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(c) There will be no change in FBI Identification Division procedures for dissemination of all criminal record information for criminal justice purposes and to agencies of the Federal Government as currently authorized by 28 U.S.C. 534.

[Order No. 1438-90, 55 FR 32075, Aug. 7, 1990]

§ 50.14 Guidelines on employee selection procedures.

The guidelines set forth below are intended as a statement of policy of the wer plant Department of Justice and will be applied by the Department in exercising its responsibilities under Federal law relating to equal employment opportunity.

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UNIFORM GUIDELINES ON EMPLOYEE

SELECTION PROCEDURES (1978)

NOTE: These guidelines are issued jointly by four agencies. Separate official adoptions follow the guidelines in this part IV as follows: Civil Service Commission, Department of Justice, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Labor.

For official citation see section 18 of these guidelines.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1. Statement of Purpose

A. Need for Uniformity-Issuing Agencies B. Purpose of Guidelines

C. Relation to Prior Guidelines

2. Scope

A. Application of Guidelines

B. Employment Decisions

C. Selection Procedures

D. Limitations

E. Indian Preference Not Affected

3. Discrimination Defined: Relationship Between Use of Selection Procedures and Discrimination

A. Procedure Having Adverse Impact Constitutes Discrimination Unless Justified

B. Consideration of Suitable Alternative Selection Procedures

4. Information on Impact

A. Records Concerning Impact

B. Applicable Race, Sex and Ethnic Groups

For Record Keeping

C. Evaluation of Selection Rates. The "Bottom Line"

D. Adverse Impact And The "Four-Fifths

Rule"

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10. Employment Agencies and Employment Services

A. Where Selection Procedures Are Devised by Agency

B. Where Selection Procedures Are Devised Elsewhere

11. Disparate Treatment 12. Retesting of Applicants 13. Affirmative Action

A. Affirmative Action Obligations

B. Encouragement of Voluntary Affirmative Action Programs

TECHNICAL STANDARDS

14. Technical Standards for Validity Studies A. Validity Studies Should be Based on Review of Information about the Job

B. Technical Standards for Criterion-Re

lated Validity Studies

(1) Technical Feasibility

(2) Analysis of the Job

(3) Criterion Measures

(4) Representativeness of the Sample

(5) Statistical Relationships

(6) Operational Use of Selection Procedures

(7) Over-Statement of Validity Findings (8) Fairness

(a) Unfairness Defined

(b) Investigation of Fairness

(c) General Considerations in Fairness Investigations

(d) When Unfairness Is Shown

(e) Technical Feasibility of Fairness Studies

(f) Continued Use of Selection Procedures When Fairness Studies not Feasible

C. Technical Standards for Content Validity Studies

(1) Appropriateness of Content Validity Studies

(2) Job Analysis for Content Validity (3) Development of Selection Procedure (4) Standards For Demonstrating Con

tent Validity

(5) Reliability

(6) Prior Training or Experience

(7) Training Success

(8) Operational Use

(9) Ranking Based on Content Validity Studies

D. Technical Standards For Construct Validity Studies

(1) Appropriateness of Construct Validity Studies

(2) Job Analysis For Construct Validity Studies

(3) Relationship to the Job

(4) Use of Construct Validity Study Without New Criterion-Related Evidence

(a) Standards for Use

(b) Determination of Common Work Behaviors

DOCUMENTATION OF IMPACT AND VALIDITY

EVIDENCE

15. Documentation of Impact and Validity

Evidence

A. Required Information

(1) Simplified Recordkeeping for Users With Less Than 100 Employees

(2) Information on Impact

(a) Collection of Information on Impact (b) When Adverse Impact Has Been Eliminated in The Total Selection Proc

ess

(c) When Data Insufficient to Determine Impact

(3) Documentation of Validity Evidence (a) Type of Evidence

(b) Form of Report

(c) Completeness

B. Criterion-Related Validity Studies

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GENERAL PRINCIPLES

SECTION 1. Statement of purpose- A. Need for uniformity—Issuing agencies. The Federal government's need for a uniform set of principles on the question of the use of tests and other selection procedures has long been recognized. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Civil Service Commission, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Justice jointly have adopted these uniform guidelines to meet that need, and to apply the same principles to the Federal Government as are applied to other employers.

B. Purpose of guidelines. These guidelines incorporate a single set of principles which are designed to assist employers, labor organizations, employment agencies, and licensing and certification boards to comply with requirements of Federal law prohibiting employment practices which discriminate on grounds of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. They are designed to provide a framework for determining the proper use of tests and other selection procedures. These guidelines do not require a user to conduct validity studies of selection procedures where no adverse impact results. However, all users are encouraged to use selection procedures which are valid, especially users operating under merit principles.

C. Relation to prior guidelines. These guidelines are based upon and supersede previously issued guidelines on employee selection procedures. These guidelines have been built upon court decisions, the previously issued guidelines of the agencies, and the practical experience of the agencies, as well as the standards of the psychological profession. These guidelines are intended to be consistent with existing law.

SEC. 2. Scope— A. Application of guidelines. These guidelines will be applied by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the enforcement of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (hereinafter "Title VII"); by the Department of Labor, and the contract compliance agencies until the transfer of authority contemplated by the President's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978, in the administration and enforcement of Executive Order 11246, as amended by Executive Order 11375 (hereinafter "Executive Order 11246"); by the Civil Service Commission and other Federal agencies subject to section 717 of title VII; by the Civil Service Commission in exercising its responsibilities toward State and local governments under section 208(b)(1) of the Intergovernmental-Personnel Act; by the Department of Justice in exercising its responsibilities under Federal law; by the Office of Revenue Sharing of the Department of the Treasury under the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972, as amended; and by

any other Federal agency which adopts them.

B. Employment decisions. These guidelines apply to tests and other selection procedures which are used as a basis for any employment decision. Employment decisions include but are not limited to hiring, promotion, demotion, membership (for example, in a labor organization), referral, retention, and licensing and certification, to the extent that licensing and certification may be covered by Federal equal employment opportunity law. Other selection decisions, such as selection for training or transfer, may also be considered employment decisions if they lead to any of the decisions listed above.

C. Selection procedures. These guidelines apply only to selection procedures which are used as a basis for making employment decisions. For example, the use of recruiting procedures designed to attract members of a particular race, sex, or ethnic group, which were previously denied employment opportunities or which are currently underutilized, may be necessary to bring an employer into compliance with Federal law, and is frequently an essential element of any effective affirmative action program; but recruitment practices are not considered by these guidelines to be selection procedures. Similarly, these guidelines do not pertain to the question of the lawfulness of a seniority system within the meaning of section 703(h), Executive Order 11246 or other provisions of Federal law or regulation, except to the extent that such systems utilize selection procedures to determine qualifications or abilities to perform the job. Nothing in these guidelines is intended or should be interpreted as discouraging the use of a selection procedure for the purpose of determining qualifications or for the purpose of selection on the basis of relative qualifications, if the selection procedure had been validated in accord with these guidelines for each such purpose for which it is to be used.

law.

D. Limitations. These guidelines apply only to persons subject to title VII, Executive Order 11246, or other equal employment opportunity requirements of Federal These guidelines do not apply to responsibilities under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended, not to discriminate on the basis of age, or under sections 501, 503, and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, not to discriminate on the basis of handicap.

E. Indian preference not affected. These guidelines do not restrict any obligation imposed or right granted by Federal law to users to extend a preference in employment to Indians living on or near an Indian reservation in connection with employment opportunities on or near an Indian reservation.

B. Technical Standards for Criterion-Re

lated Validity Studies

(1) Technical Feasibility

(2) Analysis of the Job

(3) Criterion Measures

(4) Representativeness of the Sample (5) Statistical Relationships

(6) Operational Use of Selection Procedures

(7) Over-Statement of Validity Findings (8) Fairness

(a) Unfairness Defined

(b) Investigation of Fairness

(c) General Considerations in Fairness Investigations

(d) When Unfairness Is Shown

(e) Technical Feasibility of Fairness Studies

(f) Continued Use of Selection Procedures When Fairness Studies not Feasible

C. Technical Standards for Content Validity Studies

(1) Appropriateness of Content Validity Studies

(2) Job Analysis for Content Validity (3) Development of Selection Procedure (4) Standards For Demonstrating Con

tent Validity

(5) Reliability

(6) Prior Training or Experience

(7) Training Success

(8) Operational Use

(9) Ranking Based on Content Validity Studies

D. Technical Standards For Construct Validity Studies

(1) Appropriateness of Construct Validity Studies

(2) Job Analysis For Construct Validity Studies

(3) Relationship to the Job

(4) Use of Construct Validity Study Without New Criterion-Related Evidence

(a) Standards for Use

(b) Determination of Common Work Behaviors

DOCUMENTATION OF IMPACT AND VALIDITY

EVIDENCE

15. Documentation of Impact and Validity

Evidence

A. Required Information

(1) Simplified Recordkeeping for Users With Less Than 100 Employees

(2) Information on Impact

(a) Collection of Information on Impact (b) When Adverse Impact Has Been Eliminated in The Total Selection Proc

ess

(c) When Data Insufficient to Determine Impact

(3) Documentation of Validity Evidence (a) Type of Evidence

(b) Form of Report

(c) Completeness

B. Criterion-Related Validity Studies

(1) User(s), Location(s), and Date(s) of Study

(2) Problem and Setting

(3) Job Analysis or Review of Job Information

(4) Job Titles and Codes

(5) Criterion Measures

(6) Sample Description

(7) Description of Selection Procedure (8) Techniques and Results

(9) Alternative Procedures Investigated (10) Uses and Applications

(11) Source Data

(12) Contact Person

(13) Accuracy and Completeness C. Content Validity Studies

(1) User(s), Location(s), and Date(s) of Study

(2) Problem and Setting

(3) Job Analysis-Content of the Job (4) Selection Procedure and its Content (5) Relationship Between Selection Procedure and the Job

(6) Alternative Procedures Investigated (7) Uses and Applications

(8) Contact Person

(9) Accuracy and Completeness

D. Construct Validity Studies

(1) User(s), Location(s), and Date(s) of Study

(2) Problem and Setting
(3) Construct Definition
(4) Job Analysis

(5) Job Titles and Codes

(6) Selection Procedure

(7) Relationship to Job Performance
(8) Alternative Procedures Investigated
(9) Uses and Applications

(10) Accuracy and Completeness
(11) Source Data

(12) Contact Person

E. Evidence of Validity from Other Studies (1) Evidence from Criterion-Related Validity Studies

(a) Job Information

(b) Relevance of Criteria

(c) Other Variables

(d) Use of the Selection Procedure

(e) Bibliography

(2) Evidence from Content Validity Stud

ies

(3) Evidence from Construct Validity

Studies

F. Evidence of Validity from Cooperative

Studies

G. Selection for Higher Level Jobs
H. Interim Use of Selection Procedures

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GENERAL PRINCIPLES

SECTION 1. Statement of purpose― A. Need for uniformity-Issuing agencies. The Federal government's need for a uniform set of principles on the question of the use of tests and other selection procedures has long been recognized. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Civil Service Commission, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Justice jointly have adopted these uniform guidelines to meet that need, and to apply the same principles to the Federal Government as are applied to other employers.

B. Purpose of guidelines. These guidelines incorporate a single set of principles which are designed to assist employers, labor organizations, employment agencies, and licensing and certification boards to comply with requirements of Federal law prohibiting employment practices which discriminate on grounds of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. They are designed to provide a framework for determining the proper use of tests and other selection procedures. These guidelines do not require a user to conduct validity studies of selection procedures where no adverse impact results. However, all users are encouraged to use selection procedures which are valid, especially users operating under merit principles.

any other Federal agency which adopts them.

B. Employment decisions. These guidelines apply to tests and other selection procedures which are used as a basis for any employment decision. Employment decisions include but are not limited to hiring, promotion, demotion, membership (for example, in a labor organization), referral, retention, and licensing and certification, to the extent that licensing and certification may be covered by Federal equal employment opportunity law. Other selection decisions, such as selection for training or transfer, may also be considered employment decisions if they lead to any of the decisions listed above.

C. Selection procedures. These guidelines apply only to selection procedures which are used as a basis for making employment decisions. For example, the use of recruiting procedures designed to attract members of a particular race, sex, or ethnic group, which were previously denied employment opportunities or which are currently underutilized, may be necessary to bring an employer into compliance with Federal law, and is frequently an essential element of any effective affirmative action program; but recruitment practices are not considered by these guidelines to be selection procedures. Similarly, these guidelines do not pertain to the question of the lawfulness of a seniority system within the meaning of section 703(h), Executive Order 11246 or other provisions of Federal law or regulation, except to the extent that such systems utilize selection procedures to determine qualifications or abilities to perform the job. Nothing in these guidelines is intended or should be interpreted as discouraging the use of a selection procedure for the purpose of determining qualifications or for the purpose of selection on the basis of relative qualifications, if the selection procedure had been validated in accord with these guidelines for each such purpose for which it is to be used.

C. Relation to prior guidelines. These guidelines are based upon and supersede previously issued guidelines on employee selection procedures. These guidelines have been built upon court decisions, the previously issued guidelines of the agencies, and the practical experience of the agencies, as well as the standards of the psychological profession. These guidelines are intended to be consistent with existing law.

SEC. 2. Scope- A. Application of guidelines. These guidelines will be applied by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the enforcement of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (hereinafter "Title VII"); by the Department of Labor, and the contract compliance agencies until the transfer of authority contemplated by the President's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978, in the administration and enforcement of Executive Order 11246, as amended by Executive Order 11375 (hereinafter “Executive Order 11246"); by the Civil Service Commission and other Federal agencies subject to section 717 of title VII; by the Civil Service Commission in exercising its responsibilities toward State and local governments under section 208(b)(1) of the Intergovernmental-Personnel Act; by the Department of Justice in exercising its responsibilities under Federal law; by the Office of Revenue Sharing of the Department of the Treasury under the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972, as amended; and by

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D. Limitations. These guidelines apply only to persons subject to title VII, Executive Order 11246, or other equal employment opportunity requirements of Federal law. These guidelines do not apply to responsibilities under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended, not to discriminate on the basis of age, or under sections 501, 503, and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, not to discriminate on the basis of handicap.

E. Indian preference not affected. These guidelines do not restrict any obligation imposed or right granted by Federal law to users to extend a preference in employment to Indians living on or near an Indian reservation in connection with employment opportunities on or near an Indian reservation.

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