NEW RECORDKEEPING GUIDANCE CLARIFIES DEFINITION OF “APPLICANT” TO INCLUDE SOME INTERNET JOB SEARCHERS
Governmental Affairs Chair
Jeffrey A. Mullins
Coolidge Wall Womsley & Lombard
The EEOC joined forces with the Departments of Labor and Justice, and the Office of Personnel Management in early March to issue a coordinated document meant to clarify EEO recordkeeping provisions concerning who is an “applicant” in the context of the Internet and related technologies. In this document, these agencies expand upon the current definition of “applicant” set forth in the EEOC’s Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP).
The UGESP, which was issued in the 1970s, did not speak to electronic recruitment issues. However, the late 1990s brought a virtual onslaught of Internet job seekers and employers who began utilizing their company web-sites as a major recruitment resource. Therefore, in July of 2000, the EEOC and these other sister UGESP agencies began working together toward drafting new supplemental guidelines on how an “applicant” is defined for EEO recordkeeping purposes in light of the new “high tech” approach to recruiting. The result of their efforts was recently published in the March 4, 2004 Federal Register.
According to the new guidelines, in order for an individual to be an “applicant” in the context of the Internet and related electronic data processing technologies, the following must have occurred:
1. The employer has acted to fill a particular position;
2. The individual has followed the employer’s standard procedures for submitting applications; and
3. The individual has indicated an interest in the particular position.
These new guidelines would apply only to the Internet and related technologies, including Internet resume banks and job boards, and the employer’s own web sites, resume databases and online job postings. The existing UGESP guidelines will continue to apply to traditional non-electronic recruitment and selection methods, such as submission of hard-copy resumes to employers.
The new guidance is subject to a sixty-day comment period. Employers should send their comments to Frances M. Hart, Executive Officer, Executive Secretariat, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 10th Floor, 1801 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20507. Written comments must be submitted on or before May 3, 2004.