Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

The Office of Human Resource Planning & Diversity Initiatives reports to the Secretary of Personnel who is responsible to the Governor and the people for directing, implementing, and enforcing the State's Affirmative Action Program. Employees are encouraged to express their concerns regarding existing or potential barriers or prohibitions to equal employment opportunity due to race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, veteran status and disability in accordance with state and federal laws. EEO assistance is available by contacting your agency EEO Counselor/Coordinator or the State EEO Coordinator at (502) 573-0321.

1. To ensure equal employment opportunity for all Kentuckians regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, veteran status and disability in accordance with state and federal laws, the affirmative action plan dated July 1, 1984, confirmed as part of Executive Order 84-549 continued in force by Executive Order 92-1059, and Executive Order 2003-533 and expanded by the Governor in Executive Order 2006-402, the official affirmative action plan for Kentucky State Government. Copies of the plan, as well as the plans developed by individual agencies pursuant to the state plan, is maintained on file and made available for inspection in the office of the Secretary of Personnel.
2. Every program cabinet, department, and agency of state government must comply with the provisions of the affirmative action plan.
3. Equal employment opportunity is an integral part of each cabinet, department, and agency program, and any program evaluation includes an assessment of equal opportunity performance.
4. The State EEO Coordinator is responsible for the implementation of the plan and reports to the Secretary of Personnel. In fulfilling these responsibilities, the State EEO Coordinator:

5. The Secretary of Personnel may also:

State law prohibits unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual acts or favors, with or without accompanying promises, threats, or reciprocal favors or actions; or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose of or creates a hostile or offensive working environment. Examples of prohibited conduct include, but are not limited to, lewd or sexually suggestive comments, off-color language or jokes of a sexual nature; slurs and other verbal, graphic or physical conduct relating to an individual's sex; or any display of sexually explicit pictures, greeting cards, articles, books, magazines, photos or cartoons.

Complaints of sexual harassment will be promptly and carefully investigated, and all employees may be assured that they will be free from any and all reprisal or retaliation from filing such complaints. Any employee who has a complaint of sexual harassment at work by anyone, including supervisors, co-workers, visitors, clients, or customers, should immediately bring the problem to the attention of agency officials or the Personnel Cabinet. Employees may bring the complaint to the attention of their supervisor, or if the complaint involves supervisory personnel in the employee's line of command, to another supervisor, the personnel manager or the State EEO Coordinator at (502) 573-0321.

Kentucky state government is committed to the full implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It is the policy of the Commonwealth to maximize the full inclusion and integration of people with disabilities in all aspects of employment and all programs, services and activities.

All employees must comply with the following policies regarding the ADA:

• Discrimination Prohibited: Employees with disabilities who are otherwise qualified may not be discriminated against in any areas of employment including, but not limited to, job application and compensation procedures, fringe benefits available by virtue of employment and activities sponsored by the state.
• Limiting, Segregating, and Classifying: Employees with disabilities shall not be limited, segregated, or classified in a way that adversely affects their employment opportunities or status.
• Contractual or Other Arrangements: The Commonwealth will not participate in contractual or other arrangements or relationships that would subject qualified employees with disabilities to the discrimination prohibited by the ADA.
• Reasonable Accommodations: The Commonwealth will make reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified employee with a disability, unless it can be shown that the accommodation would impose an undue burden. After a qualified employee requests reasonable accommodation, all agencies will make every reasonable effort to find out what is needed and provide the appropriate accommodations. This is to be an interactive process with the agency consulting with the employee with a disability.
• Administration of Tests: The Personnel Cabinet will select and administer tests concerning employment in the most effective manner to ensure that, when a test is administered to a job applicant or employee who has a disability that impairs sensory, manual or speaking skills, the test results accurately reflect the skills, aptitude, or whatever other factor of the applicant or employee that the test purports to measure, rather than reflecting the impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills of such employee or applicant (except where such skills are the factors that the test purports to measure).
• Retaliation and Coercion: The Commonwealth will not coerce, intimidate, threaten, harass, or interfere with any individual exercising or enjoying his or her rights under the ADA or because that individual aided or encouraged any other individual in the exercise of rights granted or protected by the ADA. Employees may file a complaint as set forth in Employee Grievances and Complaints. Please direct any questions or concerns to your agency ADA Coordinator.

Occasionally employees are faced with situations that cannot be resolved through informal complaint processes. In such cases the employee may wish to file a formal grievance with his or her agency. The following administrative regulation (101 KAR 1:375) provides for those cases when an appeal to the Personnel Board might be unnecessary or premature. The employee grievance procedure allows many serious matters to be resolved in-house through a formal structure designed to save employees and their agencies both time and unnecessary effort.

A grievance is a complaint filed by an employee which concerns some aspect of his or her conditions of employment over which the cabinet or agency has control and which has occurred or of which the employee has become aware, through the exercise of due diligence, within thirty (30) days prior to filing.

Employees in the classified service who believe that they have been subjected to unfair or unjust treatment concerning their conditions of employment may file a grievance.

Any grievance concerning an action which is appealable directly to the Personnel Board under KRS 18A.095 (PDF - 14.6 KB) may also be filed with the cabinet or agency. The filing of a grievance with the cabinet or agency does not prohibit the employee from also filing an appeal with the Personnel Board, or extend the statutory appeal period.

An employee utilizing this procedure is entitled to file a grievance without interference, coercion, discrimination, or reprisal.

An appointing authority must inform its employees of the provisions of this administrative regulation, or any modifications in the levels of review that have been approved by the Personnel Board for the employee's cabinet or agency under this administrative regulation.

The Secretary provides to the employees, through the appointing authorities, a Grievance Form to be used for filing a grievance. Grievance forms may also be inspected, copied or obtained at the Personnel Board, 28 Fountain Place, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

A grievance is to be filed with an employee's immediate supervisor within thirty (30) days following occurrence or the employee becoming aware, through the exercise of due diligence, of the action that is the subject of the grievance. If the action or conduct of the first line supervisor is the basis of an employee's grievance, the grievance may be filed with the second line supervisor.

An employee must state in writing the basis of the grievance or complaint together with the corrective action desired. If an employee wishes to submit additional information or documentation, it should be attached to the grievance.

If a grievance is filed that alleges discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry or veteran's status, the recipient of this grievance must immediately notify the cabinet or agency EEO Coordinator to apply the affirmative action plan.

Interviews to evaluate or investigate the grievance outside of normal work hours with the grievant or other employees entitle them to compensatory time.

Interviews to evaluate or investigate the grievance held with the grievant or other employees do not require the use of leave time.

Grievant may have a representative present at each step of the grievance procedure.

The person with whom the grievance is filed shall, upon investigation, issue findings and a decision in writing to the employee within five (5) workdays after receipt of the grievance. If the responding supervisor is unable to resolve the complaint to the satisfaction of the employee, the employee may request review of the grievance within two (2) workdays of receipt of the decision to the next appropriate level.

If the line supervisors are unable to resolve the grievance to the satisfaction of the employee, the employee may request review of the grievance within two (2) workdays of receipt of the decision of the final line supervisor by the appointing authority who, upon investigation, shall issue findings and a final determination in writing to the employee within ten (10) workdays.

Unless the time limits have been extended by agreement of the parties, failure of supervisory or management personnel to respond within prescribed time limits shall automatically advance the grievance to the next review level.

Any intermediate grievance level may be waived by written agreement of the parties.