bAAP - Release Notes

Published January 31st, 2025 by Paul Gorman

Release # Date Item Description 2024.12.354.4 12/19/2024 9647 After the Recruitment Area Wizard has been run, if recruitment areas were not set for individual job groups, a link to the Job Groups with Default RRA report will now appear.  2024.12.354.4 12/19/2024 10030 The Internal Availability import feeder option has been updated and now allows use

BCP - Release Notes

Published January 28th, 2025 by Paul Gorman

Release # Date Item Description 2024.12.354.8 12/19/2024 9392 AAP Reports have been modified and all checklist style reports now show the full report name header on each page.  2024.12.354.8 12/19/2024 9393 An alternate detailed view of the Incumbency vs Estimated Availability report is now available through Manage Reports. This version, by default,

File Consistency Report and Batch Operations

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Use Additional File Consistency tabs Run a Report on File Consistency Once the File Consistency check produces results, a Report tab will display. Activate the tab, and select whether to run the FILE CONSISTENCY report by one of the following options: All Employees and Issues Selected Employee (and choose an employee name from the drop-down) Selecte

Narratives (and Settings)

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Develop Narratives for the AAP When all of steps involved in developing AAP analyses are complete (from Settings to IWD/Veterans), the final step is to generate the accompanying Narratives. In preparation for generating these documents, stop at the Narratives > Settings tab to review and determine a few options. From this page, links will also be

Edit and Preview Narrative Templates

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Customize and Review AAP Narratives About Narrative Templates Access the Narratives > Templates tab to view and build the required AAP Narratives by Section. This task area offers: Default language for the following Narratives — Minorities/Women IWD (Individuals with Disabilities) Veterans Options for composing each Section A word-processing text

History Source

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Establish the History Source for Plan Calculations What is the History Source used for? The current AAP will rely on historical data as part of developing workforce analyses. In particular, the current plan will measure the progress your organization has made towards meeting placement goals set in the prior Annual plan. Therefore, the "History Sourc

balanceAAP Guides, Documents, and Templates

Published January 16th, 2025 by Paul Gorman

Guides balanceAAP User Guide balanceAAP Data Requirements Guide balanceAAP Guide to Affirmative Action Reports   Documents balanceAAP Checklist balanceAAP Table Relations Hierarchy Comparing AAP, EEO-1, and VETS Reporting   Data Templates Master Plan Data Collection  Regular Plan Data Collection Regular Plan Data Collection with EEO-1 and VETS

Recruitment Area Wizard

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Follow Guided Prompts to Build and Assign Recruitment Areas Use the Recruitment Area Wizard On initial entry to Recruitment Areas, balanceAAP will show the Recruitment Area Wizard when Zip code data^ are included in the Data Tables. The wizard automates the process of creating and assigning Recruitment Areas, based on settings and rules you determin

File Structure Details / Data Tables

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Data Tables Notes:  The term "Required," as shown in the column headers below, refers to a system requirement for operation of the Data table.   Fields in italic below are placeholders for special data. For a list of Help resources on special data, see: Custom Data Capabilities. Applicant Field Name Data Type Length Required MP Required Applicant #

Additional Internal Availability Tools

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Use Other Internal Availability Functions Some other Internal Availability tasks and settings are supported by buttons, located in the module's toolbars. Quick Link to Availability Settings The [Settings] button in the upper toolbar will return you to: Availability Calculation Settings. Remove Downward Movement Choose [Remove Downward Movement] from

Learn about an Update Plan

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

What is an Update Plan? An Update plan is created at an interim point during the plan year to analyze personnel activity and monitor progress towards any placement goals established in a preceding Annual plan. The Update plan is always linked to the preceding Annual plan. Develop an Update Plan When an Update plan is developed, using the Create Plan

AAP Excel Templates

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

DOWNLOAD AN EXCEL TEMPLATE Below are templates you or your HR Information System collaborators can use to prepare HR data for Import into balanceAAP: Master Plan Data Collection Fields required by the system are shown in bold. Regular Plan Data Collection Regular Plan Data Collection with EEO-VETS

Email Settings

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Create the Email Message for Sharing AAP Results Users may be notified when plan results are ready to view, facilitating communication to collaborators and stakeholders who are involved in planning or implementing your organization's Affirmative Action program. Prior to sending the email notification, the Administrator may determine the Format and C

Availability Calculation Settings

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Review Plan Settings for Availability Calculations Under Plan Settings , the second tab shows options that control how balanceAAP calculates Availability. External Availability Source On the Availability Calculation Settings tab, the External Availability Source menu will be preset to the following source, as selected under Create Plan: EEO 2014-201

Recruitment Areas (Availability Factor 1)

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Add and Assign Recruitment Areas This article describes how to add a Reasonable Recruitment Area to balanceAAP as a default, or better yet, create a "library" of default Recruitment Areas, via Availability > Recruitment Areas. Then in this sub-module, an area can be selected for assignment to each plan or by Job Group within a plan. In addition,

Personnel Analysis Settings

Published August 27th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Review Personnel Analysis Settings Under Plan Settings, the third tab shows options that control how balanceAAP calculates the external Hiring Analysis and the internal Competitive Promotions Analysis Recommended Settings The selection types checked by default will be counted as selected and/or in the pools for the external Hiring Analysis and the i

Feeders in a Master Plan

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Working with Feeders in a Master Plan Select Feeders from other Plans When jobs from one location/sub plan can be considered feeders for jobs in another sub plan, feeders can be selected from those plans. With the Availability > Internal screen displayed, choose [Feeder Options] from the upper toolbar. Check the box for: Allow feeders to be selec

Reporting Levels - Rollups

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Use Rollups for Analysis across Plans (Optional) While settings for Reporting Levels > Rollups and Plan Groups are not required to complete an AAP, they allow you to customize reporting across sub plans for executive- or management-specific needs. What is a Rollup? In a Master Plan, a Rollup represents a level of analysis above the sub plan, or b

About AAP Statistical Calculations

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

What is Statistical Significance? In simple terms, "statistical significance" tells you that a piece of information, resulting from a study of data, is reliable; and a difference or relationship found in the statistic did not happen by chance. Standard Deviation The primary statistical significance test for utilization (Incumbency versus Availabilit

VETS-4212 Report

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Important Note: While EEO-1 Report and VETS-4212 Report modules share similar functions, each is tailored to some specific requirements for the type of reporting.   Create the VETS-4212 Report for your Organization About the VETS-4212 Report Organizations with Federal contracts meeting a certain dollar value must complete the VETS-4212 form, documen

Batch Operations

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Globally Update, Delete, or Export Data The wizard at Data > Advanced > Batch Operations guides you through the process of tailoring a batch operation for specific data needs. The operation's six steps are explained below. 1. Plans Answer the question: Are you going to use data from outside this plan? To include another plan, select: Yes; or t

Reviewing Master Plan Data

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Master Plan Data Table Considerations For those preparing a set of plans, the following article discusses fields in Data Tables that are specific to the Master plan/sub-plan framework. Plan Codes Each applicant or employee must have a Plan Code entry, linking him or her to a sub plan. The entries must match those included in the Plan Code Reference

Factor Weight Settings

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Manage Settings for Factor Weights, Utilization Rule, and Statistics This article describes several toolbar buttons, available on the Availability > Factor Weights page. These buttons provide access to review and establish underlying settings. Import Factor Weight and Utilization Settings from another Plan With a Job Group selected from the upper

Publish Plan

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Release the Completed AAP for Distribution Completing an Affirmative Action plan involves all of the steps displayed in balanceAAP's side navigation menu, from the plan's Settings and Data to IWD/Veterans analyses and Narratives. When these steps complete, the Publish Plan module provides simple tools, available via the page's tab header, to: Publis

Sectors (Optional)

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Create Sectors to Organize Reporting What is a Sector? The Reporting Structure > Sectors module can be used to create another unit level above a Drilldown as the basis for a Reports filter. A Sector, or a cross-section of the plan, is created by grouping together available Departments (the default) or other values. How Sectors are used While an A

User Fields

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Create a Custom Field for Reference or Data Tables What are User Fields? To accommodate data that falls outside of the balanceAAP structure, up to five custom User Fields may be added to Data or Reference tables. Add a Custom Field Important Note:  For best system operation, add the user field prior to Data > Import. From the upper drop-down, sel

REACH Assignment

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Set up the Connection between balanceAAP and REACH Integrating REACH Data into an Affirmative Action Plan REACH is a companion database application that serves as a repository for information on Good Faith Efforts (GFE). If you store GFE data in REACH, this information can be automatically pulled into balanceAAP for inclusion in your organization’s

About Related IWD/Veterans Required Reports

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Learn about Key Outputs from the IWD/Veterans Analyses Available IWD/Veterans Reports The following reports are available for selection on the AAP Reports menu, in the IWD/Veterans Report Group: DATA COLLECTION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES DATA COLLECTION FOR PROTECTED VETERANS The following reports will present the results of the analyses: IND

Factor Weights Information

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Assign Weighting to External and Internal Availability Understanding Factor Weights In determining the total Availability result, Factor Weights represent the relative importance of External Availability versus Internal Availability in placement outcomes. So, for each Job Group, you will determine what percentage of new entrants into the group are l

Browser Support Policy

Published August 2nd, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Browser Policy Effective July 1, 2021, new releases of balanceWORKS software will be designed and tested to run on the following browsers: Microsoft Edge - Current version and immediately prior version Firefox – Current version and immediately prior version Google Chrome – Current version and immediately prior version Cookies BalanceWORKS uses sessi

Work with Narratives in a Master Plan

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Use the Master Plan Framework to Develop Narratives Template Editing and Master Plans Narratives may be "cascaded" from a Master Plan to the associated set of sub plans to apply settings and content universally. If you are creating Narratives, relying on this framework, begin in the Master Plan. Once the global elements are in place, you can move on

Rollup Verification (Master Plan only)

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Check the Hierarchy of Rollups and Resolve Conflicts About Rollup Verification If Plan > Rollups have been created for a Master Plan, the side navigation menu displays a Reporting Levels > Rollup Verification bar. On entry, the Hierarchy tab is active, with an additional tab for (resolving) Conflicts available in the tab header. The Hierarchy 

Comparing AAP, EEO-1 & VETS Reporting

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Additional Documents

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Store Documents in the Reports Library An Administrator or plan owner may compile a library of Plan Documents in balanceAAP to supplement the AAP or provide additional program information to the user audience. The Administrator or Master Plan owner may also create a library of Company Documents for organization-wide distribution. Some examples inclu

Advanced Availability Information

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Import Availability from an Existing Plan Access Availability > Advanced from the side navigation menu to bring in all or part of the Internal and External Availability settings from another plan. Begin by reviewing the Import menu to determine what elements to bring in. All are checked by default: Census Coding — (Codes that only exist in the cu

Custom Narratives

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Manage Narrative Sections across the balanceAAP Account By accessing balanceAAP > System Tools > General / Custom Narratives , an Administrator may include organization-specific Sections in plan Narratives and determine the order of Narrative Sections. Add a Custom Section From the Custom Sections tab, choose the [Add] button from the upper to

Personnel Action Order

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Set an Order of Precedence for Personnel Actions Accessed at System Tools > General / Personnel Action Order , this administrative tool sequences personnel actions (e.g., New Hire, Promotion, Transfer, Termination) for certain plan analyses, when multiple transactions occur for an employee on the same day. A default order will already be in place

Aggregate Census Codes

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Create Aggregate Census Codes An aggregate Census Code, which is comprised of two or more census codes, can be created, using the balanceAAP > System Tools > Availability /Aggregate Census Codes. The system comes loaded with defaults, which will be displayed on entry. In order to work with each aggregate, a Census Codes menu can be opened as a

Develop IWD/Veterans Metrics in a Master Plan

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Develop IWD/Veterans Metrics in a Master Plan Below are additional instructions for performing the IWD/Veterans analyses, when working in a Master Plan. Note:  The IWD/Veterans function — and the Plan Information setting that initiates this function — are not available within a sub plan.   (Optional) Edit Hiring Overview by Sub Plan On the Hiring Ov

Publish Plan to Berkshire Client Portal

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Publish the completed AAP to the Berkshire Client Portal Completing an Affirmative Action plan involves all of the steps displayed in balanceAAP's side navigation menu, from the plan's Settings and Data to IWD/Veterans analyses and Narratives. When these steps are completed, the Publish Plan page allows you to publish your plan to the Berkshire Clie

Auto Census Coding Rules

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Supplement the Default Auto Census Coding Rules An Administrator may review the system’s rules for applying census codes by accessing: BALANCEaap > System Tools > Availability / Auto Census Coding Rules . On entry, a list of current Auto Census Coding rules appears, organized by Priority, with additional columns for Rule and Census Code. While

Default User Fields

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Create a Custom Default Field for Reference or Data Tables An Administrator may access System Tools > General / Default User Fields. A total of five custom User Fields may be added to Data Tables or Reference Tables, including system defaults and fields added for a particular plan. Important Note:  Default User Fields will only apply to new plans

Correcting Issues in a Master Plan

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

SPECIAL NOTE: File Consistency functions can be run within a Master or sub plan. However, within a sub plan, they apply only to the sub-plan. Quick Tip:  If you would like File Consistency to be applied uniformly across plans, correct issues in the Master Plan. Specific Master Plan Features On the Edit Settings tab, the following setting applies spe

File Structure Details / Reference Tables

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Reference Tables Notes: The term "Required," as shown in the column headers below, refers to a system requirement for operation of the particular table. Fields in italic below are placeholders for special data. For a list of Help resources on this topic, see: Custom Data Capabilities.   Applicant Disposition Field Name Data Type Length Required MP R

Match Applicants and New Hires

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Reconcile Applicant and New Hire Data Both the Applicant and New Hire Data tables will contain information, describing who was hired at your organization and what positions were filled during the plan's analysis period. Therefore, the two tables should be reviewed for accuracy. If inconsistencies or extraneous Applicant data are found, the data may

Tools for Multiple VETS-4212 Reports

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Please read the  Help  page, linked above, to familiarize yourself with  VETS-4212  tools. Then review the following article, regarding creating multiple VETS reports from one balanceAAP plan. Create VETS-4212 Reports for Multiple Establishments About Establishment Information The VETS-4212 report has specific requirements for determining locations

Report Settings

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Determine System Settings for User Interaction with Reports By accessing System Tools > General / Report Settings , the Administrator may manage some aspects of the user experience in the balanceAAP > Reports portal. The administrative tools are stored on three management tabs: AAP Reports — Control the export file types and display a message

Standardize Codes

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

What does the Standardize Codes Operation do? Located under Data > Advanced, the Standardize Codes operation will ensure consistency in the use of upper-case letters in data coding, as stored in the Reference Data tables. By running this operation, you can obtain cleaner results when the File Consistency check is performed. Select Code(s) and Run

Run Reports for a Master Plan

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Run Reports for a Master Plan Cascade Master Plan Report Settings to a Sub plan Determine Global and/or Report Group settings, as described above. Then, under Cascade to Sub Plans, select: Yes. Click [Save] to apply the settings to relevant reports. Note:  By accessing individual sub plans, the above settings can be tailored by sub plan.   Run Sub P

(Master and) Sub Plan History Source

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Set the History Source by Sub plan About the Sub Plan History Source Important Note:  For ease of operation, the Sub Plan History Source for each sub plan can be determined in the Master Plan, collectively or in a customized manner. However, the History Source may be edited in the sub plan.   After Plan Codes and Data Tables have been developed in t

Glossary of AAP Terms

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

(Annual) Affirmative Action Plan From the Code of Federal Regulations 41 Section 60-2.10: “An affirmative action program is a management tool designed to ensure equal employment opportunity. ... Effective affirmative action programs also include internal auditing and reporting systems as a means of measuring the contractor's progress toward achievin

System Log

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

About the System Audit Log The System Audit log tracks certain plan preparation activities performed within balanceAAP by an administrative-level user to apply across the system, such as creating a Recruitment Area or deleting a custom User Field. By accessing System Tools > General / System Log , an Administrator can run the SYSTEM AUDIT LOG rep

User Management

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Manage Users and Apply REACH Profile Once Profiles have been saved into the system (as described in the article linked above), the REACH Administrator can visit System Tools > User Management and view current user credentials, add new users, and review/change Profile assignments. Administer REACH User Management Work with the Software Users List

Reporting Levels - Plan Groups

Published August 27th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Use Plan Groups to support Master Plan Elements About Plan Groups By creating optional Reporting Levels > Plan Groups, you can: Develop high-level AAP metrics for executive communication by filtering Affirmative Action results on the balanceAAP > Dashboard. Options include: Showing or hiding a Plan Group for Dashboard objects Limiting the prov

Document Center

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

The Document Center is a secure location, within the Berkshire Client Portal , to exchange documents with your Berkshire consultant or Product Support. Managing Uploads From the main Document Center page, users can upload new files to send, view existing files which have been sent or received, and finally, download files that have been sent by a Ber

Reference Table Tools

Published September 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Perform Delete Unused The following function is available on all Reference tables, except the Race and Gender Code tables.  Click the [Delete Unused] button to delete records from Reference Tables that are not used in any Data table. Eliminating these records will shorten system processing times. Sequencing Job Group Entries on the Job Group table c

Data Visualization

Published July 2nd, 2024 by Paul Gorman

The Data Visualization sections are features of the Berkshire Client Portal which include a variety of interactive charts, graphs, summary tables, reports, and key metrics that display your affirmative action plan results in an easy-to-understand format. The tool allows to you view organization-wide results as well as drill into metrics to view resu

Profile Management

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

About Profiles and Profile Management An Administrator will oversee System Tools for Profile Management to control whether groups of users can view data and/or perform functions in REACH modules. Based on the anticipated audiences who will use or access REACH, Berkshire has included some standard Profiles in your organization's installation, plus a

AAP Overview Information

Published December 4th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Access an Overview for the Basics of AAP Results Many users who are entering balanceAAP to view plan results for a single Annual plan will access the Reports > AAP Overview tab to quickly and easily review plan metrics and completed Narratives, the backbone of AAP results. View Plan Metrics For those users who are provided access, the Overview ta

Narrative Editor (New)

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

About Narratives and their Components When all of the steps involved in developing the AAP analyses are complete (from Settings to IWD/Veterans) , the final step is to generate the accompanying Narratives. Your organization’s Affirmative Action plan will include Narratives for: Minorities/Women Individuals with Disabilities Veterans What Changed? Al

Advanced History Information

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Use Advanced History Tools to Store a History Plan The History > Advanced task area makes it possible to save a Start Point analysis as a "History plan", assign it to the current plan, and, while doing so, manage what happens to any previously created History plans. Like other existing AAPs, the History plan will be accessible from the Open Plan 

File Structure Details

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Note:  The entries required for system operation are marked with an asterisk (*) below.   Activities Field Appearance/Type Length Details Activity Type* Drop-down 50 Personalized to client organization in administrative settings.Defaults: Job Fair Participant, Job Fair Sponsor, Onsite Outreach Event, Onsite Recruitment Event, Sent Job Listings, Sent

Adverse Impact

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Adverse Impact Ratio Analysis by Favored Group balanceAAP can perform ADVERSE IMPACT reporting on personnel actions to support your organization's Affirmative Action monitoring program by flagging potential problem areas. The system will flag statistical results on ADVERSE IMPACT reports, when they meet the parameters below. Note:  This information

Getting Started

Published August 2nd, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Logging In Supported Web Browsers Berkshire is committed to developing browser-agnostic Web applications that will work on a variety of browsers and platforms beyond those listed below. The user interface is built, using only HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and following current standards for each of these languages. Evolving security standards, the abil

Protected Classes

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Determine Protected Classes Default Protected Classes As required for an AAP, the default classes are pre-selected by the system, as follows: Total Minorities Female These groups will be analyzed in plan calculations and accordingly, displayed in AAP Reports. Select Additional Reporting Groups To add additional Protected Classes to your plan analyse

Edit Tags & Values

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Develop the Tag Library for Merging Information into Narratives What is a Narrative Tag? When placed in a Narrative, a "tag" serves as a placeholder an element — such as text, an image, a statistic, or a report — that will be "merged" into the final document. Tags allow elements to be placed in multiple locations, edited or updated separately, and g

EEO Job Classifications for Private Organizations

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Private Organization (EEO Schedule 1) Source:  EEOC.gov / EEO-1: Description of Job Categories (scroll to Appendix) 1.1 or A.1: Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers Individuals who plan, direct and formulate policies, set strategy and provide the overall direction of enterprises/organizations for the development and delivery of products or

Evaluations

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Evaluate a Source for Effectiveness Once entered on the Sources list (and associated with Activities), a Source may be assessed for effectiveness, using the Evaluations tab. While an Activity may be evaluated with a simple Score from Activities list, the Source as a whole may be evaluated here, based on regulatory and optional criteria (for inclusio

Establish Recruitment Areas in a Master Plan

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Master Plan Considerations for building Reasonable Recruitment Areas About Recruitment Areas in a Sub plan When building Recruitment Areas, the sub plan's default Reasonable Recruitment Area will initially reflect the Master Plan default, and menus will reflect areas added in the Master Plan. However, at the sub-plan level: Default RRAs may be set o

Export Data

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Export Data for Use Outside the System Available from the side navigation menu by accessing Data > Export, software tools help you select and output the software's Data tables in Excel or text formats for use outside of balanceAAP. Quick Tip:  The results of database Batch Operations can also be exported; see: Batch Operations (for Data). 1. Sele

Recruitment Areas

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Manage Recruitment Areas for your Organization's AAPs Tools under balanceAAP > System Tools > Availability / Recruitment Areas  manage Reasonable Recruitment Areas (RRAs) across your organization's plans. On entry, a list of Areas displays in the left-hand column. Note:  If multiple census data sources are available for use in balanceAAP, base

Profile Management

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

About Profiles and Profile Management Note:  The functions described in this article are for users with Administrative-level permissions; these functions may not display or be editable in your environment. If you have questions regarding the functions available to you, please contact your system Administrator or Berkshire’s Product Support, as appro

System Tools / Menus for Administrators

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Customize REACH Menus, using System Tools By accessing any of the five menus under System Tools / General, as accessed from the page header, an Administrator may set up the REACH interface to align with his or her organizational structure and terminology. In addition to these system settings being critical to software operation, they also provide a

User-Defined Personnel Actions

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Define Unique Personnel Action Tables About User-defined Personnel Actions User-Defined Personnel Actions (UPAs) are typically developed by the advanced user to run ADVERSE IMPACT reporting on atypical events, such as employee demotion, training, or reinstatement. For another example, a custom "Historical Promotions" table can be imported to support

Errors - Reports

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Define Settings for Error Reports Supporting reports, identifying Errors, can be exported, printed, or viewed as part of research undertaken to resolve them. Click the Data > Errors > Reports tab. Then select from the following options to tailor the reporting. Click the Report Type: Summary OR Detail HTML OR PDF Select Error tables: All Tables

Utilization Rules

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

What is the Utilization Rule used for? Federal contractors are required to conduct an analysis to determine whether minorities and females are being employed (or utilized) at a rate that would be reasonably expected, based on the estimated Availability of qualified minority or female candidates, both externally to the organization and internally. Wh

Errors - Summary

Published September 24th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

View the Errors Summary and Resolve Errors Globally Click the Errors > Summary tab. The Summary view will display a list of records with Errors arising from missing or invalid Reference code, sorted by the Error Type. Choose a different Error Type from the drop-down in the table header. The left-hand column will include all faulty Reference code

User Management

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Administer User Credentials in BALANCEaap Note:  The functions described in this article are for users with Administrative-level permissions; these functions may not display or be editable in your environment. If you have questions regarding the functions available to you, please contact your system Administrator or Berkshire’s Product Support, as a

Errors - Detail

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Review and Update Records to Resolve Errors Once data is imported, the Data > Errors module is a holding area for any records with missing or invalid information. When records are corrected adequately, the system automatically moves the Errors record(s) to Data Tables. Cross-reference:  The tables here are viewed and edited in the same manner as 

Report Groups

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Configure Report Groups for AAP Reports Using tools accessible from balanceAAP > System Tools > General / Report Groups, the Administrator or plan owner can: Edit or organize Reports by Report Groups, under a particular Report Group heading Determine the order of Reports and Report Groups on the AAP Reports list These management tools allow th

Summaries

Published December 4th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Summaries Choose settings to export Dashboard summary data to Excel spreadsheets. Select an export file type: Excel 2007 Excel 97-2003 Select one or more topics to run: Utilization Adverse Impact Goal Attainment Click the [Export] button. You will be prompted to open or save the file. If multiple topics were selected, the Excel file will include a s

Options

Published December 4th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Options  The Options tab offers menus that control the Dashboard>View display. You may [Revert to Default] at any time. Help Cross-reference: Individually, the user can also determine View options. For the user-facing Help, refer to: Dashboard > View. General menu The General Options menu controls how the Summary and/or Map objects display on

Reports

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

The REACH > Reports tab provides access to information and statistics that are compiled from Good Faith Efforts data on your organization's recruiting outreach. The Reports list is organized by topic, reflecting the REACH modules: Sources, Activities, and Evaluations. Example:  For a compiled view of all recruiting contacts, export the Sources Co

View

Published December 4th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

View Master/Sub-plan Results What is the Dashboard used for? For organizations with a Master Plan structure, representing multiple AAP establishments, the balanceAAP > Dashboard serves as graphical information center for organizing and viewing results from completed plans. As the Dashboard entry point, the View tab is an overview of Affirmative A

Home

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Use the Home page and Plan Activities Buttons Once a plan has been created, the plan's Home page provides access to — and brief descriptions of — the development sections and steps for creating an Affirmative Action plan.  At the bottom of the page are Plan Activities buttons. Settings Data Availability Organizational Profile History IWD/Veterans Na

Federal Resources

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Compliance Assistance for BalanceAAP Users Use the browser's Back button to return to Help from the resources below. Before you begin: Berkshire's  Summary of Federal Affirmative Action Requirements Affirmative Action Easy-to-follow compliance wizard: DOL.gov / OFCCP Compliance Advisor Itemized listing of audit requirements:  OFCCP Audit Scheduling

Activities List Tools

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Use Activities List Tools Once created, the REACH > Activities list will display by: Activity Type Source Activity Date (Evaluation) Score Target Categories Locations Show Additional Information By clicking Expand, you can view: Recruiter, Activity Contact Information, Job Families, Notes, and Documentation. Edit an Existing Activity Click the Ed

balanceAAP Information

Published August 1st, 2024 by Paul Gorman

What is balanceAAP? balanceAAP, a member of the balanceWORKS family, i s a web-based application for the preparation of Affirmative Action plans (AAPs) in accordance with Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) technical guidelines. Outline of balanceAAP Modules After the plan (or a set of plans) is created, task areas — as listed in

About Creating Sub plans for a Master Plan

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

If you previously answered Yes to the following question during plan creation, “Will you be creating multiple plans from a master plan data set?”, your next step will be adding your Plan Codes.  Add Plan Codes After you click the [Create Plan] button to build a Master Plan, balanceAAP will automatically display the Plan Codes page. When entered, the

IWD/Veterans Information

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Compile Metrics for Individual with Disability and Veteran Status The balanceAAP > IWD/Veterans module is comprised of tabs, described in this article, for developing the following: Hiring Overview IWD Analysis Protected Veteran Analysis Cross-references:  Please review the Federal rules to learn how they apply to your organization at the time of

EEO-1 Report Information

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Important Note: While EEO-1 Report and VETS-4212 Report modules share similar functions, each is tailored to some specific requirements for the type of reporting.   Create the EEO-1 Report for Your Organization About the EEO-1 Report Federal contractors, meeting certain descriptions, are required to submit reporting on employee demographics to the E

Plan Review

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

The balanceAAP Plan Review is a verification tool used to evaluate your affirmative action plan and identify areas which may require additional attention. This feature groups your plan down into individual items with a list of tasks to review and complete. These item can be reviewed and closed automatically based on your plan data or they must be ma

Understanding balanceAAP Data Import Requirements

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

About the AAP Data Set Plan data are separated into two categories (and stored in two Data modules, accordingly): Reference Tables — Defining and encompassing all of the permitted data entries Data Tables — Containing data entries, by workforce grouping and personnel action The information below will help you prepare the AAP data set for Data > I

File Consistency

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Scan Data Records to Flag Potential Inconsistencies What is a File Consistency Check? balanceAAP runs a check for Data > File Consistency across each employee’s set of records to support the accuracy of plan results. While some inconsistencies reflect incorrect data entries or missing records, other issues may be acceptable within your organizati

Census Coding

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Before you Begin: Census Coding Data Preparations Bringing in Census Codes with the AAP Data Set The necessary Census Occupation codes may be imported with the plan's Data > Import, by including them in the Job Code Reference table. Cross-reference:  For important information on preparing the data set, see:  BalanceAAP Data Requirements Guide . H

Internal (Availability Factor 2)

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Identify Feeder Jobs to Determine Internal Availability Along with External Availability, Internal Availability supports determining the overall Availability of qualified minority and female candidates for jobs at your organization. In calculating Internal Availability, source Job Titles are identified as "feeders" for target Job Titles, by Job Grou

AAP Reports Information

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Tailor Report Content and Run Reports About Viewing AAP Reports Once an Affirmative Action plan is completed, the plan preparer will share the plan's results, or Reports, with other balanceAAP users. Displayed on the Reports > AAP Reports tab, the comprehensive directory for accessing these results is comprised of the following items: Primary, or

Filters

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Use Previously Created Organizational Units to Filter Report Displays While creating an AAP, one or more units may have been put in place to organize the information (e.g., Drilldowns, representing Departments). For organizations relying with multiple locations, represented by sub plans, Rollups may have been determined to aggregate results above th

Activities

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Develop an Activities Database When considering recruitment activities, REACH organizes and associates Activities (e.g., event, advertisement) by Source (e.g., job board, professional association). Once a Source exists in the system, then Activities can be added, as outlined below. Quick Tip:  A Source can be added from either the REACH > Activit

Reporting Levels - Drilldowns

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Create Organization-specific AAP Reporting within a Plan (Optional) If you would like reporting within a plan to mirror departmental units or points of command, access: Settings > Reporting Levels > Drilldowns. What are Drilldowns? By using a Drilldown, an Affirmative Action plan is broken down into smaller units so that Reports can be organiz

Import Data

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Import the HR Data Set for use in an Affirmative Action Plan After an AAP has been created in the system, the next step is to bring in the HR data set you have extracted from your organization's database for use in performing workforce analyses. Map Race and Gender Codes On the first entry into Data > Import from the side navigation menu, a promp

Department Hierarchy (Organizational Display only)

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Review/Build the Department Hierarchy For plan preparers who have selected the Organizational Display as the plan's Organizational Profile, balanceAAP offers flexible tools, which are described below, for building the Reporting Structure > Department Hierarchy and displaying supervisor/employee demographics. Cross-references: To select an Organiz

Backup and Restore

Published August 27th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Plan Backups To save a plan in its current state, click [Add Backup] under the Plan Backups header. Up to two backups can be saved. To revert the current plan to the most recently saved back-up, click the [Restore Backup] button. To delete a backup, click the [Remove Backup] button. Note:  If a plan is reverted, changes made since the backup was cre

Reference Tables

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

A Reference table serves as the key or legend, by topic, for codes appearing in the Data Tables. Although both types of tables share the same format and controls, some additional tools (and considerations) are specific to Reference Tables. Review and Edit Reference Tables Quick Tool Tip:  To edit a data record, click on the [Edit] button to activate

Trend Reports Information

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

For those who have prepared at least two concurrent AAPs in balanceAAP, Reports > Trend Reports can be developed, identifying positive and negative movement in key AAP metrics over time. These graphs, showing trend lines, and charts, comprised of statistical tables, can display trends for up to four years (or, if interim Update plans are included

Create an Affirmative Action Plan

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Getting Started From the Plans tab, which serves as balanceAAP's landing page, the Create Plan tab displays in the tab header as the access point for generating a new Affirmative Action plan. Once you have made selections in response to the preliminary questions below, click [Create Plan]. The system will then take you to the plan's Home page, where

Plan Information

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Review Plan Information The Settings > Plan Information screen displays the entries made when the plan was created, using: Create Plan. This screen gives you another opportunity to review the plan's basic framework, including Plan Date and Personnel Action Date Ranges if viewing within a Master Plan, before moving on to developing the AAP and its

Plan Settings

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

The Plan > Plan Settings screen is comprised of three tabs: Plan Settings for Statistical Calculations Availability Calculation Settings   Personnel Analysis Settings   Important Note: The system's default Plan Settings  (described below) are sufficient for most contractors developing AAPs. Because balanceAAP uses the most currently accepted OFCC

Plan Selection Tabs

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Overview of Plan Lists and related Tools The gateway for working in balanceAAP is Plans, the software's first module. Within this software hub, Recent Plans serves as the default landing page. In addition to displaying up to 10 of the most recently opened Affirmative Action plans (once created), the landing page also links you to the following tabs:

Availability Information

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Learn about the Availability Calculation What is Availability? Availability is a calculation that compares the composition of the likely candidate pool with the composition of your organization's workforce to ascertain whether women and minorities are adequately represented. Since these candidates can come from both external and internal sources, Av

Manage Security

Published July 2nd, 2024 by Paul Gorman

The Berkshire Client Portal has been enhanced to now include Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) and Single Sign-On. Administrators can activate these features on the Manage Security page. The Manage Security page can be found under the Admin section of the drop-down menu in the top right of every BCP page. Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) Multi-fact

Data Table Tools

Published September 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

The following tools are available on select Data Tables.  Roster Assign Supervisors for the Organizational Display The Organizational Display, one of two options for developing an Organizational Profile, outlines supervisor and employee demographics by Department Hierarchy. For the report to display properly, the Roster must include: A check mark fo

Data Tables

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Data Tables house the actual data entries for the AAP evaluation period, describing each member of the applicant pool and the employee Roster, with supplemental tables documenting personnel actions. Cross-references: For information on what plan data are needed and how tables should be formatted, see: Understanding BalanceAAP Data Import Requirement

EEO Job Classifications for Government and Educational Institutions

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Government (EEO Schedule 4) Source:  EEOC.gov / EEO-4: Description of Job Categories (scroll to Appendix) 1 or A: Officials and Administrators Occupations in which employees set broad policies, exercise overall responsibility for execution of these policies, or direct individual departments or phases of the agency’s operations, or provide specialize

BCP Information

Published July 2nd, 2024 by Paul Gorman

The Berkshire Client Portal or BCP is an online application that provides access to final service deliverables, for all Berkshire services, which include reports, data visualizations, and analyses. The tool also provides a centralized Document Center for the secure exchange of files, as well as a comprehensive Resource Library with relevant content

Sources

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Add a Source Quick Tip:  Before adding an entry to REACH > Activities for a new recruiting source, navigate to the Sources tab. This way, complete information about the Source may be added first. Click the [Add Source] button at the top of the Sources page. From the Source Type drop-down select one of the following: College or University Associat

Reports

Published December 4th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Run Reports from Dashboard Content Access the Dashboard > Reports tab to determine report options and run/export reports from Dashboard Graphics and Data. Select Plan Groups for Inclusion in a Dashboard Report If this menu is active in your installation, select to display results for: All Plans Specific Plan Groups — Then choose one or more Plan

Tools for Multiple EEO-1 Reports

Published July 17th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Please read the linked  Help  page, linked above, to familiarize yourself with EEO-1  features. Then review the following notes, regarding creating multiple EEO-1 reports from one balanceAAP  plan. Key Additional Resources: Federal EEO-1 Instructions Booklet BalanceAAP Data Requirements Guide Create EEO-1 Reports for Multiple Locations About Establi

Plan Codes (Master Plan only)

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Identify Sub plans by using Plan Codes How the Process to Build Plan Codes is Initiated If you previously answered Yes to the following question during plan creation, “Will you be creating multiple plans from a master plan data set?”, the following actions are triggered: The Plan Codes screen will automatically display. A menu bar for Settings >

Berkshire Software

Published August 2nd, 2024 by Paul Gorman

balanceAAP balanceAAP is a web-based application for the preparation of Affirmative Action plans (AAPs) in accordance with Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) technical guidelines. Berkshire Client Portal The Berkshire Client Portal is Berkshire’s proprietary service delivery portal empowers users to easily view and interpret your

Help & Support

Published August 2nd, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Resources if you need Technical Assistance Help is available from the software header in all balanceWORKS products. Three types of Help are available to logged in users: Documentation Help and User Guides — Topics are organized by software module. From any Help page, a Search field is available in the Help header, on the upper right. Search results

REACH Information

Published July 15th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

What is REACH for? Comprised of four tabs, REACH is designed to help you document Good Faith Efforts (GFE) for inclusion as part of your organization’s Affirmative Action plan (AAP). REACH is pre-loaded with recruiting sources from the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Your software Administrator* will also set up various men

Master Plan Factor Weights

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Set Global Factor Weight Options Below are additional considerations for Factor Weights, when applying them to a Master Plan and corresponding sub plans. Master Plan Factor Weights and Job Group Structure Factor Weights are applied in the sub plans, according to the Job Group structure, as determined under Plan Codes: Corporate EEO Cross-reference:

Publish the completed AAP to the Berkshire Client Portal

Published July 2nd, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Completing an Affirmative Action plan involves all of the steps displayed in balanceAAP's side navigation menu, from the plan's Settings and Data to IWD/Veterans analyses and Narratives. When these steps are completed, the Publish Plan page allows you to publish your plan to the Berkshire Client Portal and notify new users of its availability. Publi

Editing Reference and Data Tables

Published July 16th, 2024 by Paul Gorman

Reference and Data Table Controls Edit a Record Click the [Edit] button next to a record to activate the row. Make all changes can be made directly in the table cell(s). Click the [Save] icon to save the updates. Add a Record Click the  Add New  link, located at the bottom of the table. Enter the new Data table records into the newly created row. Cl