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Utilization Rules

For information on related modules, see:

What is the Utilization Rule used for?

Federal contractors are required to conduct an analysis to determine whether minorities and females are being employed (or utilized) at a rate that would be reasonably expected, based on the estimated Availability of qualified minority or female candidates, both externally to the organization and internally. When the percentage of minorities or women employed in a Job Group is less than what would be expected, a goal is established for use in remedying the underutilization.

Accepted Utilization Rules

When comparing the employment of minorities and females to availability, the contractor may choose from five Utilization rules:

Any Difference

A placement goal is declared when employment is less than availability, regardless of the size of the difference.

Whole Person

A placement goal is declared when employment is less than availability by at least one whole person.

Formula: The result of (Availability - Employment ) × Total in Job Group > 1 Whole person

Example:

Number of Total Persons in Job Group: 68 Female Employment: 23.5% Female Availability = 26.8% Employment = 23.5% Total Job Group = 68 employees

(26.8% availability(26 - 23.5% employment)23) x 68 persons employed in job group = 2.24 persons

In this case, a A placement goal would be set in this job group for this protected class because the differenceJob of availability over employment represents 2.24 persons, more than one whole person.Group.

Eighty Percent

       A       A placement goal is declared when employment is less than 80% of availability.

Formula: The result of (Employment/Availability) x 100 > 80%.

Example: Employment = 23% Availability = 25%

(23/25) x 100 = 92% Utilization is acceptable.

Eighty Percent/ Whole Person

       A       A placement goal is declared when employment is less than 80% of the availability by one whole person or more.

Formula: The result of

Example: Employment = 23% female employment Availability = 25% female availability

(23/25) x 100 = 92%

Significant Difference

       A       A placement goal is declared when employment is less than availability by a statistically significant amount.

Whole Person Rule

A placement goal is set when availability exceeds employment by at least one whole person.

Formula:

(availability - employment ) × total in job group is more than 1 whole person.

Eighty Percent Rule

A placement goal is set when employment is less than 80% of availability.

Formula:

(.8 × availability percentage) is more than employment percentage

Example:

Availability = 26.8% Employment = 23.5%

(.8 × 26.8 availability percentage) = 21.4

21.4 is NOT more than 23.5 employment percentage

In this case, no placement goal would be set. While the availability did exceed employment, 80% of availability did not exceed employment.

Eighty Percent/Whole Person Rule

A placement goal is set when employment falls short of 80% of the availability by one whole person or more.

Formula:

(.8 x availability percentage) x Number of people in the job group is 1.0 or more greater than the employment percentage.

Example

Availability = 30%, Employment = 20%, 40 people in the job group

(.8 x 30.0 availability percentage) = 24%

(24% x 40 people in the group) = 9.6 expected

(20% employment x 40 people in the group) = 8 employed.

In this case, you would have a goal for this group, since the 9.6 expected is more than 1 whole person greater than the 8 persons employed.

Any Difference Rule

For a protected class in a job group, a placement goal is set when availability exceeds employment by any amount.

Significant Difference Rule

A placement goal is set when availability exceeds employment by a statistically significant amount.

Formula:

[(Availability x total employees in the job group) - number of protected class employees]

divided by the square root of

[(1 - Availability ) x Availability x total employees in the job group]

Please consult the BALANCEaap Statistics Information page for more information.