INRTEK AND PROPER HIRING PROCEDURES

How does INRTEK ensure its physical capability evaluation does not violate equal employment laws regarding age, disability and sex discrimination?

INRTEK's goal is to help you hire the most qualified individuals. A hiring process which demonstrably accomplishes this task is not illegal. Your heavy labor jobs require people who have the physical capability to perform heavy work on a sustained basis. And, you want to employ people in those jobs who are not likely to hurt themselves while working for you. These two requirements are both job related and are necessary for your business to prosper. Equal employment law uses these two concepts to establish hiring criteria and selection procedures which do not discriminate.

How does INRTEK ensure our hiring decisions meet these criteria?

INRTEK provides you with an objective way to determine whether an applicant you are considering satisfies these goals. INRTEK will come to your job site and analyze the physical and non-physical requirements of your heavy labor jobs. INRTEK will use the results of this analysis to accurately establish the proper minimum requirement scores for its physical capability evaluation for your job classifications. This will help you to understand and interpret how the evaluation and results objectively measure both the necessary physical capability to perform the job, and do so without likely injury. INRTEK has a variety of ways to help you validate your use of the test so you may respond to anyone who may question you about the test results.

Why would I not be better off selecting employees for heavy labor jobs based on past work experience?

INRTEK testing is only one component of your selection process. We do not recommend it as the only component. Past experience performing similar work is a helpful predictor of present capability and should be considered. However, past work experience may not be enough. For example, it sometimes is difficult to know whether an applicant's past work was really similar to your job. Also, it is difficult to predict from past work experience and an interview whether a person currently has the strength to perform the job even if they did so in the past. Likelihood of future injury also may not be revealed by past work history or a job interview. The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits an employer from asking about prior workplace injuries or restrictions without first extending a conditional offer of employment. Even if you lawfully ask an applicant these questions post-offer and receive truthful answers about past injuries and restrictions, this information alone may not give you an objective means of assessing the likelihood of future injury on your job.