Drafter
Clerk 11/05/2026
Title
AN ORDINANCE related to the county’s equality of county employment reporting requirements; and amending Ordinance 12014, Section 18, as amended, and K.C.C. 3.12.180.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. King County is a federal grant recipient and receives grants directly from federal government agencies and indirectly through state and local agencies.
2. RCW 49.60.400 prohibits preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin, but allows public employers to establish affirmative action plans if required to maintain eligibility under federal grant requirements.
3. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance, published final rules on August 21, 2026, rescinding its requirement that federal contractors develop and implement an affirmative action plan, under Title 41 C.F.R. 60.
4. This ordinance amends K.C.C. 3.12.180 to comply with state and federal requirements for equal employment opportunity.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Ordinance 12014, Section 18, as amended, and K.C.C. 3.12.180 are hereby amended to read as follows:
A. For purposes of this section:
1. "County work force" means persons employed by King County executive departments; and
2. "Job group" means a grouping of jobs as defined by the United States Department of Labor((;
3. "Labor force availability rate" means the percentage of persons of color or women with requisite job skills in King County as reported by the United States Census Bureau;
4. "Persons of color" means persons in each of the following groups: Blacks; Hispanics; Asian/Pacific Islanders; and Native Americans; and
5. "Placement goal" shall equal the labor force availability rate)).
B. The county is an equal opportunity employer and shall carry out federal, state and local laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of one or more of the protected classes as defined in K.C.C. chapter 3.12D. Further, it is the intent of the county to ensure that employment is based on the principle of equal opportunity and that such a principle shall be implemented in all county personnel-related actions including, but not limited to, recruitment, hiring, testing, training, promotion, compensation, transfer, and all other terms and conditions of employment in all job classifications.
C.1. In order to comply with ((federal contracting requirements)) antidiscrimination laws and to ensure equal opportunity for all persons, all county departments shall ((establish and maintain an effective equal employment opportunity affirmative action plan, as adopted by the council by ordinance. Such an equal employment opportunity affirmative action plan shall)) promote the objectives of public policy set forth in applicable federal and state laws relating to nondiscrimination, equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, and civil rights((. Specifically, the plan shall promote)), including the objectives of the State Law Against Discrimination, chapter 49.60 RCW (((applicable parts))), and provisions of the Washington Administrative Code adopted thereunder. As part of the county's equal employment opportunity ((affirmative action plan)) in the work force, the executive shall compile known data and submit a report to council by ((June 1)) May 31 of every ((fourth)) second year, commencing with ((2018, a proposed ordinance for the approval of an equal employment opportunity affirmative action plan pertaining to executive county departments and agencies to be approved, or modified, by the council by ordinance, or rejected by the council, by January 1 following the plan's submittal to council)) 2027. The ((equal employment opportunity affirmative action plan)) report shall include((:
1. I))information related to county work force statistics, which shall include:
a. ((a comparison of)) information about the county's overall labor force availability ((for women and persons of color as a summary across all departments. The plan shall also compare labor force availability for women and persons of color to the county's actual labor force for women and persons of color by departments and job group. The plan shall also summarize the percentage of total goal setting areas which meet or exceed the labor force availability rate)) by race and gender;
b. a summary of the county work force across all departments by job group and by race and gender;
c. a discussion of the methodology by which the labor force availability and county work force data is developed and a listing of the county job classifications that are included in each job group;
d. the total number of persons with disabilities in each job group within the county work force and the total number of persons with disabilities by department voluntarily reported by individuals for equal employment opportunity affirmative action purposes. The ((plan)) report shall include the number of positions for which an accommodation is currently in effect;
e. the total number and percentage of employees by salary range and by race and gender. Salary ranges shall be reported in a manner consistent with the equal employment opportunity data reported by the United States Census Bureau. The ((plan)) report shall include data reported by the United States Census bureau on the total number and percentage of the labor force working in King County by salary range and by race and gender;
f. an analysis by race and gender of the positions filled by promotion during the prior ((plan)) report period. For the purposes of this subsection, "promotions" means those instances in which an individual advances in salary level because the individual changed to a position with a higher pay range assignment either through a competitive process or through a reclassification;
g. a summary by year for the prior ((plan)) report period on executive branch discrimination complaints by basis of complaint and complaint status. The summary shall also include data by department on the number of complaints filed by complaint type and the number of people filing complaints; and
h. historical data on the county work force by race and gender. Historical data before 2014 is required only to the extent it is readily available((;
2. Placement goals for the plan period. For those job groups within departments where the actual number of women and persons of color employed is less than projected by labor force availability, a placement goal by race and gender shall be established for the entire plan period. A placement goal shall equal the labor force availability rate. Placement goals are used to measure progress toward achieving equal employment opportunity. Placement goals may not be quotas, which must be met, nor do they create set-asides for specific groups. Placement goals may not be used to supersede merit selection principles. Further, existence of a placement goals does not constitute evidence of discrimination. If a placement goal has been established, the plan shall identify the labor force availability rate;
3. Implementation plans for departments. Each implementation plan shall:
a. identify the activities proposed each year during the plan period to meet the department's placement goals. The plan shall discuss how the proposed activities will help the department achieve its placement goals;
b. identify the activities proposed during the plan period by year to recruit, retain and promote women and persons of color in the work force; and
c. identify the specific activities during the plan period, by year, that each department will undertake to increase its hiring, retention, and promotion of persons with disabilities; and
4. A summary of the results of the prior equal employment opportunity affirmative action plan, which shall include:
a. a description of the progress of each department in completing the activities listed in subsection C.3. a. through c. of this section proposed in the previous implementation plan. The outcomes of each activity shall be reported. The department of human resources shall provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of each department's implementation activities during the plan period;
b. the status of each placement goal established in the prior equal employment opportunity affirmative action plan. For each identified placement goal, the status report shall report the:
(1) labor force availability rate;
(2) total number of positions filled for the corresponding job group within a department;
(3) of the total number reported under subsection C.4.b.(2) of this section, the number of positions that were filled by each race and gender category; and
(4) an actual hiring rate for each race and gender category calculated by dividing the number of positions filled by the number of positions filled by each race and gender category; and
c. a separate listing of those placement goals for the plan period that were not achieved. Placement goals are considered not achieved when the actual hiring rate is less than the availability rate for the overall plan period. For each placement goal not achieved, the plan shall provide an analysis of why the goals were not met including whether the planned implementation activities were completed. Placement goals shall only be considered not achieved in those instances in which the total number of hires is large enough such that it is statistically reasonable to expect under conditions of equal employment opportunity that the number of hires by race and gender will reflect work force availability.
D. The executive shall submit a proposed ordinance approving a new four-year equal employment opportunity affirmative action plan to the council within twelve months of the publication of the appropriate data from the ten-year United States Census)) 2. The executive shall electronically file the report required under subsection
C.1. of this section with the clerk of the council, who shall retain an electronic copy and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers.