Regardless of your industry or the size of your business, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines apply to all of your hiring and background screening processes. The EEOC was created to prevent discrimination based on race, ethnicity, genetic information, religion, gender, age, disability and other factors, and to guard against employer retaliation in the event of employee reporting of workplace discrimination.
In this article, we’ll outline EEOC recommendations for fairly and legally processing job applications and navigating hiring scenarios that include a background screening process. Understanding what is required by law can help you ensure responsible recordkeeping, long-term compliance and greater transparency in the hiring process.
EEOC Reporting Requirements
Although the laws enforced by the EEOC apply to firing, promotions, transfers, benefits and other facets of employment, EEOC standards also impact background checks and hiring. Record keeping (and the secure retention of employment-related data) helps your organization remain compliant with EEOC and a host of other labor laws. In the event of a legal dispute, these records can be reviewed to prove or disprove issues with hiring decisions or provide clear evidence of the process by which a candidate was reasonably disqualified from an employment opportunity. In a later section, we’ll cover which information you or your background screening provider should retain in job application and hiring-related records.
The EEOC enforces federal anti-discrimination laws in the public and private sector, but at least two major factors – the size of your workforce and/or your affiliation with particular institutions – can impact your yearly reporting requirements. The EEO-1 Component 1 report is a mandated annual report that provides demographic employment data to the EEOC. The data included in each report should offer information regarding the race, gender, ethnicity, and job categories within your workforce.
If you are a private sector employer with 100 or more employees, you are required by law to submit the EEO-1 Component 1 report annually. Similarly, if your organization is connected to another organization (by ownership or affiliation) and the total number of employees is 100 or more, you must also submit an EEO-1 each year.
Federal contractors who have 50 or more employees, as well as those with federal contracts that meet or exceed $50,000 annually, must also submit an EEO-1 on a yearly basis. For both private and public sector employers and contractors, the collection of the EEO-1 report is mandated by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Failure to submit an EEO-1 annually can not only cause severe reputational damage to your organization, but also lead to lawsuits, loss of contracts, and steep legal fees.
Recordkeeping Timelines
The organizations we just discussed are required to submit EEO-1 Component 1 reports annually, but EEOC recordkeeping requirements apply to other organizational types, as well, and dictate the length of time an organization must securely store pre-employment screening and hiring data.
Any organization with 15 or more employees is required to abide by EEOC recordkeeping requirements, which mandates that employers retain application records (and decision records) for at least one year after a hiring decision was made. Some organizations are required by the EEOC to retain records for at least two years, including certain federal contractors and subcontractors; educational institutions; local, county, and state governments; and others. Regardless of the size of your organization, most HR experts recommend retaining payroll data for at least three years.
Screening & Recordkeeping Best Practices – Which Data to Document and Retain
If you elect to conduct background screening as one part of your pre-employment process, your screening must be geared exclusively towards acquiring information that determines an applicant’s qualifications for a particular job. Any inquiries or information regarding gender, race, ethnicity, disability, age, religion or other demographic factors should not be used to determine job eligibility.
Examining just one aspect of the background screening process, when checking references (educational, professional, or otherwise), it’s important to document each step of the process to indicate where/when information was obtained, its relevance to the hiring process, etc. This documented information can be used at a later time in the event that a lawsuit regarding discrimination or negligent hiring arises.
As you or a qualified provider complete reference checks, it’s wise to retain all of the following:
- Digital copies of all records received
- Documentation of “reasonable effort” to contact a listed reference (especially when attempt to contact a reference is unsuccessful)
- A “log” of any actual communication with references. This should include the name of the person who called/wrote; the name and title of the reference; how the reference was contacted; and notes on key points and statements from the conversation(s).
- A description of any conversation/communication with a reference that did not yield necessary information to inform the hiring process.
Although all of this information should be kept in your organization’s records if an applicant is granted an offer of employment, it’s equally important to retain records of your reference checks for applicants who were not hired. The EEOC considers these reference checks one part of a hiring/employment record, so you should retain these records for at least one year.
Ensure Compliant and Transparent Hiring with The Orsus Group
Managing recruitment, hiring, and background screening processes can be a challenging process, especially while negotiating a wide range of recordkeeping and regulatory considerations. The Orsus Group can create and execute an HR plan to help you acquire top talent, perform fully compliant background screenings, keep costs down, and ensure compliance with frequently changing labor regulations.
Ready to develop an HR plan that simplifies background screening and hiring for your organization? Contact us today to start the process.