Office of the Mayor

City of Seattle

Edward B. Murray, Mayor

Executive Order 2015-02: Workforce Equity Initiative.

An Executive Order affirming this Administration's continued commitment to achieving workforce equity in the City of Seattle and throughout our community and the establishment of an action plan that supports these efforts.

WHEREAS, striving to achieve Citywide workforce equity is a core priority of this Administration and the Seattle City Council; and

WHEREAS, DCI Consulting Group, an independent consultant, authored a 2015 report (hereinafter “DCI report”) that found there were no indications of systemic gender or race/ethnicity discrimination by the City in its compensation, hiring, or promotion practices; and

WHEREAS, this same report nevertheless documented that gender- and race-based disparities continue to persist in City of Seattle employment, affirming the Gender Equity in Pay Task Force conclusions released in 2014; and

WHEREAS, even though the City's pay and hiring practices meet, and in some cases, exceed regional and national averages, we hold ourselves to a higher standard as a public employer in a progressive city; and

WHEREAS, the City has historically and will continue to address issues of race, gender and other workforce and community inequities, through programs and resources such the Race and Social Justice Initiative (“RSJI”), the City Workforce Equity Planning and Advisory Committee (“WEPAC”), and many departmental and citywide affinity groups; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor's Office and the Seattle City Council passed a joint resolution in April 2014 that directed the Seattle Department of Human Resources (“SDHR”) and Seattle Office for Civil Rights (“SOCR”) to lead City departments and offices to further study, identify and begin to address potential policies and practices that may relate or lead to potential pay or other disparities related to gender, race, sexual orientation or identity; and

WHEREAS, specific actions have been taken over the past year to address or resolve potential workforce inequities through Citywide collaboration and coordination, including the creation of a Citywide Paid Parental Leave policy, enhanced workforce development programs, targeted employee training and development offerings, efforts to align human resources practices and the development of a community Gender Justice Project;

WHEREAS, Seattle Municipal Code 3.14.900 establishes SOCR's authority to provide Citywide leadership and guidance in the areas of civil rights and equal opportunity;

WHEREAS, Seattle Municipal Code 4.04.040 establishes the authority of the Director of the SDHR to take all actions related to personnel policies, practices and processes contemplated in this Executive Order;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, EDWARD B. MURRAY, Mayor of Seattle, hereby affirm the City's commitment to Workforce Equity, and do order the following actions to expand the scope and reach of the City's efforts to date toward achieving equity:

1.  The Mayor's Office shall sponsor and SOCR and SDHR shall lead, an Interdepartmental Team (“IDT”) that is formed with Police Department (“SPD”), Seattle City Light (“SCL”), and the Seattle Fire Department (“SFD”) and Seattle Public Utilities (“SPU”)to:

a.  Review all specific examples of disparity set forth in the DCI report and determine root causes and potential solutions, including but not limited to the specific positions called out for potential pay disparity, examples of job underutilization, and premium pay and step-exception determinations.

b.  Assess how employees are assigned to full- and part-time jobs Citywide to understand if jobs held by women are more likely to be budgeted as part-time at the outset or if part-time is determined largely by request.

c.  Assess why two job classifications - Strategic Advisor 1 and IT Professional C - show an unexplained pay gap between Caucasians and people of color and provide recommendations to address their findings.

d.  Specifically review policies, practices, and potential cultural barriers at the SPD, SCL and SFP that may create potential workforce disparities and propose strategies to address those gaps, including ensuring that all selection procedures and requirements have been properly validated and have no unintended disparate impacts.

e.  Utilize SPD, SCL and SFD as models, to create and propose Citywide strategies for enhanced best practices and aspirational goals around recruitment and retention of women, people of color and underrepresented populations.

f.  In coordination with the activities of the Citywide Human Resources Leadership Group (“HRLG”):

i.  Work with departments to create consolidated and aligned HR policies, processes, and practices that impact the City's ability to maintain consistent and equitable treatment of employees Citywide, such as recruitment and hiring, performance management, promotions, out-of-class assignments, part-time assignments, compensation determinations, discipline determinations, and employee development.

ii.  Evaluate existing City resources, such as apprenticeships, externships, internships, and youth employment programs to expand and better utilize programs to increase opportunities for women and people of color.

iii.  Develop a consistent Citywide exit interview and employee engagement process that is centrally tracked and shows reasons why employees stay or leave City employment.

iv.  Identify effective and innovative best practices to attract and retain women and people of color, including continued analysis of data collection policies relating to sexual orientation, and gender identity, including transgender or gender non-conforming people;

v.  Ensure that all actions taken in support of this Executive Order are viewed through the lens of the City's RSJI toolkit and that Citywide groups such as WEPAC and designated affinity groups are appropriately engaged.

2.  SDHR, in conjunction with SOCR where appropriate, will:

a.  Work with City employees and Affinity Groups, to continue to create and implement training and leadership development programs for underrepresented populations.

b.  Implement the Citywide Paid Parental Leave policy and take steps to more effectively communicate and support employees’ understanding and utilization of City leave policies on an ongoing basis.

c.  Support continued and ongoing analytics of Citywide data and outcomes.

d.  Support continued transparency in government, including determining the methodology and technology to publish City Employee salaries by position and department;

e.  Engage our City Labor partners, as needed, to implement the results of this Executive Order.

3.  SOCR, in conjunction with SDHR where appropriate, will:

a.  Continue the development of the comprehensive Gender Justice Project, with a focus on policy, programs, training, and services centered on those who have been the most impacted in order to achieve stronger outcomes for all. This includes emphasis on the needs of women of color, young women of color, and transgender and gender non-conforming people.

b.  Develop a Gender Justice web portal that would promote Citywide programs in support of women and working families, and serve both as a gateway to access these services and to catalyze collective action to address opportunity gaps and achieve equity goals.

c.  Support the Mayor's Office's engagement with Council and community stakeholders on the advancement of gender equity initiatives across the region.

4.  Departments will take all actions and devote all resources necessary to support the direction, spirit, and mandates of this Executive Order, including the work of SOCR, SDHR, and the IDT to analyze and develop strategies to address potential workforce inequity and align employee- related policies, practices, and processes Citywide.

Inquiries regarding this Executive Order should be directed to Susan Coskey, Director of SDHR at (206) 615-1622 or Patricia Lally, Director of SOCR at (206) 233-7882

Dated this _________________ day of ______.

  _____________________

  Edward B. Murray

  Mayor, City of Seattle