Human Rights & Fair Employment Practices

Consultation

The Office consults with the Human Resources Department Career Development Division in the following areas:

• Fair employment practice training
• New employee orientation

OHRFEP acts as a liaison with outside agencies in the following areas:

• With investigations done by agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• In coordinating special recruiting efforts with referring agencies and community organizations

OHRFEP is involved with monitoring and reporting in the following areas:

• Conducting periodic audits and holding regular discussions with supervisors and managers to ensure that policies are implemented
• Assisting in the identification of problem areas through review of policies and procedures and conducting periodic utilization studies
• Ensuring the administration, in a non-discriminatory manner, of an employee performance evaluation program designed to assist employees in meeting performance standards
• Evaluating requirements for promotion on job-related criteria and ensuring that minorities and women are not required to possess higher qualifications than others
• Verifying that referring agencies are referring job-seekers in a non-discriminatory manner
• Recording data for federal reporting and in-house analysis of employment patterns
• Reporting periodically to the Board of County Commissioners and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action issues

The Office administers the Reasonable Accommodation Fund, established to provide resources for requests for reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.  OHRFEP works closely with the Human Resources Department ADA Unit, which processes these requests.  Reasonable accommodations are changes or adjustments to a job, a work environment, or an employment screening procedure that permit qualified employees or applicants with a disability to perform essential job functions and participate in the job application process.

The Office counsels employees and applicants concerning their right to file discrimination complaints based on federal anti-discrimination laws with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and complaints based on Florida anti-discrimination statutes with the Florida Commission on Human Relations.