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New Regulations — Internet Job
Applications for Contractors
The new regs define 'Internet applicant'
and change record-keeping rules for federal contractors who
accept Internet job applications
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D. Albert
Brannen
ATTORNEY AT LAW |
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Jennifer
B. Sandberg
ATTORNEY AT LAW
D. Albert Brannen and Jennifer B.
Sandberg are attorneys at Atlanta-based Fisher &
Phillips LLP, a nationwide firm representing employees
in labor and employment law, employee benefits and business
immigration matters.
Website: www.laborlawyers.com
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Federal contractors subject to affirmative-action
requirements and to whom potential job applicants send employment
applications or résumés electronically need
to know about some new regulations by the Office of Federal
Contract Compliance Programs that took effect earlier this
year.
OFCCP's new regs for federal contractors
specifically define "Internet applicants" (see related
sidebar) and amend record-keeping rules for Internet-based
job applications.
New Record-keeping
New recordkeeping rules for internal databases require contractors
to keep:
> each résumé added to the database and
the date when it was added,
> the position for which each search of the database
was made,
> the substance of the search criteria used for all
searches and
> the date of all searches.
For external databases, contractors must keep:
> the job position for which each search of the database
was made,
> the substance of search criteria used for all searches,
> the date of all searches, and
> the résumés of job seekers who met the
basic qualifications of the position and who were considered
by the contractor for the job.
Contractors with more than 150 employees and government contracts
of at least $150,000 must maintain these employment records
for at least two years from the date when the record was created
or the personnel action was taken, whichever occurred later.
Contractors with less than 150 employees or no government
contracts of more than $150,000 must keep the records for
one year.
Reevaluating Processes
To meet these new regs, contractors should re-evaluate their
existing recruitment and selection processes, including:
> how basic qualifications for positions are established,
before they begin recruiting for those jobs,
> how and when in the process to solicit the required
demographic information,
> how to evaluate expressions of interest for the basic
qualifications,
> how to structure and conduct job searches when using
the internal or external databases and
> how to store the required documentation.
Here's how contractors an ease the burden of these new regulations:
> establish and strictly follow a protocol for accepting
applications or expressions of interest for a particular
position,
> set the basic job qualifications narrowly,
> use data management techniques, such as random sampling
or absolute numerical limits, to reduce the number of individuals
who meet the basic qualifications that the employer must
consider.
For example, the contractor may decide to review only the
first 50 résumés based on some neutral ordering
of that first 50-alphabetically by name or by date of submission,
> exclude candidates where the expression of interest
is lacking. For example, by setting salary requirements,
contractors can exclude applicants whose demands are outside
the desired range; or by defining the location or type of
work, contractors can exclude applicants who indicate they
would not be willing to work in such locations or do that
type of work.
> exclude all unsolicited résumés.
Of course, these policies or procedures must be in place
in advance and applied consistently to avoid running afoul
of these regulations.
The new regs do not change the process for handling traditional
job applicants: individuals who were at least minimally qualified
for the job opening, applied and were considered for the job.
This definition remains alive and well for any employer who
does not accept an electronic expression of interest for a
job, who posts the opening only in hard-copy form, like a
newspaper ad, and accepts only hard-copy (non-Internet) applications.
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NEW DEFINITIONS
"Internet applicants" are individuals:
> who express interest in employment through the
Internet or related electronic data technologies (i.e.,
e-mail, résumé databases, job banks,
electronic scanning technologies, applicant tracking
systems, applicant screening services),
> whom the contractor considers for employment
in a specific position,
> whose "expression of interest" in
the job indicates that they possess the basic qualifications
for the position and
> who at no point in the selection process before
receiving an offer of employment remove themselves
from further consideration or indicate they are no
longer interested in the position.
An "expression of interest" in employment
includes:
> all expressions of interest, regardless of the
means or manner in which the expression of interest
is made, if the contractor considers expressions of
interest made through the Internet or related electronic
data technologies in the recruiting or selection process
for a particular position.
"Basic qualifications" are:
> qualifications that either the contractor advertises
or posts on its Web site to potential applicants or
for which the contractor establishes criteria in advance
by making and maintaining a record of such qualifications
for the position before considering any expression
of interest for that particular position.
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