AGENDA #5c

MEMORANDUM

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT:      Report on Numbers of Minority Supervisors

DATE:            January 9, 2006

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to provide information on the numbers of minority supervisors in Town Departments.

BACKGROUND

In April 2002, the Council discussed the goal of increasing the number of minority supervisors in Town jobs. The Human Resources Department prepared a report for the Council on the make-up of the Town’s workforce over the past several years, including information about the number of minority employees occupying supervisory positions. The Council received this report in November 2002 and discussed it during the Council retreat in January 2003. A Council member asked that the report be submitted annually. 

DISCUSSION

The materials attached provide information about the Town’s employee group organized by race and gender. The information is based on November 2005 employment data and is presented both in summary and for the four largest departments: Fire, Police, Public Works and Transportation.

The data on supervisory positions has been gathered with assistance from Department Heads. The definition of supervisor used is: “a position which has a significant level of authority in the hiring, training, evaluation, disciplinary actions and recommending for termination over one or more other regular positions.” This definition is consistent with the commonly understood meaning of the term.

Information about the Town’s workforce was compared to the race and gender distribution of the Town’s primary recruitment area by use of census data for individuals aged 18 to 65 (defined as normal working years). The primary recruitment area includes Orange County and four contiguous counties: Alamance, Chatham, Durham and Wake. This area was selected based on the distribution of the majority of the Town’s current employees and also reflects reasonable commuting distance.  The recruitment area demographics cited are gathered from the State Demographics Unit and Year 2000 Census data.

Findings

The Town’s minority and female supervisory representation has remained relatively unchanged since the last report. The current rates are 29 percent and 31 percent respectively.  Data from previous years reflect; 29 percent and 29 percent in 2004, 30 percent and 30 percent in 2003, and 31 percent and 32 percent in 2002. This reflects the actions of the Council during these three budget years in adding a small number of non-supervisory positions to the Town workforce. As part of normal attrition, the Town experienced some retirements and resignations; these were offset by hires and promotions.  The supervisory rate for black employees was consistent at 29 percent for both 2002 and 2003, was 27percent for 2004, and is 28percent for 2005. The statistics on which the following discussion is based are found in the attachments to this report which contain details and graphs for each element presented below.

Race Distribution for the Region

In the five-county recruitment area, race demographics vary significantly as shown in the charts attached. The white population ranges from 67 percent in Durham County to 81 percent in Orange County. The black population ranges from 16 percent in Orange County to 37 percent in Durham County. The Other category includes, as defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, and Hispanic persons and falls within a 1 percent to 3 percent range for the region. The demographic distribution for the five-county region is: white population 74 percent, black population 24 percent and other population 2 percent.

Race Distribution for Town Employment

The Town employee group is 56 percent white, 41 percent black and 3 percent other. This demonstrates greater diversity than the region. The Town black employee population is proportionately larger than the black population living in the region. Black citizens represent 24 percent of the local area as compared to a 41 percent representation in Town employment. When the Town supervisory group is examined, the numbers indicate that 70 percent are white, 28 percent are black and 1 percent is other. This is similar to the population demographics of the region.

Distribution of Supervisors Within Race Groups of Town Employees

The number of black employees in the Town is 260; of that group, 38 (15 percent) are supervisors. The number of white employees in the Town is 375, of that group, 94 (25 percent) are supervisors. The number of employees of other races in the Town is 23; of that group, 2 (9 percent) are supervisors.

Race Distribution for Four Largest Departments

In the four largest departments in the Town, there are demographic variations among employees and supervisors, especially in those occupational groups such as Fire and Police which traditionally have been male-dominated. Details are presented below with graphic representation of these figures shown on the charts attached.

Gender Distribution for the Region and Town Employment

In the five county recruitment area, females represent 52 percent of the population.  In Town employment women represent 30 percent of the workforce and hold 31 percent of all supervisory positions.  This representation is 2 percent higher than last year’s reporting activity. 

Gender Distribution for Departments

Of 16 departments in the Town, six are headed by females, representing 38 percent of all director positions. In the four largest departments, the rate of women supervisors meets or exceeds the rate of their total department representation with the exception of the police department.

1.  FIRE DEPARTMENT

Race
The Fire Department non-supervisory group is 80 percent white, 18 percent black and 2 percent other. The supervisory group is 32 percent of the whole and is 79 percent white, 21 percent black and 0 percent other.

Gender

The employee group is 91 percent male and 9 percent female.  The supervisor group is 88 percent male and 12 percent female.

2.  POLICE DEPARTMENT

Race

The Police Department non-supervisory group is 79 percent white, 20 percent black and 1 percent other with supervisors making up 22 percent of the whole. The supervisor group is 77 percent white, 23 percent black, and 0 percent other.

Gender

The employee group is 73 percent male and 27 percent female. The supervisor group is 77 percent male and 23 percent female.

3.  PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

Race

The Public Works Department non-supervisory group is 33 percent white, 62 percent black and 5 percent other. Supervisory positions represent 14 percent of the whole. The supervisory group is 76 percent white, 24 percent black, and 0 percent other.

Gender

The small number of female employees, five percent of the department, is primarily located in the office and administrative functions of the department.  The supervisory group is 87 percent male and 12 percent female.

4.  TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT

Race

The Transportation Department non-supervisory group is 32 percent white, 63 percent black and five percent other. The supervisory group is 7 percent of the whole and is 36 percent white, 64 percent black, and 0 percent other.

Gender

The employee group is 71 percent male and 29 percent female. The supervisory group is 73 percent male and 27 percent female.

CONCLUSIONS

The Town employee group exhibits a greater degree of diversity and racial balance than the working-age population of the five-county recruitment area.  There is variation among and within departments in terms of demographics of employee and supervisory groups.

The specific reasons for the variations among departments can be attributed to a number of variables including job characteristics, applicant preferences, training and experience requirements for specific positions and other elements. The choices applicants make in terms of job interest, physical demands, preferred work schedules and other working conditions, the turnover rate for each type of work, the volume and types of work required and positions budgeted serve as constraints which may prevent an absolute balance from being either attained or maintained over time. In addition, the rate of change is expected to be very small over time, based on the Town’s low turnover rate for all jobs and especially among supervisors.

NEXT STEPS

• We will distribute and discuss this report and the detailed information gathered with all Department Heads and supervisors. 

• The information will be shared and discussed with the Employee Forum at its next meeting in 2006.

• The Human Resources Director will continue to prepare and distribute an annual report to update this information over time.

• Recipients of the report will be encouraged to suggest strategies to improve recruitment and promotion procedures.

• The Town will continue to refine its recruitment and selection programs with the goal of equal employment opportunity and in compliance with Federal and State laws.

ATTACHMENTS

1. Data charts (p. 5).