[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 41, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 41CFR60-2.16]

[Page 116-117]
 
           TITLE 41--PUBLIC CONTRACTS AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
 
                           DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
PART 60 2_AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAMS--Table of Contents
 
      Subpart B_Purpose and Contents of Affirmative Action Programs
 
Sec. 60-2.16  Placement goals.

    (a) Purpose: Placement goals serve as objectives or targets 
reasonably attainable by means of applying every good faith effort to 
make all aspects of the entire affirmative action program work. 
Placement goals also are used to measure progress toward achieving equal 
employment opportunity.
    (b) A contractor's determination under Sec. 60-2.15 that a 
placement goal is required constitutes neither a finding nor an 
admission of discrimination.
    (c) Where, pursuant to Sec. 60-2.15, a contractor is required to 
establish a placement goal for a particular job group,

[[Page 117]]

the contractor must establish a percentage annual placement goal at 
least equal to the availability figure derived for women or minorities, 
as appropriate, for that job group.
    (d) The placement goal-setting process described above contemplates 
that contractors will, where required, establish a single goal for all 
minorities. In the event of a substantial disparity in the utilization 
of a particular minority group or in the utilization of men or women of 
a particular minority group, a contractor may be required to establish 
separate goals for those groups.
    (e) In establishing placement goals, the following principles also 
apply:
    (1) Placement goals may not be rigid and inflexible quotas, which 
must be met, nor are they to be considered as either a ceiling or a 
floor for the employment of particular groups. Quotas are expressly 
forbidden.
    (2) In all employment decisions, the contractor must make selections 
in a nondiscriminatory manner. Placement goals do not provide the 
contractor with a justification to extend a preference to any 
individual, select an individual, or adversely affect an individual's 
employment status, on the basis of that person's race, color, religion, 
sex, or national origin.
    (3) Placement goals do not create set-asides for specific groups, 
nor are they intended to achieve proportional representation or equal 
results.
    (4) Placement goals may not be used to supersede merit selection 
principles. Affirmative action programs prescribed by the regulations in 
this part do not require a contractor to hire a person who lacks 
qualifications to perform the job successfully, or hire a less qualified 
person in preference to a more qualified one.
    (f) A contractor extending a publicly announced preference for 
American Indians as is authorized in 41 CFR 60-1.5(a)(6) may reflect in 
its placement goals the permissive employment preference for American 
Indians living on or near an Indian reservation.