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ESA News Release: [10/07/2005]
Contact Name:
Pamela Groover
or Dolline Hatchett
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676
Release Number: 05-1958-NAT
Recordkeeping Rule Clarifies OFCCP’s Definition
Of “Job Applicant” for Internet and Related Technologies
WASHINGTONThe U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal
Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) clarifies recordkeeping provisions concerning
who is an “applicant” in the context of the Internet and related technologies.
The final rule published in today's Federal Register applies to
federal contractors who are subject to the recordkeeping provisions of the
laws enforced by OFCCP.
This rule serves as an important tool to enhance OFCCP's enforcement
of non-discrimination laws. In the mid-to-late 1990's, the advent of the
Internet and other electronic technologies created a new “on-line” job
market served by commercial and internal resume databanks and employer
Web sites. This fundamental shift in the way individuals can apply for
jobs and the consequences for employers of receiving potentially thousands
of resumes made the existing applicant recordkeeping rules unworkable.
The lack of guidance for federal contractors as to the department's interpretation
of the recordkeeping rules for Internet applicants meant contractors could
potentially have to ask everyone who has a resume on a commercial resume
databank service for his or her race, ethnicity and gender whenever the
contractor searched the databank to find candidates for a job. As a result,
OFCCP's enforcement was hindered because it was often difficult to get
the necessary data to effectively determine whether discrimination exists
within a contractor's selection process.
“This new rule provides clear guidance to allow us to better enforce
the law,” said Charles E. James, Jr., deputy assistant secretary for OFCCP. “This
final rule will enable OFCCP to effectively evaluate whether federal contractors
are recruiting a diverse pool of qualified applicants and hiring new employees
on a non-discriminatory basis. It also helps contractors by clarifying
an ambiguity that, until now, left contractors guessing at what information
they needed to collect from internet applicants.”
An “Internet Applicant,” under the definition in the final rule, is an
individual as to whom the following four criteria are satisfied:
(1) The individual submits an expression of interest in employment through
the Internet or related electronic data technologies;
(2) The contractor considers the individual for employment in a particular
position;
(3) The individual's expression of interest indicates the individual
possesses the basic objective qualifications for the position; and
(4) The individual at no point in the contractor's selection process
prior to receiving an offer of employment from the contractor, removes
himself or herself from further consideration or otherwise indicates that
he or she is no longer interested in the position.
Federal contractors will have to provide race, ethnicity and gender information
for those individuals who the contractor considers for a particular position
and who possess basic qualifications. The rule also requires contractors
to retain all expressions of interest by individuals considered and specifies
records to be maintained about searches of internal and external databases.
OFCCP retains the ability to assess whether selection criteria used by
federal contractors are discriminatory.
The new applicant rule applies to jobs for which the contractor accepts
expressions of interest via the Internet and related technologies, such
as e-mail, commercial and internal resume databanks, and employer Web
sites. For those positions for which the contractor does not use the Internet
or related technologies, and does not accept any electronic submissions,
the existing recordkeeping standards apply. When a contractor accepts
expressions of interest for a particular position via the Internet or
related technologies and paper applications, the Internet applicant rule
applies.
OFCCP, an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Standards
Administration, enforces Executive Order 11246 and other laws that prohibit
employment discrimination by federal contractors. The agency monitors
federal contractors to ensure that they provide equal employment opportunities
without regard to race, gender, color, religion, national origin, disability
or veterans' status.
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