Equal Employment Opportunity: What Job Candidates Need to Know
When do potential employers cross the line in their questioning and hiring decisions? What can job candidates do if they believe they were wrongly passed over? Medzilla asks the experts about the rights of candidates and explains their protected statuses such as race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age and disability.
Marysville, WA (PRWEB) January 30, 2004 – Job candidates should be aware of
the federal and state laws governing the relationship between employees and
employers, which make it unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire someone
because of his or her age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin or
disability. For instance, asking a young job candidate if she intends to get
pregnant in the coming year, and then not hiring her if the response is “yes” or
“maybe,” is not only inappropriate but against the law, according to Equal
Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws.
“Job candidates are sometimes unaware
of their rights during the hiring process,” says Frank Heasley, PhD, president
and CEO of MedZilla.com, a leading Internet recruitment and professional
community that serves biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and science.
“Employers cannot make employment decisions based on stereotypes or assumptions
about people and their abilities to perform based on sex, race, age, religion
ethnic group or physical or mental ability. Employers also can’t deny employment
to a person because he or she is married or otherwise associated to a person of
a particular protected class.”
There are other protected statuses,
according to Vincent J. Tersigni, JD, shareholder and chair of the employment
practice Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs in Akron, Ohio. “Vietnam-era
veterans [for example] are also protected from discrimination.”
The
protected status does not mean that an employer has an obligation to hire
someone because of that person’s protected class; rather, the group of laws
ensures that an employer is not entitled to refuse to hire a person because of
those characteristics.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) and state agencies have regulations that address which types of inquires
are improper for employers to make to applicants, according to Tersigni. Any
question during an interview that is designed to elicit information about an
employee in order to determine some of the employee’s characteristics in a
protected class is prohibited. Making inquiries about where you go to church, or
about your health status or age, are examples.
“The only inquiry before
an offer is made that would be proper when it comes to health status is to tell
the [potential] employee what the physical and mental requirements of the job
are and ask if the employee has any limitations in the ability to perform those
job functions,” Tersigni says.
Some “limitations” are physical; some are
not. A candidate might have to take a class some nights and would not be able to
work a night shift, or the potential employee might say he has a herniated disc
in his back, which inhibits his ability to lift more than 10 pounds. If, for
instance, lifting more than 10 pounds is a legitimate criteria for the job, says
Tersigni, the employer would have the obligation to explore whether reasonable
accommodations could be made, such as using a lifting device or having someone
else assist with lifting particular objects (as long as it does not create undo
hardship for the employer).
A candidate’s options
Job candidates
who find themselves in the uncomfortable situation of having to address
inappropriate questions can either defer those responses, tell employers they
don’t feel the questions are appropriate, or answer them and see what happens.
“If you believe that a potential employer discriminated against you
because of a protected status, you can file a charge of discrimination with the
government on a state or federal level and the EEOC will review the case for
free. Or the candidate can hire an attorney,” says Michele Groutage, MedZilla’s
director of marketing. “Candidates should keep in mind that there are limits to
when they can file these charges with the EEOC, usually within 180 days of the
alleged discriminatory act.
Tersigni says that the agency would typically
receive an individual’s charge and assess it to determine whether there is cause
to believe that the employer was engaging in any discriminatory practices.
Experts agree that these are generally tough cases for plaintiffs to
win. The burden of proof is on the job candidate to show that the employer
committed discriminatory practices by a preponderance (greater weight) of the
evidence. “They don’t have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt as a prosecutor
would have to in a criminal case. In most discrimination cases, the employer
will state legitimate and nondiscriminatory reasons for its actions and then it
is incumbent upon the employee or applicant to prove that the employer’s reasons
are false and the real reason was discrimination,” Tersigni says.
Job
candidates who are successful in proving their cases might be eligible for
getting the job they interviewed for, receiving pay or compensatory and punitive
damages, and possibly attorney fees.
Signing away your
rights?
Jill Renee Gaulding, JD, associate professor at University of
Iowa College of Law in Iowa City, says job candidates who sign forms agreeing
that any future employment-related disputes will be resolved in arbitration sign
away many of their legal options.
These forms have become popular among
employers, she says. According to Gaulding, employers have the right to say that
job candidates have to sign them before going through the interview process. But
she is disturbed that job candidates then limit their options for a fair trial
or resolution to a potential case. Those job candidates who sign the forms and
later have a case are “stuck with what the arbitrators decide,” she says. If you
are a candidate who has a lot of “bargaining power,” you might be able to avoid
having to sign the form, according to Gaulding. If you have to sign, however, in
order to have a shot at the job, Gaulding suggests that you ask yourself how
badly you want the job, how likely there is to be a dispute in the future and
how fundamentally important it is for you to have the court system and the law.
About MedZilla.com
Established in mid 1994, MedZilla is the
original web site to serve career and hiring needs for professionals and
employers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, science and healthcare.
MedZilla databases contain about 10,000 open positions, 13,000 resumes from
candidates actively seeking new positions and 71,000 archived
resumes.
Medzilla® is a Registered Trademark owned by Medzilla Inc.
Copyright ©2004, MedZilla, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce and
distribute this text in its entirety, and if electronically, with a link to the
URL www.medzilla.com. For permission to quote from or reproduce
any portion of this message, please contact Michele Groutage, Director of
Marketing and Development, MedZilla, Inc. Email: e-mail protected from spam
bots.
Press Inquiries:
Contact: Michele Groutage
Company: MedZilla,
Inc.
Title: Director of Marketing & Development
Phone:
360-657-5681
Email: e-mail protected from spam bots
URL: http://www.medzilla.com
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/1/prweb101537.htm