and plan;

created the basis for a favourable workplace environment—one that is fair, equitable and free of employment barriers.

To finalize Task E - Review and revise my employment equity plan, I:

reviewed and revised my employment equity plan, including the core mechanisms, the representation goals, the measures to remove barriers, the special measures, the positive policies and practices, and the monitoring mechanism.

Record the measure used

Has the barrier been removed?

YES

Consider if youcan use the

measure in the removal of

barriers in other areas

AND

NO

How do you review the measure(s) implemented to

eliminate the barrier?

Is it a new barrier?

Develop new measures to remove this barrier and

include them in your plan

NO

Remove the measure from the

planAND

Replace the measure with a new one

Modify the measure(s)

Add a new and/or special measure

YES

OR

OR

OR

Indicate that the goal has been reached and

remove it from the plan

Is the representation gap filled?

YES

Consider whether you can use these

measures, policies or practices to close gaps

in other areas

NO

Have you made reasonable progress to close the gap?

Continue to implement the

measures related to this gap until it

is closed

YES

NO

Have you made reasonable efforts to implement the

measures related to this gap?YES

Review employment

systems

Hold the responsible person accountable

NO

Is it a new representation gap?

NO

Begin making reasonable efforts to implement the employment equity

plan measures

Develop new measures to

ensure that all barriers are

removed

AND

AND

Is the gap minor or significant?

Establish new numerical goals in the plan to close

the gap

Review all employment systems related to the occupational group to identify barriers to the

employment of designated group

members

MINOR

SIGNIFICANT

YES

Add measures into the plan to remove those

barriers

AND

Sample Employment Equity Bulletin: Quick Reminder


To: All Employees Date: [Date]

From: [Full name of senior official responsible for employment equity], [Title of senior official responsible for employment equity]

Subject: How you can help improve our workplace

As part of our employment equity program, [Organization’s name] updates its employment equity information database constantly and tries to find new ways to improve how we implement employment equity in our workplace. The purpose of implementing employment equity is to:

• create a workplace that does not deny employment opportunities or benefits to any person for reasons that are not related to their skills and abilities;

• ensure that there are no barriers in our workplace to the employment and career progression of any employee, and particularly of employees who are members of one or more of the four designated groups: women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and visible minorities; and

• undertake special measures to redress the effects of previously existing barriers to the employment and career progression of members of designated groups in our workplace.

Implementing employment equity in our workplace is important. It has been shown to benefit all employees in an organization; it promotes a favourable workplace and a representative workforce. [Organization’s name] senior managers, managers and supervisors are all aware of the weight of their responsibility to ensure that discrimination based on gender, race, disability, culture or ethnicity will not be tolerated in our organization. This, in turn, means that all employees function in an environment that is fair, positive and innovative.

Sample Employment Equity Bulletin: Quick Reminder


You can help

Make our efforts to implement employment equity more meaningful by verifying and updating your self-identification questionnaire answers.

Remember: Answers on self-identification questionnaires are confidential, voluntary and kept separate form your personnel file. The information provided through self-identification questionnaire answers is not used individually; it is compiled into an overall organization profile. This means that when you identify yourself as a member of a designated group, you lose nothing and you actually gain because the information enables us to improve our employment equity initiatives.

If you have any questions about employment equity or other ways you can help, please feel free to contact [Employment equity contact's name], [Employment equity contact's title] at [Employment Equity contact's phone number].

____________________________________________ [Name and title of senior official responsible for employment equity]

Sustaining employment equity when a formal plan is not required


Implementing employment equity does not always mean that you have to have an employment equity plan in place and in use.

An employment equity plan is an action plan to remove gaps in representation and barriers to employment within your organization to achieve and maintain full representation. If you have neither minor nor significant gaps in representation in your workforce and you have determined that no barriers to the employment of designated group members exists within your workplace employment systems, you are not required to have a formal employment equity plan. However, you are required to continue to implement certain requirements established by the Employment Equity Act, the Regulations and the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s Statutory Requirements.

• Have an active senior official responsible for employment equity.

• Have a functioning accountability mechanism for employment equity activities.

• Communicate regularly with employees (recommended at least twice each year) and ensure that the communications inform them periodically:

o of the purpose of employment equity;

o of completed employment equity measures;

o of planned employment equity measures;

o of progress made in implementing employment equity;

o of senior management’s commitment to employment equity; and

o that self-identification as a member of a designated group is voluntary and that each employee may change or update his or her self-identification questionnaire answers at any time.

• Consult with employee representatives and bargaining agents on employment equity issues, and find out their opinions about how they can help the organization:

o implement employment equity; and

o communicate employment equity matters to employees.

• Maintain up-to-date workforce information by updating your information system (e.g., the Workplace Equity Information Management System). This includes:

1) providing a blank self-identification questionnaire to:

- new employees;

- employees who want to update a previously submitted self-identification questionnaire; and

- employees who request one.

2) updating the employment equity information system to reflect all:

- hires;

- promotions;

- terminations;

- occupational classification and group changes;

Sustaining employment equity when a formal plan is not required


- employment status changes;

- working location changes;

- salaries and salary changes; and

- new and updated self-identification questionnaire answers.

• Update your workforce analysis on the following occasions:

o the release of new Census data;

o the release of new Participation and Activity Limitation Survey data;

o when major changes in the organization’s workforce have occurred (e.g., downsizing, mergers); and

o three years after the previous workforce analysis update.

If your workforce analysis update reveals one or more gaps in representation, you must determine if each gap is minor or significant, as per the instructions in Step 2.

a. If the gap is minor, you must develop and implement an employment equity plan (see Step 3) that contains goals to address and close the gap within a specified time frame.

b. If the gap is significant, you must address and close it by: i. undertaking an employment systems review to identify the barriers that are causing the gap

(see Step 2); and ii. developing an employment equity plan that outlines short- and long-term goals, measures to

remove the barriers and special measures to correct the negative effects of the barriers (see Step 3).

• Monitor previously reviewed employment systems, policies and practices to ensure that they do not develop employment barriers.

• Review all new employment systems, policies and practices to ensure that they do not constitute employment barriers.

If a review of an employment system, policy or practice that is already in place and in use reveals a barrier, you must develop an employment equity plan that outlines measures to address the barrier and special measures to correct the negative effects of the barrier (see Step 3).

If a review of a new employment system, policy or practice that has not been implemented reveals a barrier, the system is not to be put in place until the barrier has been removed.