16 Tex. Admin. Code § 26.85 - Report of Workforce Diversity and Other Business Practices
(a) Purpose. This
section establishes annual reporting requirements for a telecommunications
utility to report its progress and efforts to improve workforce diversity and
contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses
from its five-year plan filed in accordance with the Public Utility Regulatory
Act (PURA) §52.256(b).
(b)
Application. This section applies to a telecommunications utility, as defined
in PURA §51.002(11), doing business in the State of Texas. This section
does not apply to a company that holds a certificate of operating authority, a
company that holds a service provider certificate of operating authority, a
registered interexchange carrier, or an exempt carrier that meets the criteria
of PURA §52.154.
(c)
Terminology. In this section, "small business" and "historically underutilized
business" have the meaning assigned by the Texas Government Code §
481.191.
(d) Annual progress report of workforce and
supplier contracting diversity. An "Annual Progress Report on Five-Year Plan to
Enhance Supplier and Workforce Diversity" must be filed annually with the
commission. The report must be filed on or before December 30 of each year for
the four prior quarters ending on September 30 of the year the report is filed.
A telecommunication utility that was not operational on January 1, 2000, and is
required to file in accordance with PURA §52.256(b), must file a plan in
Project Number 21170 by December 30 of the year in which an annual report is
due under this subsection.
(e)
Filing requirements. Four copies of the Annual Progress Report on Five-Year
Plan to Enhance Supplier and Workforce Diversity must be filed with the
commission's filing clerk under the project number assigned by the Public
Utility Commission's Central Records Office for that year's filings. A
Telecommunications utility must obtain the project number by contacting Central
Records. A copy of the report must also be sent to the Governor, the Lieutenant
Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the African-American
and Hispanic Caucus offices of the Texas Legislature.
(f) Contents of the report. The annual report
filed with the commission in accordance with this section must be filed using
the Workforce and Supplier Contracting Diversity form or an alternative format
prescribed by the commission and must contain the following information:
(1) An illustration of the diversity of the
telecommunications utility's workforce in the State of Texas at the time of the
report. If the telecommunications utility is required to file an Equal
Opportunity Report in accordance with §
26.79 of this title (relating to
Equal Opportunity Reports), a copy of that document may be attached to this
report to satisfy the requirements of this paragraph.
(2) A description of the specific progress
made under the workforce diversity plan filed in accordance with PURA
§52.256(b), including:
(A) the specific
initiatives, programs, and activities undertaken during the preceding year;
and
(B) an assessment of the
success of each of those initiatives, programs, and activities.
(3) An explanation of the
telecommunications utility's level of contracting with small and historically
underutilized businesses in the State of Texas.
(4) The extent to which the
telecommunications utility has carried out its initiatives to facilitate
opportunities for contracts or joint ventures with small and historically
underutilized businesses.
(5) A
description of the initiatives, programs, and activities the telecommunications
utility will pursue during the next year to increase the diversity of its
workforce and contracting opportunities for small and historically
underutilized businesses in the State of Texas.
(g) This section may not be used to
discriminate against any citizen on the basis of race, nationality, color,
religion, sex, or marital status.
(h) This section does not create a new cause
of action, either public or private.
(i) Waiver. A telecommunications utility that
has less than sixteen employees in the State of Texas satisfies the
requirements of this rule by completing subsection (f)(1) of this
section.
Notes
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