INTERNET RECRUITING and VIDEO RESUMES

Except in VERY LIMITED circumstances, you should avoid using the Internet in recruiting for ANY jobs. You need a policy (mention it on your website) making it clear that you DO NOT accept unsolicited resumes and that you make minimal use of the Internet or related technologies in recruiting employees.

"Related technologies" include on-line video resumes that enterprising job seekers are using these days. Attorney Cheryl Behymer, a partner at the national employment law firm of Fisher & Phillips advises clients to use caution. When you look at  a video resume, you will see a potential applicant's race, age, sex, national origin characteristics and you could someday face legal complaints that: "I didn't get an interview because you knew I was a (...fill in the blank...)". You should to designate an office staffer to "screen" the DVDs in the mail -- before HR sees them.  

The federal Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a rule clarifying record-keeping provisions about who is an "applicant". OFCCP enforces non-discrimination rules that govern federal contractors (are they recruiting a diverse pool of qualified applicants and hiring new employees on a non-discriminatory basis?)

The rule can help ALL employers by clearing up confusion over what factors actually make someone an “applicant” -- particularly when the Internet is involved.

An "Internet Applicant," is:

• (1) Someone who submits an expression of interest in employment through the Internet or related electronic data technologies;

• (2) Someone that an employer or government contractor considers for employment in a particular position;

• (3) Someone whose “expression of interest” indicates that they possesses the basic objective qualifications for the position; and

• (4) Someone who (before receiving an offer of employment) removes themselves from further consideration or otherwise indicates that they are no longer interested in the position.

Federal contractors must be able to provide race, ethnicity, and gender information for those people under consideration for a particular position and who possess basic qualifications.

All employers regularly risk having to defend against claims of discrimination. To lower your risk of having to fight allegation of: “I didn’t get the job because…I was terminated because…I was demoted because (fill in the blank) -- by careful record keeping.

Here’s another good practice to follow (even if you don’t do business with the government) -- OFCCP requires contractors to retain all expressions of interest and it specifies records to be maintained about searches of internal and external databases. OFCCP retains the ability to assess and DECIDE if your selection criteria are discriminatory.

The rules applies to jobs for which a contractor accepts expressions of interest from the Internet or e-mail, commercial and internal resume databanks, and employer websites.

June 6, 2007