EMPLOyER'S PRACTICAL LEGAL GUIDE Plain Language About ...

1.14 Employer’s Practical Legal GuideCourt ruled in Jones v. R. R. Donnelly & Sons Company (124 S. Ct. 1836,Decided May 3, 2004) that the statute of limitations for 42 USCS§1981 is four years. That means employees can file suits involvinghostile work environment, wrongful termination and failure totransfer as long as four years after the last discriminatory act.Employers would be well advised to keep pertinent records atleast four years.EEO-1 ReportsIn an effort to monitor employment of minorities and females inthe workforce, the EEOC requires certain employers to completeand file an Employer Information Report, commonly called anEEO-1 report, by Sept. 30 each year.That mandate falls on any private employer with 100 or moreemployees, plus federal prime contractors (or first-tier subcontractors)that have 50 or more employees and a contract worth $50,000or more.Employers completing the EEO-1 report must provide a countof employees by job category, ethnicity, race and gender.You can file the report online at www.eeoc.gov/eeo1survey.TestingMany employers use pre-employment tests to screen applicants.Tests that assess ability, personality and medical conditions canlower the incidence of theft and work-related accidents and reducethe likelihood of negligent-hiring suits. They also may reveal certainjob-related skills or abilities that could not be gleaned from anapplication or interview.But pre-employment testing does carry risks: Unless you candemonstrate that you are measuring job-related qualities and thatthe tests fulfill a business necessity, you could be exposing yourcompany to charges of discrimination.Follow the advice in the federal government’s Uniform Guidelineson Employee Selection Procedures (29 C.F.R. §§1607.1 et. seq.), issuedin 1978 and available online at www.uniformguidelines.com.These nonbinding guidelines set standards for employment test