Employment equity

Equity and Access Services coordinates equal employment opportunity and affirmative action compliance for Virginia Commonwealth University. We help address employment disparities and create an environment of trust for VCU employees.

Our role includes creating an annual affirmative action plan, monitoring VCU’s affirmative action and equal employment opportunity compliance, and training employees about employment equity rights and responsibilities.

Affirmative action

As an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer, VCU promotes the full realization of employment opportunity for minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans. VCU bases all employment decisions only on job requirements. These efforts apply to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, selection, hiring, promotion, and compensation. The current affirmative action plan is available for review at Equity and Access Services between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

An Affirmative Action Plan Executive Overview (AAPEO) was created to provide a high-level summary of each establishment’s progress toward meeting affirmative action benchmarks and can be accessed by authorized members of the University community.

Self-identification

All VCU employees are invited to voluntarily self-identify their veteran status, disability status, race and ethnicity. Providing this self-identification information will support the university’s equal employment opportunity and affirmative action initiatives. To self-identify, login to eServices and select the "Personal Information" tab. Options to self-identify veteran classification, disability status, and ethnicity and race are available in separate links.

Pay transparency

Federal regulations regarding pay transparency went into effect in January 2016. In accordance with this regulations, VCU prohibits discharging or discriminating against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their own compensation or the compensation of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to compensation information as a part of their essential job duties should not discuss this information with individuals who would otherwise not have access to this information.

Employees and job applicants can report related concerns through the Equal opportunity incident reporting form.

Required employment notices

As a federal contractor, VCU is required to provide the following materials and notices:

• "Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law" posters and supplements, which must be posted in places accessible to employees. Multiple languages and formats are available.
• Pay transparency policy statement, which is a federal policy notice that must be posted.
• Preventing and Responding to Discrimination policy, which outlines VCU’s commitment to providing equal employment opportunity in employment and education.
• Notice of nondiscrimination, equal opportunity and affirmative action, which details VCU's commitment to education and employment equity.

Additional Resources