§ 34.23 - Dissemination of policy.

§ 34.23 Dissemination of policy.

(a) Initial and Continuing Notice. (l) A recipient shall provide initial and continuing notice that it does not discriminate on any prohibited ground, to: Applicants, eligible applicants, participants, applicants for employment, employees, and members of the public, including those with impaired vision or hearing, and unions or professional organizations holding collective bargaining or professional agreements with the recipient.

(2) The notice requirement imposed pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of this section requires, at a minimum, that the notice specified in paragraph (a)(5) of this section be: posted prominently, in reasonable numbers and places; disseminated in internal memoranda and other written communications; included in handbooks or manuals; and made available to each participant and made a part of the participant's file. The required notice to the public applicable to generally-distributed publications is contained in paragraph (b) of this section.

(3) The recipient shall provide that the initial and continuing notice required by paragraph (a) of this section be provided in appropriate formats to individuals with visual impairments. Where notice has been given in an alternate format to a participant with a visual impairment, a record that such notice has been given shall be made a part of the participant's file.

(4) The notice required by paragraph (a) of this section must be provided within 90 days of the effective date of this part or of the date this part first applies to the recipient, whichever comes later.

(5) The notice required by paragraph (a) of this section shall contain the following prescribed language:

Equal Opportunity Is the Law

This recipient is prohibited from discriminating on the ground of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation or belief, and for beneficiaries only, citizenship or participation in programs funded under the Job Training Partnership Act, as amended (JTPA), in admission or access to, opportunity or treatment in, or employment in the administration of or in connection with, any JTPA-funded program or activity. If you think that you have been subjected to discrimination under a JTPA-funded program or activity, you may file a complaint within 180 days from the date of the alleged violation with the recipient's Equal Opportunity Officer (or the person designated for this purpose), or you may file a complaint directly with the Director, Directorate of Civil Rights (DCR), U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., room N-4123, Washington, DC 20210. If you elect to file your complaint with the recipient, you must wait until the recipient issues a decision or until 60 days have passed, whichever is sooner, before filing with DCR (see address above). If the recipient has not provided you with a written decision within 60 days of the filing of the complaint, you need not wait for a decision to be issued, but may file a complaint with DCR within 30 days of the expiration of the 60-day period. If you are dissatisfied with the recipient's resolution of your complaint, you may file a complaint with DCR. Such complaint must be filed within 30 days of the date you received notice of the recipient's proposed resolution.

(6) The Governor, the SDA grant recipient or the Substate grantee, as determined by the Governor in that State's Methods of Administration, shall be responsible for meeting the notice requirement of paragraph (a) of this section with respect to its service providers.

(7) Recipient's responsibility to provide notice. Whenever a recipient passes on Federal financial assistance under JTPA to another recipient, the recipient passing on such assistance shall provide the recipient receiving the assistance with the notice prescribed in paragraph (a)(5) of this section.

(b) Publications.

(1) In recruitment brochures and other materials which are ordinarily distributed to the public to describe programs funded under JTPA or the requirements for participation by recipients and participants, recipients shall indicate that the JTPA-funded program or activity in question is an “equal opportunity employer/program” and that “auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.” Where such materials indicate that the recipient may be reached by telephone, the materials shall state the telephone number of the TDD or relay service used by the recipient, as required by § 34.6.

(2) Recipients required by law or regulation to publish or broadcast program information in the news media shall ensure that such publications and broadcasts state that the JTPA-funded program or activity in question is an equal opportunity employer/program (or otherwise indicate that discrimination in the JTPA-funded program or activity is prohibited by Federal law), and indicate that auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.

(3) A recipient shall not use or distribute a publication of the type described in paragraph (b) of this section which suggests, by text or illustration, that such recipient treats beneficiaries, applicants, participants, employees or applicants for employment differently on any prohibited ground specified in § 34.1(a), except as such treatment is otherwise permitted under Federal law or this part.

(c) Services or information in a language other than English. A significant number or proportion of the population eligible to be served or likely to be directly affected by a JTPA-funded program or activity may need service or information in a language other than English in order that they be effectively informed of or able to participate in the JTPA-funded program or activity. In such circumstances, the recipient shall take reasonable steps, considering the scope of the program and the size and concentration of such population, to provide to such persons, in appropriate languages, the information needed; the initial and continuing notice required pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section; and such written materials as are distributed pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section.

(d) Orientation. The recipient shall, during each presentation to orient new participants and/or new employees to its JTPA-funded program or activity, include a discussion of participants' and/or employees' rights under the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions of JTPA and this part, including the right to file a complaint of discrimination with the recipient or the Director.

(e) As provided in § 34.6, the recipient shall take appropriate steps to ensure that communications with individuals with disabilities are as effective as communications with others.