[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 4]
[Revised as of July 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR1607.2]

[Page 211-212]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
          CHAPTER XIV--EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
 
PART 1607_UNIFORM GUIDELINES ON EMPLOYEE SELECTION PROCEDURES (1978)--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 1607.2  Scope.

    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

[[Page 212]]

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.