Identifying Essential Functions in a Pool Hiring Scenario
Posted on Mon, Jul 18, 2011 @ 09:00 AM
From time-to-time companies hire into a "pool" for a production operation. Its called a pool because anyone in the pool can be called to any job at any time.
An interesting complication arises when the company wants to institute a post-offering testing program. A further challenge occurs when a qualified individual from the pool requests a reasonable accommodation.
The new ADAAA makes it clear that companies need to be ready to make a good faith effort to provide reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals. The emphasis of the ADA has moved from a rigorous identification process to a focus on good faith efforts.
In a pool situation, how does one establish the specific essential function-physical demand link sought by the EEOC? Referring to
my previous blog on this subject, if you have 62 positions rolled into one job classification,
how do you identify the essential functions?
My first response is that I think pool hiring is going to be unwieldy under the new ADAAA. My colleague Jim Clouse and I have talked about this extensively and have struggled with how to be compliant with the spirit of the law in a pool situation. Post-offer testing and reasonable accommodation may require such a high level of specificity as to be unweildy as to essential function and physical demand to be workable under ADAAA.
At a very minimum an aggressive disparate impact program must be instituted if pool hiring is used in an ADAAA situation.
Approaching this from a broad perspective, my first attempt would be to examine the range of positions to spot common issues:
- First, are there positions that have a history of high turn-over?
- Are there positions with physical demands that lay outside the median of the other positions?
- Are there positions that require particular pre-hire skills or experience?
- Would an Excel-like matrix of the skills, abilities and physical demands of the 62 positions reveal a useful segregation of the positions?
What is your view on this point?
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