by Paula Määttä

F. The role of the public sector

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act states that "it is the policy of the Government of the United States to provide equal opportunity in Federal employment for all persons, to prohibit discrimination in employment because of sex, and to promote the full realization of equal employment opportunity through a continuing affirmative program in each executive department and agency". This policy must be an integral part of every aspect of personnel policy.

Public authorities have engaged in different forms of pay equity activities for implementing comparable worth in the United States. Many states and local governments have implemented comparable worth in varying degrees for their own employees. This has occurred in Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon, Washington, New York and Wisconsin, usually by approving budgets for comparable worth and then implementing the policy in their own public sector. Other states and local authorities have engaged in other forms of pay equity activities, such as research and data collection, job evaluation studies, and some wage adjustments. However, the implementation of comparable worth is essentially a public sector phenomenon. (Gunderson 1994, pp. 31-32.)

Financial incentives are used to encourage the adoption and implementation of positive action plans in private enterprises. The Government may condition the awarding of contracts to private enterprise upon compliance with positive action programmes. The contract compliance programmes originally covered companies with more than 50 employees. To continue contracting with the Government, these companies are required to submit an action programme in writing to the Contract Compliance Commission, describing the employment situation of women and minorities and setting employment targets and timetables for these groups. Under the contract compliance programmes, federal review agencies have been established to monitor compliance and to enforce it by rejecting or terminating contracts or imposing sanctions. (ILO, 19-23 Nov. 1990, pp. 93-94.)