Screening Workers: An Examination and Analysis of Practice and Public Policy

Every employer engaged in hiring choices will use some form of screening in the hiring process. Although wide ranging with respect to their ends and means, these testing and screening practices have raised consistent patterns of concern among job-seekers, public policymakers, and managers themselves. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act - the most significant and most complex of all statutes affecting the employment screening process - unambiguously forbids intentional discrimination. The screening practices currently being used include: 1. drug testing, 2. alcohol testing, 3. honesty screening, 4. genetic screening, and 5. screening for education, experience, and physical requirements. The employment interview is the primary force in screening and selecting candidates; however, this process also has its problems, such as interview biases, stereotypes and gender issues, and race, age, and handicap issues. In the future, employers could use test results to indicate and meet worker needs for appropriate training, placement, promotion, and even rehabilitation.