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July 2006 | Issue 16
The "Aha!" Report What's the "AHA!" REPORT all about?
This series of newsletters contains AHA! information to help people and organizations hire the best employees, make the best promotion decisions, retain the most qualified people, maintain the widest applicant pool, follow best practices, and (if you are subject to US law) remain aware of EEOC hot-spots. Beware the EEOC – or, what you don’t know can hurt you. It’s turning out to be a long, hot summer almost everywhere. For many people that means taking it easy to try and stay cool. But at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), they must have the air conditioning cranked up and plenty of cold drinks in the fridge, because this bulldog organization never seems to take a break from their mission against job discrimination. Regardless of our varied opinions about “Big Guv’mint,” I think most people in the staffing business can agree that this is, on balance, a good thing. Besides the inherent benefits of fairness in the hiring marketplace, it’s also good for business. A steady campaign against discrimination based on race, sex, disability, etc. pushes employers away from unfair practices; and because they must still find legitimate reasons to select one candidate over another, the focus shifts to understanding and implementing those criteria. And with a bit of luck, that might even lead to sensible, fact- and test-based hiring decisions. So much for the big picture. The downside to the crusade for fairness is that designing any selection process is a somewhat risky business. Which means that the more you know about those risks, the better. For a few words of warning, what follows is a discussion from the archives on how to stay out of trouble. Why you should be worried about the EEOC. Did you know the EEOC employs a staff of full-time industrial psychologists? You probably don't even care. But you should. Industrial psychologists are experts who determine whether your selection tools adversely impact protected groups like minorities, females, religious members, and so forth. You usually don't hear from them unless a local EEOC investigator really gets onto your case. And you don't even have to lose in court to get your organization's name in lights or spend the big bucks on attorneys, depositions and settlements. Bad HR Practices Can Be Expensive Settlements in discrimination cases typically run to six- or seven-figure sums, not counting the damage done by adverse publicity. And it’s not just Bubba’s BBQ that gets hit. Here’s a very partial list of recent settlements in just one month: Lithia Motors Rite Aid County of Bergen, NJ Newman University Citizens Bank Qwest Communications Global Imaging Systems You can read about hundreds of cases at the EEOC site. Do you think these problems were just bad luck on the part of these organizations? No. They were the result of bad HR hiring and placement practices. Ever since 1965, the U.S. government has struggled with how to balance the idealistic needs of society with the practical needs of business. In 1978, they published the "Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures" – a list of practical hiring and placement suggestions about how to get the best people without running afoul of U.S. law. Make no mistake about it, the EEOC may be understaffed, and they may be under-recognized, but when they get their teeth into a legitimate complaint there is no end to the money they will spend to make an example. What Can You Do? A while back I attended an annual technical conference of Industrial Psychologists. While I was there, I listened to Dr. Hillary Weiner, an EEOC staff Industrial Psychologist, talk about what they look for when a company is being investigated. Here is the gist what she told the audience:
This is truly an area where what you don't know can hurt you...big time! |
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