Applicant Data, Resumes and Record Retention

Applicant Data

The definition of an applicant will come up during the audit. If you accept applications via the internet or other electronic means, be sure you have been following the OFCCP’s Internet Applicant Guidelines. An Internet Applicant means any individual as to whom the following four criteria are satisfied:

1. The individual submits an expression of interest in employment through the Internet or related electronic data technologies,
2. The contractor considers the individual for employment in a particular position,
3. The individual’s expression of interest indicates that the individual possesses the basic qualifications for the position; and,
4. The individual at no point in the contractor’s selection process prior to receiving an offer of employment from the contractor, removes him or herself from further consideration or otherwise indicates that he or she is no longer interested in the position.

If any of the applicants for a position are accepted via the Internet or related electronic data technologies, then even non-Internet applicants are defined by this same definition.

A request for voluntary identification of race and gender is required for anyone meeting the definition of an applicant. Visual identification by the contractor is also allowed.

Resumes

Some contractors distinguish between solicited and unsolicited resumes. Clearly, unsolicited resumes can be deemed “not an application” if treated as such consistently. If some unsolicited resumes are retained and others discarded, the OFCCP will consider this a step in the screening process and therefore expect you to collect race and gender information on all unsolicited resumes, however unsolicited resumes for different classes of positions could be treated differently. For instance, if engineering positions are difficult to fill, you could choose to consider all unsolicited resumes for engineering positions as applications. Unsolicited resumes for any other position would not be considered applications and could be discarded without collecting race and gender information. In the same manner, unsolicited applications or resumes from individuals applying for “any position” can be refused if done so consistently.

Individuals who submit solicited resumes are generally presumed to be applicants by the OFCCP if those individuals meet the definition of an applicant. A request for voluntary identification of race and gender would be required.

The “official” OFCCP definition of a traditional (non-Internet applicant) is based on the EEOC’s Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection. The Guidelines define an applicant as someone who applied and was considered for a position. Currently, many compliance officers accept assertions that only “minimally qualified” persons should be considered applicants and their race and gender should be tracked. Attempts to further limit applicants by “best qualified” standards are generally seen as applying screening criteria and are not usually accepted by the OFCCP.

Retaining Resumes and Applications

For affirmative action purposes, applicant files must be retained for two years following active consideration. Note that this does not require that you keep applications open for any specified amount of time. Applications should generally be kept active for as short a period as practical. Different classifications of jobs can have different active periods, as long as jobs in each classification are treated consistently. For instance, you might have little problem filling clerical positions and keep those applications active for 30 days. Filling professional level positions may be more difficult and applications for those positions may need to remain active for several months. This system is allowed as long as the different active periods are not based on illegal criteria (race, gender, disability, etc) and are consistently applied within the categories.

Record Retention

Each establishment must maintain its current and preceding AAPs and supporting documentation. Under affirmative action regulations covering women and minorities, personnel and employment records made or kept by a contractor must be preserved for two years from the date of the record or from the date of the personnel action, whichever occurs later. However, the record retention period is one year if the contractor has fewer than 150 employees or does not have a federal contract of at least $150,000. Records relating to veteran and disability status, including personnel records and records pertaining to benchmark, must be retained for three years regardless of the number of employees and the amount of the federal contract.

See Also

Internet Applicant Guidelines

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