Collin County’s equal employment policy has no teeth

by Bill Baumbach of of The Collin County Observer

A couple of months ago, the Collin County commissioners, faced with the probable loss of federal grants, debated and finally passed an EEOP (Equal Employment Opportunity Policy).

Terrified of federal oversight and regulation over county hiring practices almost caused the court to give up millions in federal grants. The commissioners only passed an EEOP plan after they became convinced that a policy could be enacted that was a hollow, toothless shell.

The EEOP policy adopted simply reports statistics on age, gender and race by job class. It requires no further action in recruiting or hiring. Nothing changed.

A look at the statistics shows a real need for change in hiring. The County Clerk, the District Clerk and the Tax Assessor's departments are predominately staffed by women. They are in a class called administrative/support, and they are among the lowest paid in county government. 92% of county employees listed as administrative/support are women.

Since the EEOP policy was passed, new hires in this group have all been women.

Look at technicians, a higher paid class. 74% of the county's technicians are male.

Sworn peace officers make a good wage here. In Collin County 175 peace officers are male and only 21 are female.

The highest paid jobs in the county are filled by the "Department heads". About 70% are male, and their average salaries are almost $25,000/yr higher than the women's.

Even men elected to public office in Collin County earn more than the elected women - on average, over $18,000 a year more.

Americans should be forever grateful that woman's suffrage didn't depend on a vote of the Collin County Commissioners Court.