1115-X - Authority, water board and city to take affirmative action.

§  1115-x. Authority, water board and city to take affirmative action.  1.  Each  contracting  agency  which  awards   contracts   for   design,  construction,  services  or  materials  for  projects authorized by this  title shall require that such contracts and documents soliciting bids or  proposals therefor shall contain or  make  reference  to  the  following  provisions:    (a)   The  contractor  will  not  discriminate  against  employees  or  applicants for  employment  because  of  race,  creed,  color,  national  origin,  sex,  age, disability, or marital status, and will undertake or  continue programs of affirmative action to insure  that  minority  group  persons  and  women  are  afforded  equal employment opportunity without  discrimination. Such action shall be taken with reference,  but  not  be  limited   to   recruitment,   employment,   job  assignment,  promotion,  upgrading, demotion, transfer, layoff,  termination,  rates  of  pay  or  other  forms of compensation, and selections for training or retraining,  including apprenticeship and on-the-job training.    (b) At the request of the contracting  agency,  the  contractor  shall  request   each   employment   agency,   labor   union,   or   authorized  representative of workers with which he has a collective  bargaining  or  other  agreement  or  understanding, to furnish a written statement that  such  employment  agency,  labor  union  or  representative  shall   not  discriminate  because  of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, age,  disability or marital status and that such union or representative  will  cooperate   in   the  implementation  of  the  contractor's  obligations  hereunder.    (c) The contractor will state, in all solicitations or  advertisements  for  employees  placed by or on behalf of the contractor, in performance  of the contract that all qualified applicants  will  be  afforded  equal  employment  opportunity  without  discrimination because of race, creed,  color, national origin, sex, age, disability or marital status.    (d) The contractor will  include  the  provisions  of  paragraphs  (a)  through  (c)  of this subdivision in every subcontract or purchase order  in such a  manner  that  such  provisions  will  be  binding  upon  each  subcontractor or vendor as to its working connection with a contract.    2.  Each  contracting agency shall establish procedures and guidelines  to ensure that contractors  and  subcontractors  undertake  programs  of  affirmative  action  as  required  by  this section. Such procedures may  require, after notice in  a  bid  solicitation,  the  submission  of  an  affirmative action program prior to the award of any contract, or at any  time  thereafter,  and  may require the submission of compliance reports  relating to the operation and implementation of any  affirmative  action  program  adopted  hereunder.  Such  procedures  and  guidelines shall be  consistent with the guidelines promulgated  by  the  office  of  federal  contract  compliance  programs  of the United States department of labor  pursuant to presidential executive order  eleven  thousand  two  hundred  forty-six,   as   amended,   and   any  state  statutory  or  regulatory  requirements.  A  contracting  agency  shall,  in  the  promulgation  of  procedures  and  guidelines pursuant to this section, cooperate with any  federal,  state  or  local  agency  established  for  the   purpose   of  implementing affirmative action compliance programs.    3.  Any  contracting  agency  empowered to award contracts for design,  construction, services or materials shall seek meaningful  participation  in  the  performance  of  contracts by minority business enterprises and  shall establish measures and procedures to identify those contracts  and  items  of  work  for which minority business enterprises may best bid to  actively and affirmatively promote and assist their participation so  as  to   facilitate  the  award  of  a  fair  share  of  contracts  to  such  enterprises.  For purposes hereof, "minority business enterprise"  shallmean  any  business  enterprise  which  is at least fifty-one per centum  owned by, or in  the  case  of  a  publicly  owned  business,  at  least  fifty-one  per  centum  of  the  stock  of which is owned by citizens or  permanent  resident  aliens  who  are  Black,  Hispanic, Asian, American  Indian or women, and such ownership interest is  real,  substantial  and  continuing. The provisions of this subdivision shall not be construed to  limit  the  ability  of  any  minority business enterprise to bid on any  contract.    4. In the  implementation  of  subdivisions  two  and  three  of  this  section,  the  contracting  agency  shall  consider  compliance  by  any  contractor with the requirements of any  federal,  state  or  local  law  concerning   minority   business   enterprises   or   equal   employment  opportunity, which may effectuate the requirements of this  section.  If  the  contracting  agency  determines that by virtue of the imposition of  the requirements of any such law, in respect to  contracts  affected  by  this  section,  that  the  provisions thereof duplicate or conflict with  such law, the contracting agency shall waive the applicability  of  this  section to the extent of such duplication or conflict.    5.  In  order  to  implement  the  requirements and objectives of this  section, contracting agencies shall be responsible  for  monitoring  the  contractors'   compliance  with  the  provisions  hereof,  for  advising  contractors on the availability of competing qualified minority business  enterprises to perform contracts proposed to be awarded and  for  making  recommendations  to  contractors  to  improve  the  access  of  minority  business enterprises to such contracts.