Blagojevich Ends Questionable Internships
The Blagojevich administration took some positive steps today to reform state hiring practices. According to the Sun-Times, the administration has implemented new rules that honor the spirit of government internships, rather than trying to stretch the definition of internships to suit expediency. For the first time, state hiring rules will require that interns be recent college graduates.Starting Sept. 1, a candidate must have received a college degree within the previous 18 months and hiring must be done in accordance with a court ruling that prohibits political considerations. Salaries will be uniform, the internships must be advertised in Illinois colleges and state agencies, and internships will last a minimum of 12 months, instead of six.
I'm not sure I agree with the reforms, in part because I think that interns should also be open to people who are re-entering the workforce or changing careers. That said, uniform rules became necessary because of widespread allegations that the Governor's office was using the internships to get around state hiring preferences for veterans, often to benefit campaign contributors and their friends.
Internships went to a spouse and cousin of top Blagojevich aides, the 60-year-old relative of a Democratic congressman, a lawmaker's son who already was on the state payroll in a similar capacity, and a longtime state employee and former campaign staffer who was named one agency's $54,000 human resources director.
Before anybody gets their dander up, let me say that two of my great-grandfathers fought in WWI, one grandfather in WWII, and another in Korea -- he's past president of his American Legion Post. I'll never forget visiting th Vietnam War Memorial with my dad to look up the names of the friends he'd lost. Republicans love to attack Democrats on sill things like flag-burning, but it tends to be our family and friends that do most of the fighting and dying to protect that flag.That said, I'm not sure the veteran's preference in state hiring is such a great idea, and I think it should be revisited. Perhaps veterans are historic victims of hiring discrimination that needs to be addressed through affirmative action, and I just don't know about it. But it seems to me that if we want to thank veterans for their service to their country, we'd be better of ensuring health coverage for all who return than reserving state jobs for a lucky few.
Any thoughts?
5 comments:
Vets deserve a leg up in State hiring, because given two equal cnadidates, the vet has already established that he can handle, navigate, and endure a soul-crushingly moronic bureaucracy. Anyone who has had to run thru the scavenger hunt to get his Dragon Stamp to out-process from Ft. Bragg, or endure a 2 week trip home when the deployment is over and your mission is accomplished and all you want to do is see your family has what it takes to last in state government.
Anonymous vet -- sounds like you and my brother had the same military experience. However, under your argument, anyone who's actually managed to wrangle customer service out of a "customer service" representative for their cable company or HMO also deserves preferential hiring treatment.
Come to think of it, I guess that's not too many people!
"but it tends to be our family and friends that do most of the fighting and dying to protect that flag."
Typical. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died in two and a half centuries of wars, and somehow it has affected you more.
Please lower your opinion of yourself, it makes your columns easier to read. It's not all about you & your family. It really isn't.
I'm pretty certain that veterans' preferences were not an antidote to discrimination. Rather, they are a benefit to reward military service.
I guess I agree that we should be open to other possible rewards to veterans, particularly combat vets. But given the difficulty the military is having in meeting recruiting targets these days, I'm not sure that we should make changes to veterans' preferences at this time.
Let us go through a little drill. Working for large company doing business with government and comes under the requirements of Affirmative Action --CFR-- Code of Federal Regulations Pertaining to ESA; Title 41-- Public Contracts and Property Management; Chapter 60-- Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Equal Employment Opportunity, Department of Labor. Opportunity to participate in an execute training program and or participate in extra high potential future executive program were not offered to you but granted to other members of different protected classes . Many of the participants were coming to you for answers, but you were not chosen. You are considered a protected class. These opportunities are being denied to you and others in your protected class. You go to the department of labor and read the following.
In order for these action-oriented programs to be
effective, the contractor must ensure that they consist of more than
following the same procedures which have previously produced inadequate
results. Furthermore, a contractor must demonstrate that it has made
good faith efforts to remove identified barriers, expand employment
opportunities, and produce measurable results.
(d) Internal audit and reporting system. The contractor must
develop and implement an auditing system that periodically measures the
effectiveness of its total affirmative action program. The actions
listed below are key to a successful affirmative action program:
(1) Monitor records of all personnel activity, including referrals,
placements, transfers, promotions, terminations, and compensation, at
all levels to ensure the nondiscriminatory policy is carried out;
(2) Require internal reporting on a scheduled basis as to the
degree to which equal employment opportunity and organizational
objectives are attained;
(3) Review report results with all levels of management; and
(4) Advise top management of program effectiveness and submit
recommendations to improve unsatisfactory performance.
Then you read further
Audit and reporting system. (1) The contractor shall design and
implement an audit and reporting system that will:
(i) Measure the effectiveness of the contractor's affirmative
action program;
(ii) Indicate any need for remedial action;
(iii) Determine the degree to which the contractor's objectives
have been attained;
(iv) Determine whether known protected classes have had the opportunity to participate in all
company sponsored educational, training, recreational and social
activities; and
(v) Measure the contractor's compliance with the affirmative action
program's specific obligations.
You file a complaint with the Department of Labor OFCCP.
Here is what will happen – (1) Compliance review. A comprehensive analysis and evaluation of
the hiring and employment practices of the contractor, the written
affirmative action program, and the results of the affirmative action
efforts undertaken by the contractor. A compliance review may proceed
in three stages:
(i) A desk audit of the written affirmative action program and
supporting documentation to determine whether all elements required by
the regulations in this part are included, whether the affirmative
action program meets agency standards of reasonableness, and whether
the affirmative action program and supporting documentation satisfy
agency standards of acceptability. The desk audit is conducted at OFCCP
offices;
There is just one major problem ---The checking for an audit and reporting system is not in the desk audit manual for veterans but in there for all other protected classes.
The report would come back as being in compliant. Surprise Surprise! Congress will not investigate OFCCP because it would look bad for reelection. No one has the courage to question what questionable practices are going one. The industries could be creative if the employee asked about the absence of the audit and reporting system and say they have passed all audits and therefore it is not needed.
We ask about ethics in business and government.
If for the next ten years nothing happens or is implemented the large majority of veterans will be out of the work force, dead or homeless. What few are left can easily be denied opportunity with full government backing.
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