HR Management & Compliance, Recruiting

EEOC Clarifies Why Screening Out Applicants Without Diplomas Is Illegal

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has clarified when and how screening out job applications without high school diplomas may violate the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The commission made clear that such a requirement could violate the ADA in an informal guidance late last year, but clarification was necessary after “significant commentary and conjecture,” it said in new guidance issued Wednesday.

The original guidance came in the form of a discussion letter and made clear that “if an employer adopts a high school diploma requirement for a job, and that requirement ‘screens out’ an individual who is unable to graduate because of a learning disability that meets the ADA’s definition of ‘disability,’ the employer may not apply the standard unless it can demonstrate that the diploma requirement is job related and consistent with business necessity.”

Apparently, the guidance elicited questions from employers because the commission has now followed the letter up with more guidance, this time in the form of a Q&A.

In the new document, the commission clarifies that while it is not illegal for employers to require that employees possess high school diplomas, “an employer may have to allow someone who says that a disability has prevented him from obtaining a high school diploma to demonstrate a qualification for the job in some other way.” This may include considering work experience or allowing an individual to demonstrate performance of the job’s essential functions, the commission said.

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