How Recruitment and Human Resources Define "Discrimination."

[paft.livejournal.com]

Advice on how to handle applications from deaf jobseekers, from people working in recruitment and human resources. You can’t ‘discriminate’ -- instead:

I just probably would have let her fill it out. You write a note on the back of it that said ‘not a fit.’

Just accept it and don’t call. You can’t tell her that. Handicapped people, they have more rights than anyone in the world. You just have to accept her application and then just don’t call.

You have to be very careful. In today’s world, they’ll cut your hands off.

Thanks to Daily Kos

ABC News did its own version of Candid Camera, recently. Several actors enacted a scene in a coffee house – two deaf job applicants applying for a kitchen position, and a manager telling them not to bother. I’m happy to relate that many customers reacted with disgust to what they were hearing. A few even confronted the manager and one coffee-drinker demonstrated the bracing merits of making a scene by doing it from across the room. But…

Three people, all of them in either recruitment or human resources, scurried up to the manager afterwards to advise, in discreetly lowered voices, on the “correct” way to handle it. The correct response, they explained, is to just accept the application and then not call the applicant.

I doubt most black or Hispanic viewers, most disabled viewers, or many female viewers, are shocked by this revelation. Those comments about the influence of the deaf as a group (“they have more rights than anyone in the world, ” “They’ll cut your hands off”) are especially familiar. When I worked in corporate America, I frequently heard wildly exaggerated anecdotes painting women, blacks, the disabled, etc. as powerful forces before which employers must cower. Why this amazing clout has still not translated into equitable income and employment levels is a mystery.

There are two points I’d like to make. First, this is why Affirmative Action is necessary. Employers and recruiters are quite capable of writing “don’t bother” on applications and, when asked about the dearth of minorities, women, etc., batting their eyes innocently and insisting that they just couldn’t find anyone in those groups who were qualified. AA acknowledges that reality. Without it, laws against racial and sexual discrimination would barely be worth the paper they’re printed on.

And second, anyone looking for a job, including white males with no physical disability, should be concerned about this. More and more employers are screening out the jobless or those with credit problems. “Not a fit” can end up being written on your application too, not because of your qualifications or your ability, but because you are unemployed and/or in debt.

Crossposted from ThoughtcrimesThoughtcrimes

Comments

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

Wow no wonder we have a mortgage crisis if someone making $30K can apparently afford 1,016 per month. That only leaves about 800/month after taxes for everything else - food, clothing, utilities, repairs and maintenance.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

I'm sure everyone could shop at thrift stores and get several nice-fitting suits. Jeez, my electric bill alone runs $400/month.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

So what is your point? Amortize the annual cost of clothing over a period of one month and it turns out to be an expense.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, how do you do that? I run tons of stuff all the time and my bill is generally around $150/month.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

All electric, 110 years old, 4000 sq ft.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Yeah! One of the families the job nanny looked at-- the wife was spending nearly 600 a month on new clothes, it was absolutely insane.

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

No but you need to budget for it every month.

If you spend $600 a year on clothes and shoes (a relatively small amount) that is $50 per month. It doesn't matter whether you buy 1 item a month or save it all up for a new wardrobe every spring, it is still $50 a month.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on what type of job you have. A nice pair of shoes can easily cost 50-100. And that's pretty bare bones for nice shoes. If you work in an office, depending on where it is-- you'd have to have some budget. A friend of mine got a major career boost working for Polo (Ralph Lauren's company). The biggest deal for my friend was having to buy clothes for the office, since his previous job was anything goes (except no jeans or shorts in the Summer). Even with his employee discount, Polo shirts would cost him 50.00 a pop!

[telemann.livejournal.com]

I agree ;)

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

Yes, you *CAN* buy all of your clothes from Goodwill if you have the time to put into searching the racks. Alternatively you *CAN* just not buy clothes very often.

But for a normal person here is what a yearly wardrobe might look like (Mens, sorry I'm not a woman and so inevitably I'd miss stuff)...

2 Pr Shorts - $40
2 Pr of Blue Jeans - $50
2 Pr of "Work Pants" - $50
4 T-Shirts - $60
4 "Work Shirts" - $80
6 Pr Underware - $10
3 Undershirts - $10
1 Sweater - $30
1 "Dress Shirt" - $20
2 Sweatshirts - $30
2 Sweatpants - $30
1 Pr Workshoes - $50
1 Pr Tennis Shoes - $50
1/2 Pr Boots - $50
1/4 Winter Coat - 20

Total - $580


The fractional items indicate things you would not use enough to buy every year, everything else assumes that you get about 18 months of use out of each item meaning your total supply of wearable items in your closet at any given moment would be about 1.5X that number.

You will note this is hardly an extravagent sized wardrobe and at the prices I listed it means you're buying everything from Wal Mart.

[farchivist.livejournal.com]

...
Haven't you ever worked anywhere that required a suit?
And not only a suit, but one that was not off the rack?

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I know I haven't. Dressing nicely doesn't require a suit, and any job that requires one isn't a place I will work at.

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

Yeah my thought exactly.

I mean I can't get away with an entire wardrobe from Goodwill on the job but unless it is a matter of take the job or starve I'll politely pass on any job that requires me to wear a suit.

But I also see the point, the $600 figure I quoted was actually a VERY conservative one and for a lot of people, and not just the mega rich, their jobs require them to spend 2 to 3 times that amount annually on just work clothes

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Yeah, which is crazy. I think I spend less than $100 a year on clothes, at least for me. It's probably around $1000 for my wife, and she works from home. :)

[farchivist.livejournal.com]

OK, so no multinats for you, gotcha.
But you haven't ever been in a situation where a suit was required daily? Or at least a tux, preferably one that didn't come off the rack?

You're probably going to say no and my mind is simply going to boggle. I can't imagine living in situations where such wouldn't be required. I mean, don't people have dinner parties anymore?

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Except for that multinat I currently work at, sure.

I'm a software engineer. No, I've never been in a situation when I need a suit. Why would you wear a suit to a dinner party? Be dressy, be fashionable, look sharp, none of that requires a suit.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

It costs me at least $300 for ONE suit, and not a very good one either.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

That's why you need a wifey! :P 2nd income comes in handy!

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

People are lucky to have one job now, no less two.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

They need to watch "The Job Nanny" show then. She'll put em on a budget!

[mylaptopisevil.livejournal.com]

That chart also seems to make the assumption that anyone buying is buying a home as opposed to getting an apartment/coop type situation, which has its own monthly maintenance fee.