Testing Job Applicants
Learn the legal rules on pre-employment testing of job applicants.
Many employers like to use pre-employment tests to screen out applicants who are not suitable for the job. These tests include skills tests, aptitude tests, psychological tests, personality tests, honesty tests, medical tests, and drug tests.
Both state law and federal law impose numerous restrictions on what you can test and how. These restrictions are often vague and open to contradictory interpretations. As a result, you should only use tests that are absolutely necessary and, unless the test is as basic as a typing test, you should consider consulting with a lawyer before administering the test to make sure that it will pass legal muster in your state.
Skills Tests
Skills tests range from something as simple as a typing test to something as complicated as an architectural drafting test. Generally speaking, these tests are legal, as long as they genuinely test a skill necessary for the performance of a job.
Aptitude, Psychological, and Personality Tests
Some employers use written tests -- usually in a multiple choice format -- to gain insight into applicant's general abilities, personality, and/or psyche. These tests are only rarely appropriate, and requiring applicants to take them leaves you vulnerable to various types of lawsuits. For example:
- A multiple choice aptitude test may discriminate against minority applicants or female applicants because it really reflects test-taking ability rather than actual job skills.
- A personality test can be even riskier. Besides its potential for illegal discrimination, such a test may invade a person's privacy by inquiring into topics that are personal in nature, such as religious beliefs or sexual practices.
- In addition to issues of discrimination and privacy, psychological tests are treated like medical tests when they elicit answers that suggest a mental disorder or impairment (see below). This fact puts the test clearly within the purview of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and all of its restrictions. (For more on hiring and the ADA, see Avoid Disability Discrimination When Hiring New Employees.)
If you do decide to use one of these types of tests, proceed with extreme caution. Make sure that the test has been screened scientifically for validity and that it genuinely correlates to necessary job skills. Review the test carefully for any questions that may intrude into an applicant's privacy.
|
