“Additional Questions and Answers To Clarify and Provide a Common Interpretation of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (“UGESP”) as They Relate to the Internet and Related Technologies” have been issued jointly by the DOJ, DOL, EEOC, and OPM which you can access from the Federal Register here. An easier-to-read version of the Q & As can be found here. The EEOC issued a press release here. SHRM issued a press release in connection with the guidance, commenting as follows:
Currently, any individual who sends a resume to an employer could be considered an “applicant” and the company could be required to retain the material sent for up to two years. However, since resume spamming is so easily accomplished by job seekers, organizations find themselves with thousands or even millions of resumes and other application materials regardless of their specific job openings.“Due to the technological ease of sending resumes, an HR professional may literally be swimming in applications from job seekers who have no knowledge of the business and may not be aware their resume was even sent to the particular organization,” said SHRM President and CEO, Susan R. Meisinger, SPHR. “The government has taken a good step in clarifying the term ‘applicant’ and has acknowledged that the regulation needs to keep up with the reality of the modern workplace.”
The proposed regulations suggest three criteria for an individual using the Internet for job seeking purposes to be considered an “applicant”: the employer has acted to fill a particular position, the individual has followed the employer’s standard procedures for submitting applications, and the individual has indicated an interest in the particular position.