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The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures were jointly developed and adopted in 1978 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Civil Service Commission (now Office of Personnel Management), the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Justice.a They were designed to provide a framework for determining how to use tests and other selection procedures consistent with the requirements of federal antidiscrimination law. The Uniform Guidelines were developed in accordance with then-existing court decisions, the practical experience and previously issued guidelines of the issuing agencies, and “the standards of the psychological profession.”bThe Uniform Guidelines are best known as the source of the “four-fifths rule,” which finds adverse impact when members of a protected class are selected for positions at a rate less than four-fifths (80 percent) of that of another group. The four-fifths rule is not absolute: the Uniform Guidelines expressly recognize both that smaller differences in selection rates may, under certain circumstances, constitute adverse impact and that greater differences in selection rates may not constitute adverse impact where the differences are based on small numbers and are not statistically significant or in other atypical circumstances.c Accordingly, the courts sometimes look beyond the four-fifths rule and find disparate impact if, for example, the difference between the number of members of the protected class selected and the number that would be anticipated in a random selection system is more than two or three standard deviations.dBecause the Uniform Guidelines have not been revised since they were first issued in 1978, they have come under increasing attack over the years as being outdated. The drafters of the Uniform Guidelines used as their reference point the American Psychological Association’s 1974 Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests, which have since been updated multiple times, most recently in 1999.e In May 2007, the EEOC held a public meeting on employment testing and screening. Among the invited speakers were the chief psychologist in the EEOC’s Office of General Counsel, two psychologists whose firms specialize in employment discrimination analyses, and several attorneys experienced in the litigation of adverse impact discrimination cases on behalf of both employers and employees. The speakers emphasized that the Uniform Guidelines do not
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
a. See 43 Fed. Reg. 38295, 38312 (Aug. 25, 1978). The Uniform Guidelines may be found in the Code of Federal Regulations at 29 C.F.R. Part 1607.
b. See 29 C.F.R. § 1607.1(C).
c. See 29 C.F.R. § 1607.4(D).
d. See 1 Barbara Lindemann & Paul Grossman, Emplployment Discrimination Law 90–91 (4th ed. 2007) and cases cited therein.
e. A revision of the 1999 Standards was released for public comment in January 2011, and a final version is projected to be released in late 2012 or 2013. See www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2011/01/testing.aspx.
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| Title | Recruitment and selection law for local government employers - Page 232 |
| Full Text | The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures were jointly developed and adopted in 1978 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Civil Service Commission (now Office of Personnel Management), the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Justice.a They were designed to provide a framework for determining how to use tests and other selection procedures consistent with the requirements of federal antidiscrimination law. The Uniform Guidelines were developed in accordance with then-existing court decisions, the practical experience and previously issued guidelines of the issuing agencies, and “the standards of the psychological profession.”bThe Uniform Guidelines are best known as the source of the “four-fifths rule,” which finds adverse impact when members of a protected class are selected for positions at a rate less than four-fifths (80 percent) of that of another group. The four-fifths rule is not absolute: the Uniform Guidelines expressly recognize both that smaller differences in selection rates may, under certain circumstances, constitute adverse impact and that greater differences in selection rates may not constitute adverse impact where the differences are based on small numbers and are not statistically significant or in other atypical circumstances.c Accordingly, the courts sometimes look beyond the four-fifths rule and find disparate impact if, for example, the difference between the number of members of the protected class selected and the number that would be anticipated in a random selection system is more than two or three standard deviations.dBecause the Uniform Guidelines have not been revised since they were first issued in 1978, they have come under increasing attack over the years as being outdated. The drafters of the Uniform Guidelines used as their reference point the American Psychological Association’s 1974 Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests, which have since been updated multiple times, most recently in 1999.e In May 2007, the EEOC held a public meeting on employment testing and screening. Among the invited speakers were the chief psychologist in the EEOC’s Office of General Counsel, two psychologists whose firms specialize in employment discrimination analyses, and several attorneys experienced in the litigation of adverse impact discrimination cases on behalf of both employers and employees. The speakers emphasized that the Uniform Guidelines do not Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures a. See 43 Fed. Reg. 38295, 38312 (Aug. 25, 1978). The Uniform Guidelines may be found in the Code of Federal Regulations at 29 C.F.R. Part 1607. b. See 29 C.F.R. § 1607.1(C). c. See 29 C.F.R. § 1607.4(D). d. See 1 Barbara Lindemann & Paul Grossman, Emplployment Discrimination Law 90–91 (4th ed. 2007) and cases cited therein. e. A revision of the 1999 Standards was released for public comment in January 2011, and a final version is projected to be released in late 2012 or 2013. See www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2011/01/testing.aspx. |
