Principles of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee
Describe how organizations should apply the general principles of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures to practical selection decisions
The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP) are a set of guidelines issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to help employers make equitable employment decisions. The guidelines apply to all selection procedures used to make employment decisions, including written tests, interviews, review of experience or education from application forms, résumés, work samples, physical requirements, and evaluations of performance.
The general principles of the UGESP can be applied to practical selection decisions in the following ways:
- Job-relatedness: The selection procedure must be job-related, meaning that it must measure the skills, abilities, and knowledge necessary to perform the job. This can be done by conducting a job analysis to identify the essential job functions and then developing a selection procedure that measures those functions.
- Validity: The selection procedure must be valid, meaning that it must be able to predict job performance. This can be done by conducting a validation study to see how well the selection procedure predicts job performance for a sample of employees.
- Business necessity: The selection procedure must be necessary for business reasons. This means that the employer must be able to show that the selection procedure is necessary to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the business.
- Disparate impact: The selection procedure must not have an adverse impact on any protected group. This means that the selection procedure cannot have a significantly higher rate of rejection for members of a protected group than for members of the majority group.
- Use a variety of selection procedures: No single selection procedure is perfect, so it is important to use a variety of procedures to get a more complete picture of the applicant. This could include written tests, interviews, work samples, and reference checks.
- Consider the applicant's whole person: When making a selection decision, it is important to consider the applicant's whole person, not just their test scores or interview performance. This means considering their skills, abilities, knowledge, and experience, as well as their personality, values, and work ethic.
- Be transparent about the selection process: The applicant should be aware of the selection process and how their scores or performance will be used to make a decision. This will help to ensure that the applicant is treated fairly and that there are no surprises at the end of the process.