The confirmation process, in many ways, in more personally stressful. They, obviously, don't include this information. As you know, employers are obligated under the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures to maintain information to assess whether their selection procedures have adverse impact. When applications are not made in person or the employer does not have personal knowledge about the applicants, some form of self-identification questionnaire may be appropriate. But it is the employer's own particular selection procedures that will dictate who should be considered an applicant for these purposes.
Applicant data is needed in some circumstances.
For example, the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures require the data as necessary to evaluate the adverse impact of selection procedures. Of course, when an employer collects applicant data, it should keep the information about an applicant's race, national origin, or gender separate from the selection decision unless the employer has a legitimate reason to use the information in the hiring decision. The new census data will require that EEOC revise its current EEO-1 form. We anticipate a resolution to this question by fiscal year 2002. One would think in a tight labor market, violations would go down.