Heads up: The feds have an eye on two common hiring scenarios that could get well-intentioned employers into serious legal trouble.
Two informal discussion letters from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) legal staff offer good examples of how innocent day-to-day procedures can come back to bite you.
The letters cover:
- Credit checks, and
- setting stringent education requirements for specific positions.
Looking into an applicant’s credit history seems sensible: If individuals can keep their own financial affairs in order, they’re likely to be responsible workers, right?
Perhaps. But the economic downturn has pushed a number of people into financial difficulty – often for reasons beyond their control, like layoffs or salary cuts.
The letter points out that none of the current discrimination laws specifically prohibit discrimination based on somebody’s credit score. But the law does prohibit any “employment practice that disproportionately screens out racial minorities, women, or another protected group unless the practice is job-related and consistent with business necessity,” wrote EEOC legal counsel Dianna Johnston.
The layman’s version: If you’re going to check an applicant’s credit history, they should be applying for a position where their ability to handle money is a key job requirement.
For a look at the full informal discussion letter, go here.
Is specific degree really necessary?
The second letter concerns an employer looking to fill a Public Health Director’s position.
The employer asked whether requiring a Master’s degree – without the option of substituting prior experience or other forms of education – could be discriminatory. The employer added that it believed the narrow requirement would result in a disproportionate number of minorities being judged unqualified for the job.
EEOC attorney Aaron Konopasky replied that sometimes, a “facially neutral” practice can indeed put companies in jeopardy of a bias claim.
Again, the test is, “Is the requirement job-related?” In this case, the employer needed to ask itself, “Is having a Master’s degree an absolute necessity to perform this job? Or could other experience or training qualify a person for the position?”
For a look at the full informal discussion letter, go here.