A. Application of guidelines. These guidelines will be applied by
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the enforcement of title
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment
Opportunity Act of 1972 (hereinafter ``Title VII''); by the Department
of Labor, and the contract compliance agencies until the transfer of
authority contemplated by the President's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of
1978, in the administration and enforcement of Executive Order 11246, as
amended by Executive Order 11375 (hereinafter ``Executive Order
11246''); by the Civil Service Commission and other Federal agencies
subject to section 717 of Title VII; by the Civil Service Commission in
exercising its responsibilities toward State and local governments under
section 208(b)(1) of the Intergovernmental-Personnel Act; by the
Department of Justice in exercising its responsibilities under Federal
law; by the Office of Revenue Sharing of the Department of the Treasury
under the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972, as amended; and
by any other Federal agency which adopts them.
B. Employment decisions. These guidelines apply to tests and other
selection procedures which are used as a basis for any employment
decision. Employment decisions include but are not limited to hiring,
promotion, demotion, membership (for example, in a labor organization),
referral, retention, and licensing and certification, to the extent that
licensing and certification may be covered by Federal equal employment
opportunity law. Other selection decisions, such as selection for
training or transfer, may also be considered employment decisions if
they lead to any of the decisions listed above.
C. Selection procedures. These guidelines apply only to selection
procedures which are used as a basis for making employment decisions.
For example, the use of recruiting procedures designed to attract
members of a particular race, sex, or ethnic group, which were
previously denied employment opportunities or which are currently
underutilized, may be necessary to bring an employer into compliance
with Federal law, and is frequently an essential element of any
effective affirmative action program; but recruitment practices are not
considered by these guidelines to be selection procedures. Similarly,
these guidelines do not pertain to the question of the lawfulness of a
seniority system within the meaning of section 703(h), Executive Order
11246 or other provisions of Federal law or regulation, except to the
extent that such systems utilize selection procedures to determine
qualifications or abilities to perform the job. Nothing in these
guidelines is intended or should be interpreted as discouraging the use
of a selection procedure for the purpose of determining qualifications
or for the purpose of selection on the basis of relative qualifications,
if the selection procedure had been validated in accord with these
guidelines for each such purpose for which it is to be used.
D. Limitations. These guidelines apply only to persons subject to
Title VII, Executive Order 11246, or other equal employment opportunity
requirements of Federal law. These guidelines do not apply to
responsibilities under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967,
as amended, not to discriminate on the basis of age, or under sections
501, 503, and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, not to discriminate
on the basis of handicap.
E. Indian preference not affected. These guidelines do not restrict
any obligation imposed or right granted by Federal law to users to
extend a preference in employment to Indians living on or near an Indian
reservation in connection with employment opportunities on or near an
Indian reservation.
