How a company can require a video with an application and stay in compliance with anti-discrimination laws
By: Unnanu Blog
Tags: Anti Discrimination Law, Videos, Discrimination, Video Resume, Equal Opportunity

Are companies that use video resumes and video interviews at higher risk for discrimination lawsuits? Although video resumes and video interviews have been crawling into the hiring process since the COVID19 pandemic affected the recruiting world, video resumes and video interviews, have become the new normal. It is continuing to impact and improve almost every aspect of our lives.

Here are some facts on discrimination laws and what the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says about it.

Discrimination Laws

Among different types of discrimination, workplace discrimination has been a big issue throughout the past, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission plays a vital role in ensuring that everyone enjoys the same rights.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is illegal to discriminate against someone (applicant or employee) on the bases of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information. It is also illegal to retaliate against a person because they complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.

What have the EEOC said about video resumes?

EEOC Office of Legal Counsel’s staff members has written an informal discussion letter in response to an inquiry from a member of the public.

This letter mentions, “the EEOC enforces the federal laws that prohibit employment discrimination by employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations on the bases of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information. Covered employers may include private and state and local government employers. Universities, as employers, are covered, but the EEO laws do not apply to universities’ decisions about admitting students.

The EEO laws prohibit these covered entities from recruiting and selecting new employees in a discriminatory way. The EEO laws do not expressly prohibit the use of specific technologies or methods for selecting employees, and therefore do not prohibit the use of video resumes. The key question under the EEO laws is how the selection tools are used.”

Simply, choosing or rejecting applicants on discriminatory bases or asking discriminatory questions are the biggest problems. If the employer or the recruiter is aligned with the discrimination laws and guidelines, everyone is in the safe zone.

According to the EEOC, it’s not illegal to learn about a disability via video, as long as that information is not used improperly.

“A covered entity does not violate the ADA if it observes from video images that an applicant has a disability. This is analogous to meeting an individual during the application process and observing that he has a disability.”

Moreover, the EEOC states that video resumes can be used to assess applicants on job skills and qualifications and more than one person can review the resumes.

“A covered entity could proactively formulate and communicate to selection officials how the video resumes can help assess specific qualifications and skills that are necessary for success in the position. Additionally, a covered entity could require that several people assess each video resume in relation to the stated job requirements.”

Some thoughts for you

If you are afraid of using video resumes due to a concern about litigation, think about a comparison between a video resume and an in-person job interview. A video inherently discloses a lot of those things, but so does an in-person job interview. Therefore, if you have standardized assessment criteria to review candidates, if you are well aware of legal guidelines, you would be unlikely to run into issues. It is true that technology is seductive. It brings new trends every day. Using video resumes is just a baby step. With the advent of technology, learning to use it is the next big thing we all have to do. Being afraid to use it doesn’t prepare you well for the future. Every HR professional, recruiting manager, and the employer is getting sick of reading piles of resumes. It is important to adapt to technology which makes everyone’s lives easier. It not only makes employers’ lives easier but makes candidates’ lives easier too. Video resumes help job applicants to show their talents in a number of creative ways.

No matter whether you are using a paper resume or a video resume, it shouldn’t subject you to the risk of legal actions. Anyhow, the employer should make hiring decisions based on candidates’ qualifications and skills without any discrimination. The real question is whether you are operating in a compliant way.

In addition, technology can’t practice discrimination. A camera or a laptop doesn’t hold discriminatory opinions. Therefore, video resumes can be used as a significant tool for your hiring process without breaking any discrimination laws.

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