As a federal contractor, Ohio State is covered by federal laws and Presidential Executive Orders (affirmative action ("AA") and equal employment opportunity ("EEO") laws). These laws and Ohio State policy are designed to provide equal opportunity and safeguard employees and job applicants from discrimination on the basis of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity or expression, genetic information, HIV/AIDS status, military status, national origin, race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, protected veteran status, or any other bases under the law.
Ohio State bases all employment-related decisions on the individual's job-related qualifications and abilities without regard to their demographics. In addition, Ohio State provides reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees for individuals with a disability and sincerely held religious beliefs.
All employees must be diligent in maintaining a workplace free from discrimination. This Includes working to prevent protected class-based harassment and discrimination Employees should review the requirements and responsibilities in Ohio State's Non-Discrimination, Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy. Employees are protected against retaliation for engaging in protected activity, such as reporting discrimination or harassment or participating In the investigation of any such matters.
Ohio State’s affirmative action and EEO requirements apply to all employment functions, including:
- Discipline
- Hiring
- Compensation
- Professional Development
- Promotion
- Selection
- Terminations
- Training
Ohio State prohibits:
- Making any employment decision based on an individual's demographics.
- Having quotas for applicant pools or selections.
- Using inconsistent processes or evaluation criteria or modifying targeted applicant qualifications after the recruitment and selection processes have begun.
- Reserving interview slots or advancement opportunities for individuals with a certain identity.
- Using the internet and/or social media or any other means to identify individuals of a particular protected class to provide interview opportunities to.
- Requiring applicant pools to have a specific percentage of any protected class.
All employment-focused programs, activities, and resources, including those focused on creating accessible, diverse, and inclusive environments, must be open and available to individuals without regard to their social identities or demographics.
Notice of all employment-focused programs, activities, and resources must be communicated at least once to all eligible employees before any targeted communication can occur. For more information, please review the Guidelines for EEO in Employment Programs, Activities, and Resources on OIE's website.
Available training
As part of our commitment to enhancing the safety and well-being of the Ohio State community, the university requires all employees to complete training. Some training is required for all employees, while other training is required based on individual roles.
Required
Report=Support!: Required annually for every employee and must be completed annually. Employees who do not complete this training are not eligible for an annual merit increase.
Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Recruitment and Selection Basics: Required under by the SHIFT framework every 12 months for all employees who will participate in hiring and selection processes for faculty. This is recommended for all other employees.
Digital accessibility: Required for anyone who acquires, develops, or delivers digital information or services.
Youth Activities and Programs Policy: Required for all youth program administrators and personnel who may exercise care, custody, or control of youth.
Recommended
AA/EEO supervisor training: Required for anyone who supervises at least one employee (student or regular).. This course provides managers an overview of Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity requirements. Attendees will be able to apply these legal requirements to employment processes and decisions in their day-to-day work.
Creating Equitable and Inclusive Position Descriptions: This course provides an overview of the key components of a position description and how they directly impact the diversity of applicant pools. Attendees will receive information on how to align physical, mental, language, educational, and other minimum requirements with Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) principles.
Equal Employment Opportunity: Recruitment, Selection, and Hiring Guidelines: This downloadable document provides you with the information needed to apply affirmative action and equal employment opportunity requirements in the recruitment, selection, and hiring process, and understand your duty to report violations of these requirements and university policy.
For employees
All employees are encouraged to complete Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Recruitment and Selection Basics in BuckeyeLearn if they have not done so in the last 12 months.
This course provides an overview of the Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity requirements that apply to the recruitment, selection, and hiring process. Attendees will be able to apply these legal requirements in future employment searches in line with Ohio State's diversity and inclusion goals.
Duty to Report
All employees have a duty to report sexual assault immediately.
The following categories of employees have an additional duty to report all other forms of possible harassment or discrimination:
- Any human resources professional;
- Anyone who supervises faculty, staff, students, or volunteers;
- Chairs/director
- Faculty members
For more information on the duty to report is available here.
For people leaders
Supervisors have specific responsibilities and requirements to ensure the university's commitment to non-discrimination is carried out.
As a supervisor, it is important to remember that these laws state that all employment policies, processes, and decisions must be administered without regard to demographics. In other words, no preference can be given in any employment action or decision; in fact, demographics cannot be considered at all.
The first thing you can do is set the tone for your team and ensure everyone is aware of the requirement of equal opportunity and access not just in employment decisions and actions, but also in all employment-related resources, activities, and events.
Required Action:
- Review the Information on Voluntary Demographic Disclosures
- Complete Required Training
- Report to OIE as appropriate
Voluntary Demographic Disclosures
As a federal contractor, Ohio State is required by federal law to report aggregate data on the sex, race, and ethnicity of our employees. To ensure Ohio State has complete and accurate data for the required reporting, we are reminding you that you can voluntarily disclose or update your sex, race, ethnicity, and disability status at any time in your Workday Personal Profile. We also ask that you encourage your employees to keep their voluntary disclosures up to date as well.
Instructions and more information about why Ohio State is required to report aggregate demographics are available here.
All demographic disclosures and updates must be completed in your Workday personal profile.
The decision to self-identify sex, race, ethnicity, and/or disability is strictly voluntary, and there are no consequences for not self-identifying. The university treats all individual demographic information as confidential to the extent allowed by law and maintains the data separately from personnel files. If you have questions about access or wish to request accommodations, please visit ada.osu.edu/employees.
Reporting to OIE and Employee Duty to Report
Employees in these four categories are required to report all other forms of harassment, discrimination, sexual misconduct and prohibited relationships to the Office of Institutional Equity within five days.
- Any human resources professional;
- Anyone who supervises faculty, staff, students or volunteers;
- Chairs/director
- Faculty members
When fulfilling your duty to report, you need to include all known information.
The only exception to this would be those practicing under a privilege, which could include counselors, clergy, physicians, and attorneys. These groups are exempted while they are practicing under privilege. For example, if a practicing physician receives a disclosure from a colleague that they are not treating, they would still have a duty to report.
More on duty to report: https://go.osu.edu/who-reports
Reporter Guide: https://go.osu.edu/oiereporterresource