V373 Chapter 6

Have you ever belonged to a union?

Illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). Union membership could be used to discriminate in a place that is fighting unions.

28. You need to take a test so that we can determine if you might get any known illnesses or diseases in the future.

A. Genetic. Genetic test are used to determine predisposition to known illnesses or diseases.

Part of the selection process is to take our intelligence test.

Cognitive ability. An intelligence test (IQ) measures cognitive ability.

An NFL team makes a recruit take an intelligence test. The recruit's score is below the acceptable level, so the team refuses to hire the player. The player complains, stating that his intelligence score has nothing to do with playing football. What evidence do you need to support not hiring the player?

Construct validity. An IQ test is an abstract measure. NFL teams do give IQ tests because they have found that players with too low an IQ can't learn all the plays so they don't have the necessary knowledge to succeed.

26. Part of the firefighter test is to carry this 50-pound dummy up this ladder in 2 min or less.

F. Physical skill test. Carrying a heavy object is a physical test.

27. You have to go in the bathroom now and put a sample of your urine in this cup so we can test it.

H. Drug test. The urine test is the commonly used drug test.

What is your date of birth?

Illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). A date of birth will tell a person's age. This could be used to discriminate against older workers. If there is a legal age requirement, such as to be the president of the United States, the proper question is to ask: Are you at least ______ years of age.

Are you straight or a homosexual?

Illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). This could be used to discriminate against people based on sexual preference.

Do you have any form of disability?

Illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). You can only ask this if there is anything that would prevent an applicant from performing a specific task. You really can't even ask it then in this form. You could ask if there is anything that would prevent them from being able to do the essential functions of the job (with or without accommodations), but not if they have a disability.

Are you currently a member of the military reserve?

Illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). You cannot ask about military reserve because it can be used to not hire a member of the military that will need to take time off from work.

Are you a member of the Knights of Columbus?

Illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). You cannot ask about organizations not related to the job.

What is your religion?

Illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). You cannot ask about religion; it is not related to the job.

How much do you weigh?

Illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). You cannot ask about weight; it is not related to the job.

Have you been arrested for stealing on the job?

Illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). You cannot ask whether the candidate has ever been arrested (an arrest does not prove guilt); however, you can ask whether the candidate has been convicted of a felony.

So you want to be a truck driver. Are you a member of the Teamsters Union representing truck drivers?

Legal (can ask). This is a job-related question for a truck driver, but it would not be for other jobs. Many companies, and in some states, can only hire Teamsters.

Can you prove you are legally eligible to work?

Legal (can ask). You can ask if applicants can prove it, but not to actually prove it until after hiring. You also can't ask to see the applicant's driver's license until after being offered the job as a condition of employment.

A paper-and-pencil test is administered so that we can determine whether you have the right characteristics to succeed on the job.

Personality. Personality tests are designed to measure characteristics of the individual

You have to undergo an exam by our doctor to determine whether you can handle the job.

Physical exam. Doctors give physicals.

As part of the selection process, you will have to answer questions while being monitored by this machine.

Polygraph. The machine is designed to measure if a person is telling the truth or not.

You decided to let the job candidate in situation 1 above take the application test again. The next day she took the test again, and the score was within a couple of points of her score on the first test. So you again decide not to hire her. What evidence do you need to support this decision?

Reliability. If the test score is about the same, then the test is reliable.

To get the drywalling job, you will have to hang, tape, and paste 10 sheets while doing a quality job, all in 3 hr.

Skills test. Hanging sheet rock is a skills test.

you are running a law firm and require all your lawyers to pass the bar exam. what does the bar exam need to do to indicate that it is a good test?

content validity - the bar exam has to test knowledge of the law to have content validity

a job candidate failed a job application test, but she claims that the test is not fair and that she can do the job. what type of evidence do you need to ensure that the test is in fact a good predictor of job performance?

criterion-related validity - you need this type of validity to demonstrate that your test can predict future job performance

you have developed a new system for predicting future company sales. your boss wants some proof that it works.

criterion-related validity - you need to address criterion related to demonstrate that your system does in fact predict sales. You could run the test with prior information and see if it does in fact predict past sales for that period of time. Or you could predict future sales and see if it is accurate in the future.

How many children do you have?

illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). This could be used to discriminate against people with large families.

are you married or single?

illegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). You cannot ask specific questions about marital status unless it is a BFOQ.

what languages do you speak

legal - It's OK to ask what languages an applicant can speak, but not what language the candidate speaks when not on the job or how the candidate learned the language.

Do you own your own car?

llegal (cannot ask during pre-employment). In this context, it is not job relevant. However, if you were hiring a delivery person, a car would be a BFOQ. You could ask if he or she has access to a car, but not if he or she owns one. It is not the business concern if the applicant owns a car--what difference does it make if they borrow their parents', or another person's, car? You also can't ask to see the applicant's driver's license until after being offered the job as a condition of employment.