How does job analysis support equal employment compliance?

Job analysis is an important procedure for identifying elements of a job. Basing decisions and programs on this job content information increases the legal and organizational defensibility of human resources actions that have the potential to give rise to discrimination claims.

Job relatedness: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark legislation intended to reduce discrimination in the workplace, prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Implementing regulations, the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978) which specifically address the legality of human resource programs (recruitment, hiring and promotion), emphasize that an organization's human resources programs should be job related. Job analysis is the process for gathering applicable job information.

When conducting job analysis, it is important to assess whether job requirements (education, experience, etc.) stated by incumbent(s) and/or supervisor(s) are realistic minimums necessary to competently perform the job. Setting unnecessary, inflated job requirements could have the effect of excluding proportionately more members of protected classes. To comply with equal employment legislation (Title VII, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and Equal Pay Act), job requirements should be realistic, based on job analysis and validated if necessary.

Bona fide occupational qualifications: In limited circumstances, an organization can base some employment decisions on an individual's religion, sex or national origin, if having certain of these characteristics is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). For example, being Catholic may be considered a BFOQ for the job of a Catholic priest.

Consequently, the job analysis process should also be used to collect information regarding any religious, sex or national origin-based BFOQs a job may have. Job analysis will help to determine if any legitimate BFOQs, in fact, exist and will help document the fact that they do exist should discrimination charges be brought to challenge their existence.

Essential functions: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination in employment when they can perform the essential functions of a position, either with or without reasonable accommodation. The term essential functions refers to the fundamental job duties of an employment position held or desired-functions that must be performed unaided or with the assistance of reasonable accommodation.

Nothing in the ADA requires employers to conduct a job analysis to identify the essential functions of a job. However, an employer must have a clear concept of what the essential functions of a job are, and doing a job analysis can assist employers in determining what those essential functions may be. A job analysis can also be used to establish appropriate qualification standards, develop job descriptions, conduct interviews, and select people in accordance with the ADA. It can also be particularly helpful in identifying accommodations that would enable a person with specific functional abilities and limitations to perform the job.

Not all job analyses will necessarily identify all the essential functions of a particular job. If a job analysis is used, it should focus on the purpose of the job and the importance of actual job functions in achieving this purpose. The most helpful job analysis for the purposes of the ADA will focus on the results or outcomes of a function, not solely on the way it is customarily performed.

When the importance of a job is evaluated, considerations could be given to the frequency with which a function is performed, the amount of time spent on the function, and the consequences if the function is not performed. The analysis could also include information on the work environment, such as unusual heat, cold, humidity, dust toxic substances or stress factors. The analysis may contain information on the manner in which a job is currently performed but should not conclude that the ability to perform the job in that manner is an essential function, unless there is no other way to perform that function without causing undue hardship.