5 years ago, hiring managers understood one simple concept – treat every applicant the same and you can eliminate discrimination in hiring. This “equality” mantra resulted in every hiring manager creating a standard applicant and on-boarding process. No applicant should be treated differently and every hurdle and requirement should be applied the same. The impact from a background screening standpoint is that every applicant was put through the same screening process and many applicants were required to “pass” various screening phases. A first round of screening would screen for “the essentials we require of every candidate” and a second round of screening would screen for “what we require for a particular position”. Equality in assessing candidates became synonymous with “same process, same screening, same standards for decision making”.
What creates equality, however, has changed dramatically since 2012 when the EEOC issued its guidance for how to use criminal records in hiring. While the EEOC takes the position it has not changed the landscape for hiring managers, it has simply spelled out the landscape that has always been there, hiring managers will tell you that the landscape has fundamentally changed. What is the same is that criminal records can be used and can be used properly. What has changed is how they are used. The initial first round of “screening out anyone who has previously committed a felony in the previous 5 years” has been called into question unless the screening is being conducted in a way that is structured based on “individualized assessments”.
This month’s edition of NewsTrak is designed to dig into what the EEOC means when they talk about “individualized assessments” and how their understanding impacts you as a hiring manager. A shift has occurred in our society to be sure – protection of the whole of society has become far less of our concern as we as a society place more concern on protecting the single individual. Regardless of your views about whether this shift is right or wrong, the shift has happened and we hope this series of articles will help you formulate your response to the sea change.
