WORKSHOP #4: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission/U.S. Department of Labor, 3:00 p.m. — 4:15 p.m.
The Alabama NAACP State Conference is hosting a workshop to bring in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Labor to explain federal contract compliance with hiring rules for minority businesses as subcontractors.
Millions of federal dollars come into the State of Alabama for projects associated with the military and NASA in North Alabama, and in Mobile for transportation and other projects. When contractors get these dollars, they have an obligation to comply with federal regulations to hire or subcontract with businesses or individuals from minority groups.
Christopher Williams with the Department of Labor and Eddie Abdulhaqq with the EEOC will conduct the workshop to provide conference goers — including business owners, community members and those who feel they have been discriminated against — with the tools they need to understand these rules and to share this knowledge with the community.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance and the EEOC work with federal contractors, who are required to show what they are doing to meet their goals, such as going to college campuses to reach out to African American students or reaching out to black and other minority-owned businesses, to ensure they are actively in compliance with federal rules. Banks are also considered federal contractors, and they too have to meet some federal requirements in their lending and hiring practices.
“All these contractors have an obligation to be in compliance with federal laws,” says Alabama NAACP President Benard Simelton. “I think this workshop will be something to help us be more knowledgeable in this area because the NAACP traditionally has not been involved in it. And the presenters are willing to come to communities to do more workshops on this topic.”
Get more information on the convention’s other workshops and full schedule HERE.
