Re:Once poor, always poor?
by dragonwriter on Monday December 27, 2021 @04:54PM
(#29707258)
> Griggs v. Duke Power held that if a test has a disparate impact on ethnic minorities, then the burden of proof is on employers to demonstrate that the test is reasonably related to the job.
It actually held that for any employer-imposed hiring requirement (not merely a test), and later cases have made it clear that applies pretty much to any element of the hiring, advancement, retention, or disciplinary process.
> The practical effect is that private employers are highly unlikely to use these tests
No, its not. The practical effect is that employers doing cargo cult HR (which is quite common) are highly unlikely to use the specific tests that have been at issue in superficially well-known cases like Griggs (e.g., specifically due to Griggs, IQ tests) even when they could easily meet the test laid out Griggs but simultaneously using many employer-imposed job requirements for which they could not meet the test.
OTOH, employers that have decent legal advice regularly use tests of even the specific types that have been problematic in other cases, but make sure that there is a job rationale supported by evidence for both tests and other requirements in case they are challenged, because that’s the thing that actually matters.
Proficiency exams are exceedingly common (heck, when I did clerical temporary work for a while, it was pretty much the entirety of the hiring and placement process.)
It actually held that for any employer-imposed hiring requirement (not merely a test), and later cases have made it clear that applies pretty much to any element of the hiring, advancement, retention, or disciplinary process.
> The practical effect is that private employers are highly unlikely to use these tests
No, its not. The practical effect is that employers doing cargo cult HR (which is quite common) are highly unlikely to use the specific tests that have been at issue in superficially well-known cases like Griggs (e.g., specifically due to Griggs, IQ tests) even when they could easily meet the test laid out Griggs but simultaneously using many employer-imposed job requirements for which they could not meet the test.
OTOH, employers that have decent legal advice regularly use tests of even the specific types that have been problematic in other cases, but make sure that there is a job rationale supported by evidence for both tests and other requirements in case they are challenged, because that’s the thing that actually matters.
Proficiency exams are exceedingly common (heck, when I did clerical temporary work for a while, it was pretty much the entirety of the hiring and placement process.)