HRM textbook

200 PART 2 RECRUITMENT, PLACEMENT, AND TALENT MANAGEMENT
changes like increased perspiration. The assumption is that such changes reflect
changes in emotional state that accompany lying.
Complaints about offensiveness plus grave doubts about the polygraph s accuracy
culminated in the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988. 104 With a few exceptions,
the law prohibits employers from conducting polygraph examinations of all job
applicants and most employees. (Also prohibited are other mechanical or electrical
devices that attempt to measure honesty or dishonesty, including psychological stress
evaluators and voice stress analyzers.) Federal laws don t prohibit paper-and-pencil
tests and chemical testing, as for drugs.
WHO CAN USE THE POLYGRAPH? Local, state, and federal government
employers (including the FBI) can use polygraphs, but state laws restrict many local
and state governments. Private employers can use polygraph testing, but only under
strictly limited circumstances. The latter include those with
* National defense or security contracts
* Nuclear power-related contracts with the Department of Energy
* Access to highly classified information
* Counterintelligence-related contracts with the FBI or Department of Justice
* Private businesses (1) hiring private security personnel, (2) hiring persons with
access to drugs, or (3) doing ongoing investigations involving economic loss or
injury to an employer s business, such as a theft
However, even if used for ongoing investigations of theft, the law restricts employers
rights. To administer a polygraph test for an ongoing investigation, an employer must
meet four standards:
1. First, the employer must show that it suffered an economic loss or injury.
2. Second, it must show that the employee in question had access to the property.
3. Third, it must have a reasonable suspicion before asking the employee to take the
polygraph.
4. Fourth, the employee must receive the details of the investigation before the test,
as well as the questions to be asked on the polygraph test.
PAPER-AND-PENCIL HONESTY TESTS The Polygraph Protection Act triggered
a burgeoning market for paper-and-pencil (or online) honesty tests. These are
psychological tests designed to predict job applicants proneness to dishonesty and
other forms of counterproductivity. 105 Most measure attitudes regarding things like
tolerance of others who steal, acceptance of rationalizations for theft, and admission
of theft-related activities. Tests include the Phase II profile. London House, Inc., and
Stanton Corporation publish similar tests. 106
Psychologists initially raised concerns about paper-and-pencil honesty tests, but
studies support these tests validity. One early study illustrates their potential usefulness.
The study involved 111 employees hired by a convenience store chain to work at
store or gas station counters. 107 The firm estimated that shrinkage equaled 3% of
sales, and believed that internal theft accounted for much of this. Scores on an
honesty test successfully predicted theft here, as measured by termination for theft.
One large review of such tests concluded that the pattern of findings regarding the
usefulness of such tests continues to be consistently positive. 108
CHECKING FOR HONESTY: WHAT YOU CAN DO With or without testing,
there s a lot a manager or employer can do to screen out dishonest applicants or
employees. Specifically:
* Ask blunt questions. 109 Says one expert, there is nothing wrong with asking the
applicant direct questions, such as, Have you ever stolen anything from an
employer? Have you recently held jobs other than those listed on your application?
and, Is any information on your application misrepresented or falsified?