chapter 4 - legal issues in selection

Question 1

federal regulations

Answer 1

Federal regulation of business

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: federal legislation to specify regulation across industries

All laws that address employment discrimination are referred to as Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws

Question 1

discrimination

Answer 1

All laws that address employment discrimination are referred to as Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws

EEO laws are federal laws designed to eliminate discrimination in HR management decisions

Adverse impact – the outcome of some selection procedure produces differences between demographically different individuals or groups
(e.g., male applicants may score higher on a physical ability test than female applicants)

Discrimination – occurs when Adverse Impact between demographic groups cannot be explained in terms of job-related reasons

1. Disparate treatment – different selection standards are applied to various groups of people
2. Disparate impact – selection standards are applied uniformly to all groups of applicants, but the net result is to produce differences in the selection of various groups (e.g. requirement of high school diploma, height minimums)

Question 2

uniform guidelines

Answer 2

Discrimination is operationalized by
- court decisions which yield specific comments about selection practices and set precedent for following cases
- writings and actions of regulatory agencies such as EEOC’s Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedure

The uniform guidelines on employee selection procedures:
Determination of Adverse Impact -
- The Uniform Guidelines only addressed to selection systems that produce Adverse Impact
—-> if none exists, no regulations applied concerning selection system – except record keeping

The Uniform Guidelines:
- any method of selection that results in an employment decision is covered
- not only scored selection tests:
–> “When an informal or unscored selection procedure that has an Adverse Impact is utilized,
–> the user should eliminate the Adverse Impact or
–> modify the procedure to one which is a formal, scored, or quantified measure.

Question 3

disparate treatment and impact

Answer 3

1. Disparate treatment – different selection standards are applied to various groups of
   may not be an explicit statement made by the company using the different standards concerning preferences for one group rather than another
   e.g. hiring minority group members for cleaning jobs in a restaurant while similarly qualified white people are made cashiers or waiters)
2. Disparate impact – selection standards are applied uniformly to all groups of applicants, but the net result is to produce differences in the selection of various groups (e.g. requirement of high school diploma, height minimums)

Disparate Treatment Evidence (individuals)
The McDonnell Douglas rule states that the plaintiff must show the following conditions exist:
1. He or she belongs to a protected class – demographic group included in an EEOC law
2. He or she applied and was qualified for the job
The McDonnell Douglas rule
3. Despite these qualifications, he or she was rejected
4.After rejection, the position remained open and the employer continued to seek applicants from people who had the complainant’s qualifications
Employer provides clear and specific job-based explanation
Plaintiff proves reason given is pretext (only an excuse; without merit)

Disparate Impact Evidence (groups)
Plaintiff provides statistical evidence that shows employment practice negatively affects various groups differently; this establishes a prima facie case
Employer demonstrates evidence that selection process is job-related
business necessity,
bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ),
validation data
Plaintiff proves an alternative practice is available that has less adverse impact 23

Question 4

stock and flow statistics

Answer 4

Two main types of statistics used – stock and flow:

Stock Statistics – used to compare proportions of various demographic groups
Most common stock comparison is between the percentage of a specific demographic group and that same group in an external comparison group)

Question 5

adverse impact

Answer 5

Options If Adverse Impact Exists
For those selection programs that do have adverse impact, options of the organization are specified:
1. The organization may cease to use the selection devices under question and adopt others with no adverse impact
Or
the organization may defend its practices by showing they are valid
2. If validation evidence is used, it should address the use of the selection instrument with regard to all groups being tested –including a representative number of women and minorities
3. The organization should demonstrate that no other alternative selection programs are both valid and have less adverse impact