The Basics of Tribal Employment Rights Ordinances (TERO)
by Lea Anne Burke
Within the past five decades, Native governments have made tremendous strides in identifying and protecting the rights, resources and opportunities of their people. Native governments are effectively exercising self-governance to protect their water, timber, hunting, fishing and gaming rights in order to garner maximum economic returns and opportunities from the use of their resources.
This type of advocacy is being brought to the protection and assertion of Indian and Native Employment and contracting rights by approximately 300 Tribal and Alaska Native village governments that have established Tribal Employment Rights Ordinances and TERO enforcement programs.
TERO Ordinances require that all employers who are engaged in operating a business on reservations give preference to qualified Indians in all aspects of employment, contracting and other business activities. TERO Offices were established and empowered to monitor and enforce the requirements of the tribal employment rights ordinance.
What effect does TERO have on Planning?
In a nutshell, TERO can have a direct impact on hiring staff and contracting with businesses. Native governments have the sovereign authority to regulate and control the employment practices of all employers conducting business within the exterior boundaries of the reservations, as legally defined by treaty or legislation, including ceded lands, territories, and lands where jurisdiction has not been extinguished.
Native governments have the authority to enact the strongest employment and contracting laws in the nation. This authority has been well established through treaties, the Indian Self Determination Act, and Supreme Court decisions. Additionally, Nations are exempt from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and several other employment laws. A Native government can use its sovereign powers to require maximum employment of Native people. This power enables Native governments to require that all contractors operating within their jurisdiction provide Tribal preference in employment, contracting and subcontracting.
TEROs can require that all employers who are engaged in business on reservations give preference to qualified Natives in all aspects of employment, contracting, and other business activities. TERO Offices were established and empowered to monitor and enforce the requirements of the tribal Indian Preference laws to ensure that Indian/Alaska Native people gain their rightful share of employment, training, contracting, subcontracting, and business opportunities on and near reservations and Native villages.
Tribal preference is not allowed on some federal or state contracts (except in cases where Native governments are also funding partners), or in cases where a private employer is operating on or near reservations. Many Nations have tribal/village provisions in their TERO ordinances which are not consistent with federal law and are therefore not allowed on any federally funded or assisted contracts. Nations can however, apply tribal preference on all their own businesses and construction projects.
When seeking to work with Native governments, contractors and employers need to have the knowledge of how each individual Nation exercises this authority. It is important to understand that each Nation is an independent government, therefore rules and regulations will vary. In addition, not every Nation chooses to use TERO codes. However, in those cases, Indian preference laws in other formats may still apply.
It is important for anyone seeking to work for or within Indian Country to know about TERO. Contact the individual Nation you want to work with for specific information you will need to know. For more general information about TERO, visit the Council for Tribal Employment Rights website at www.councilfortribalemploymentrights.org.
About the Author
In addition to her volunteer work with Two Rivers CDC, Lea Anne Burke is President of the Snohomish County, WA Noxious Weed Control Board, an Associate Planner II for the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and has a Master of Landscape Architecture through the University of Washington.