Federal and state laws and UW policy protect workers from discrimination based on: Race - Color - Gender - Religion - Creed - National Origin - Disability - Vietnam-era Veteran - Disabled Veteran - Sexual Orientation - Age - Marital Status.
Sexual Harassment is a form of sex discrimination and is illegal in the work place. The University believes the best prevention against discrimination is education and training.
New employees are expected to register and attend a Prevention of Sexual Harassment class within two months of beginning their employment.
The overall mission of the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office (EOAA) is to ensure University compliance with the law and spirit of equal opportunity and affirmative action. Areas of responsibility include issues related to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or status as a disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran, or other protected veteran as persons in these groups are part of the University community as employees, students, and members of the public.
Affirmative Action is designed to correct the negative effects on groups that have been discriminated against historically. It is the "awareness" part of equal opportunity. Affirmative action regulations serve as tools to identify barriers in the workplace.
The following employee groups are covered by the University affirmative action plan:
Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action will work only if we all play a part. Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action work together to create a work place that is fair and free from discrimination.
As a condition of receiving federal contracts, the University collects data and maintains an affirmative action plan regarding minorities and women. It also agrees to collect and report information on veterans and persons with disabilities. Failure to collect and report affirmative action data would result in the loss of eligibility for federal contracts. For this reason, the University of Washington requests affirmative action information from all employees upon hire. Employees entering the University workforce are asked to identify their race, sex, date of birth, disability, and veteran status using the Online Reporting Form.
This information is kept separate from personnel files and is reported in aggregate form to various federal and state agencies. The Affirmative Action Reports are available online.
Learn more about Affirmative Action data collection.