Tribal Employment Rights Office

On February 27, 2009 the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma passed L-AS-09-05 establishing the Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance as a part of the Absentee Shawnee Code of Law.

A TERO Ordinance enables a tribe to exercise its inherent sovereign powers by allowing the tribal TERO office to assist in and require the fair employment of members of the tribe and other Indians, to prevent discrimination against Indians in employment practices of employers who are doing business within the territorial jurisdiction of that particular tribe. In addition to a tribal code of law, TERO programs use a variety of legal tools to ensure that Indian/Native people receive their rightful share of employment and other economic opportunities on or near a tribes reservation or tribal jurisdictional area. This set of employment rights provides Indian people with more protection than all other Americans and entitles them to a large share of jobs and business opportunities on and near reservations and tribal jurisdictional service areas. Within the past four decades, tribal governments have taken great strides in identifying and protecting the rights, resources and opportunities of their people. This type of advocacy is being brought to the protections 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. There are currently only 11 TERO programs in Oklahoma.