(Wisconsin Work Force Planning)
Differences between Equal Employment Opportunity initiatives, Affirmative Action initiatives and Diversity initiatives in organizations Tim Piper Issues in Human Resources Management – MBA 910 February 14, 2012

To best understand how affirmative action (AA), equal employment opportunity (EEO) and diversity work together, I will take a look at each of them and how they interact with each other and also explore the differences of the three initiatives . First Equal employment opportunity is the policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of color, race, creed, religion, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, arrest or conviction record, disability, ancestry, marital status, political
Its concept involves acceptances and respect. Diversity allows the exploration of differences in race, gender and other ideologies in a safe, positive and nurturing environment. It improves understanding of the different groups so they move from beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebration the dimensions of diversity contained within each individual and in groups. While affirmative action “brings the targeted groups in” and EEO “makes them equal”, diversity is when “they become we”. Diversity works to change the culture of the organizations while affirmative action focuses on taking positive steps to get the individuals into the organization. Instead of just changing the workforce representation, companies are dedicated to a diverse workforce realize the value in a mixture of varying cultures, backgrounds and experiences. As far as the legal aspect, there is no law currently governing diversity in the workplace but there are many federal civil rights laws that require equal opportunity and affirmative action, that in turn may affect diversity. These laws include: The Equal Pay Act of 1963 which prohibits discrimination based upon sex in payment of wages, Federal Executive Order 11246 that was defined before, Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin or religion, Title VI of the federal