Planning/Preparation. Using the most current and complete source of local demographic data (or at a minimum the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census County and City Data Book for the current year), record the percentage of adult minorities and adult women in the jurisdiction.

Data Collection. Using court payroll and personnel records, record for each employee the type of position held, salary, tenure, gender, and race. If the court’s personnel records do not include all of this information, ask each unit supervisor to collect the information from the employees directly. Record the information on a data entry form similar to that shown on Form 4.3.3a, Illustrative Data Collection Form for Personnel Information, or enter it into a similarly structured computer file that can be analyzed using an appropriate statistical software package.

Data Analysis and Report Preparation. Group together similar employee position classes for the statistical analysis. Using a statistical package or manual calculations, analyze the data to produce the summary data shown on Form 4.3.3b, Illustrative Summary Statistical Report on Race and Gender Mix Among Employees. This analysis will show the percentages of employees by race, gender, average salary, and tenure in each position class as well as percentages for the court as a whole. It also will provide a comparison of representation, salaries, and tenure for each race or ethnic group. Additional grouping of position classes may be necessary to obtain sufficient numbers in a group to permit meaningful averaging of salaries and use of percentages. When groups of employees are too small for averaging and cannot be regrouped in a way that yields meaningful results, the report should not show that employee class on the summary statistical report. Instead, a separate display listing actual data for these positions should be prepared for consideration as part of the overall report. For example, showing the percentages for a group of three top management positions in a court (clerk of court, court administrator, administrator of juvenile probation services) may not be meaningful. Grouping these positions with others in the court also may not be appropriate.

In general, good performance for this measure is indicated if the percentages of adult women and minorities in the jurisdiction’s population approximate the percentage of women and minorities employed by the court in each position class, and the average salaries of employees in each position class are similar, regardless of gender and race. Results should be evaluated in terms of comparative disparities (see Measure 3.2.3, Representativeness of Final Juror Pool, for an explanation of this term) between the percentage of women or minorities in each position class that would be predicted from the demographic data and the actual percentages shown in the data. Where differences in average compensation by race or gender among comparable employee classes (adjusting for tenure of the employees) are greater than 10 percent, the reasons for the discrepancies should be systematically documented and reviewed by the court.

In evaluating the significance of the results and the need for an affirmative action plan (or an improved affirmative action plan), the court should consider the rulings of the State’s appellate courts in equal employment opportunity cases, the level of the disparity (greater disparities require more aggressive actions by the court), and the alternatives available to the court for implementing an improved affirmative action plan.