Providing Equal Opportunity

1

• Providing Equal Opportunity
• in Employment

2
Federal laws that prohibit employment
discrimination

• Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
• prohibits discrimination in programs and
  activities receiving federal financial assistance
• Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
• prohibits employment discrimination
• Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments
• prohibits sex discrimination in federally
  assisted education programs

3
Federal laws that prohibit employment
discrimination

• Equal Pay Act of 1963
• prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of
  gender
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• prohibits discrimination against people 40 years
  of age or older
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• prohibits discrimination against qualified
  individuals with disabilities

4
State laws that prohibit employment discrimination

• Montana Human Rights Act
• Prohibits refusal to employ or otherwise
  discriminate in employment on the basis of race,
  creed, sex, age, religion, color, marital status,
  national origin when demands of the position do
  not require a distinction (Bona fide occupational
  qualification). Applies to both job applicants
  and employees.
• Governmental Code of Fair Practices
• Requires state agencies to recruit, appoint,
  assign, train., evaluate and promote personnel on
  the basis of merit and qualifications and without
  discrimination.

5
Discrimination on the basis of protected class
is prohibited by state and federal laws. The
following are the protected classes under federal
and state law and MSU policies

• Race
• Color
• Ethnicity
• National origin
• Sex
• Sexual orientation or preference
• Marital or parental status
• Age
• Religion
• Creed or political belief
• Mental or physical handicap or disability, or
• Status as a covered veteran

6
Anti-discrimination laws apply to all aspects of
employment

• Hiring and firing
• Assignment, compensation or classification of
  employees
• Transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall
• Job advertisements
• Recruitment
• Testing
• Use of facilities
• Training and apprenticeship programs
• Fringe benefits
• Pay, retirement plans, and disability leave or
• Other terms and conditions of employment

7
Workplace conduct that constitutes discrimination

• An employee makes repeated derogatory comments
  about an older co-workers age and frequently
  states that the older worker needs to retire
• Management fails to respond to an employees
  complaints of unwelcome sexual advances by a
  co-worker
• A supervisor retaliates against an employee who
  testifies on behalf of another employee in a
  racial harassment investigation

8
Workplace conduct that constitutes discrimination

• An employee is regularly ridiculed by his
  co-workers because he is an immigrant and his
  speech and dress are different from theirs
• A hiring authority announces to the hiring
  committee interviewing applicants that he would
  prefer to hire a young person for the position
• An interviewer makes comments about an
  applicants age during discussions of interview

9

• Conducting Searches to Promote Equal Employment
  Opportunity

10
Search Committee

• Hiring authority selects committee members and
  designates chairperson. Committee is responsible
  to ensure that all applicants are considered
  equitably throughout the process.
• Committee should reflect diversity as much as
  possible. Departments should include women,
  protected class members and individuals who have
  broad perspectives and a commitment to diversity.
  
• Committee uses position description, preferred
  and required qualifications, reference checks and
  interviews as tools
• Confidentiality of applicants should be
  maintained until interview stage, with all
  inquiries regarding the search referred to the
  chairperson.

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Defining Job-Related Criteria Essential
Functions

• Job description must be based on the essential
  functions of the position.
• ADA defines "an essential function" as a job duty
  that must be performed by the person in the
  position, or a job duty that is not performed
  frequently but is critical to the position. This
  definition is an excellent guideline for what
  should be in a job description.
• Defining the required knowledge, skills,
  abilities, and experience based on what is needed
  to perform the essential functions of the
  position clearly informs applicants what is
  required to fulfill the job responsibilities.

12
Fair Screening Selection

• It is important to ensure equal treatment to all
  applicants during the screening and selection
  process.
• Begins with every applicant seeing same
  advertisement. Fairness is promoted by
• consistent treatment of applications at each
  stage of the hiring process
• consistent screening of all applicants
• using merit and stated qualifications as the
  basis for the selection criteria used in the
  final decision
• documented decisions.

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Developing Job Qualifications

• The required and desired qualifications should be
  
• carefully defined
• directly related to the requirements of the
  position, and
• clearly understood and accepted by members of the
  search committee.
• Diversity and cultural richness is important to
  the university. Criteria should encourage these
  goals. e.g., Dont ask for more experience than
  necessary.
• Reference checks should be an integral part of
  every search. The search committee determines the
  process by which references will be checked and
  letters of recommendation requested.

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Documentation

• The search committee keeps documentation of
• Initial screening with screening tools used
• Justification for selecting finalists for
  interviews
• Reasons for selection of successful applicant
• Specific reasons for rejection of candidates
  interviewed but not selected.

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Evaluating the Applicant Pool

• Screen pool based on advertised required and
  preferred qualifications.
• Be mindful of biases in the advertisement and
  screening process that could inadvertently screen
  out well-qualified applicants with
  non-traditional career paths.
• Recognize that diverse paths and experiences can
  make positive contributions to a candidate's
  qualifications. Acknowledge our increasingly
  diverse community and the unique experiences of
  diverse applicants.
• Evaluate the achievements and promise of each
  applicant rather than relying on stereotypical
  judgments. Allow each member to contribute to
  the evaluation of all applicants.

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Selecting Candidates to Interview

• Identify candidates for interview based on the
  position requirements and candidates'
  qualifications.
• May also check references before interview.
  Questions asked and issues raised from references
  must be job-related and similar for all
  candidates.
• Some inquiries are not permitted because they
  request or allow use of information that may lead
  to unfair, biased decisions. See the
  Pre-Employment Guidelines (see handout) for more
  information on illegal questions.
• Remember that accommodations may be requested for
  the hiring process application in alternative
  formats interview in accessible location sign
  language interpreters, etc.

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What can you ask? What can't you ask?

• Interview and reference questions should be
  job-related. Questions or comments related to or
  which may elicit the applicants protected class
  (e.g., race, color, religion, creed, sex, age,
  disability, national origin) are generally not
  job related .
• Use the same criteria and questions for each
  applicant interview.
• Inform all persons who may be interacting with
  applicants such as student members of the
  interview panel, or departmental employees who
  may provide assistance of illegal questions.
  If they arise, the chair should intercede and ask
  the group to limit the questions to job-related
  issues.

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Comments that might be considered discriminatory

• We need a younger image or new blood.
• We need to hire employees who can work without
  concerns about family issues
• Older employees have problems adapting to
  change.
• Are you planning to have a baby soon?
• I dont think this person can relate to Native
  Americans
• This office is relaxed and not politically
  correct. Given this persons religion, I dont
  think they would like working here
• Our office is upstairs, I dont think we can
  hire someone who cant walk up those stairs
• I dont think our students will like working
  with someone who has an accent.

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Committee Interviews A Recommended Strategy

• A group interview helps to ensure fair and
  objective screening and evaluation of candidates.
• Members are accountable to each other
  therefore, questions tend to be more to the point
  and personal biases are reduced.
• By participating simultaneously, all
  interviewers are able to evaluate the same sample
  of the candidate's responses and presentation.

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Developing Preset Interview Questions

• Interview questions should be pre-determined and
  job-related for each search. This strategy
  benefits the search committee as well as the job
  applicants.
• Committee interview questions should be designed
  to uncover information about knowledge, skills
  and abilities, past job performance and predict
  future job performance in the same way for all
  applicants.
• For candidates, preset questions allow for
  consistent evaluation and fair treatment. Each
  candidate is given the same opportunity to answer
  the same questions.

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Interview Checklist

• Schedule interviews and events to ensure
  consistent treatment of all candidates, including
  internal candidates. If accommodations are
  requested, provide them.
• Develop interview questions based on the
  position-related criteria and allow applicants to
  amplify on their background and experience.
• Use similar questions with all candidates to
  allow comparative judgment and ensure that the
  same information is obtained from candidates.
• Aim questions at discovering what the candidate
  can bring to the position and limit them to
  issues that directly relate to the job to be
  performed.

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Glossary

• Age - in the context of unlawful discrimination,
  persons qualified for protection under federal
  law based on "age" are defined as "persons 40
  years of age or older." Under Montana law age is
  defined as the number of years since birth.
• Color-the complexion of a person's skin usually
  refers only to skin color or pigmentation
  Creed-any statement or system of belief,
  principles or opinions
• Disability-a handicapping condition any person
  who has a physical or mental impairment which
  substantially limits one or more major life
  activities one who has a record of such
  impairment or one who is regarded as having such
  an impairment .
• Discrimination-unequal and unlawful treatment
  based upon race, color, creed, religion, sex,
  national origin, age, disability, veteran status,
  or sexual orientation.

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Glossary

• Equal Employment Opportunity - the right of all
  persons to be considered based on their ability
  to meet the requirements of the job.
• Essential Functions of the Position- job duties
  that must be performed by the person in the
  position, or a job duty that is not performed
  frequently but is critical to the position (as
  defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act).
• National Origin ancestry
• Protected Class - a group of people protected by
  federal or state law or by university policy
  federally protected classes are race, color,
  religion, sex, national origin, age, disability,
  and veteran status additionally, the classes of
  creed, marital status are protected by state law

24
Glossary

• Race-a local geographic or global human
  population distinguished as a more or less
  distinct group by genetically transmitted
  physical characteristics any group of people
  united or classified together on the basis of
  common history, nationality, or geographical
  distribution
• Reasonable Accommodation -a modification in the
  work or campus environment or in the way things
  are usually done that results in equal
  opportunity for an individual with a disability.
• Religion - the expression of one's belief in
  and/or reverence for a superhuman power
  recognized as the creator and/or governor of the
  universe or lack thereof

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Glossary

• Sex - the condition or character of being male or
  female the physiological, functional, and
  psychological differences that distinguish the
  male and female
• Veteran Status -the quality of having served on
  active duty for a period of more than 180 days
  and discharged or released with other than a
  dishonorable discharge (definition from the U.S.
  Department of Labor).