(a) Definition and purpose. As used in this part:

(1) An affirmative action program is designed to ensure equal opportunity and prevent discrimination in apprenticeship programs. An affirmative action program is more than mere passive nondiscrimination. Such a program requires the sponsor to take affirmative steps to encourage and promote equal opportunity, to create an environment free from discrimination, and to address any barriers to equal opportunity in apprenticeship. An affirmative action program is more than a paperwork exercise. It includes those policies, practices, and procedures, including self-analyses, that the sponsor implements to ensure that all qualified applicants and apprentices are receiving an equal opportunity for recruitment, selection, advancement, retention and every other term and privilege associated with apprenticeship. An affirmative action program should be a part of the way the sponsor regularly conducts its apprenticeship program.

(2) A central premise underlying affirmative action is that, absent discrimination, over time a sponsor's apprenticeship program, generally, will reflect the sex, race, ethnicity, and disability profile of the labor pools from which the sponsor recruits and selects. Consistent with this premise, affirmative action programs contain a diagnostic component which includes quantitative analyses designed to evaluate the composition of the sponsor's apprenticeship program and compare it to the composition of the relevant labor pools. If women, individuals with disabilities, or individuals from a particular minority group, for example, are not being admitted into apprenticeship at a rate to be expected given their availability in the relevant labor pool, the sponsor's affirmative action program must include specific, practical steps designed to address any barriers to equal opportunity that may be contributing to this underutilization.

(3) Effective affirmative action programs include internal auditing and reporting systems as a means of measuring the sponsor's progress toward achieving an apprenticeship program that would be expected absent discrimination.

(4) An affirmative action program also ensures equal opportunity in apprenticeship by incorporating the sponsor's commitment to equality in every aspect of the apprenticeship program. Therefore, as part of its affirmative action program, a sponsor must monitor and examine its employment practices, policies and decisions and evaluate the impact such practices, policies and decisions have on the recruitment, selection and advancement of apprentices. It must evaluate the impact of its employment and personnel policies on minorities, women, and persons with disabilities, and revise such policies accordingly where such policies or practices are found to create a barrier to equal opportunity.

(5) The commitments contained in an affirmative action program are not intended and must not be used to discriminate against any qualified applicant or apprentice on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age (40 or older), genetic information, or disability.

(b) Adoption of affirmative action programs. Sponsors other than those identified in paragraph (d) of this section must develop and maintain an affirmative action program, setting forth that program in a written plan. The components of the written plan, as detailed in §§ 30.5 through 30.9, must be developed in accordance with the respective compliance dates and made available to the Registration Agency any time thereafter upon request.

(c) Contents of affirmative action programs. An affirmative action program must include the following components in addition to those required of all sponsors by § 30.3(a):

(1) Utilization analysis for race, sex, and ethnicity, as described in § 30.5;

(2) Establishment of utilization goals for race, sex, and ethnicity, as described in § 30.6;

(3) Utilization goals for individuals with disabilities, as described in § 30.7;

(4) Targeted outreach, recruitment, and retention, as described in § 30.8;

(5) Review of personnel processes, as described in § 30.9; and

(6) Invitations to self-identify, as described in § 30.11

(d) Exemptions—(1) Programs with fewer than five apprentices. A sponsor is exempt from the requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section if the sponsor's apprenticeship program has fewer than five apprentices registered, unless such program was adopted to circumvent the requirements of this section.

(2) Programs subject to approved equal employment opportunity programs. A sponsor is exempt from the requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section if the sponsor both submits to the Registration Agency satisfactory evidence that it is in compliance with an equal employment opportunity program providing for affirmative action in apprenticeship, including the use of goals for any underrepresented group or groups of individuals, which has been approved as meeting the requirements of either title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) and agrees to extend such program to include individuals with disabilities, or if the sponsor submits to the Registration Agency satisfactory evidence that it is in compliance with an equal employment opportunity program providing for affirmative action in apprenticeship, including the use of goals for any underrepresented group or groups of individuals, which has been approved as meeting the requirements of both Executive Order 11246, as amended, and section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended (29 U.S.C. 793), and their implementing regulations at title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 60: Provided, That programs approved, modified or renewed subsequent to the effective date of this amendment will qualify for this exception only if the goals for any underrepresented group for the selection of apprentices provided for in such programs are likely to be equal to or greater than the goals required under this part.

(e) Written affirmative action plans. Sponsors required to undertake an affirmative action program must create and update a written document memorializing and discussing the contents of the program set forth in paragraph (c) of this section.

(1) Compliance—(i) Apprenticeship programs existing as of January 18, 2017. The initial written affirmative action plan for such programs must be completed within two years of January 18, 2017. The written affirmative action plan for such programs must be updated every time the sponsor completes workforce analyses required by §§ 30.5(b) and 30.7(d)(2).

(ii) Apprenticeship programs registered after January 18, 2017. The initial written affirmative action plan for such programs must be completed within two years of registration. The written affirmative action plan for such programs must be updated every time the sponsor completes workforce analyses required by §§ 30.5(b) and 30.7(d)(2).