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In coordination with each countys human resources office, the building-level principal typically defines and coordinates the hiring procedures for his/her school. In this role as school personnel officer, the principal must know how to comply with the legal issues regarding recruitment and hiring. Additionally, and equally important, the principal must educate other staff members involved in the hiring process about how to avoid legal compliance issues. A conscientious attention to legal compliance during the hiring process is necessary in all schools; however, in eastern North Carolina and specifically my own school, Tarboro High School, legal prudence related to hiring could not be more critical for several reasons: Nearly 50 percent of the administrators in the North East Region served by the North East Leadership Academy (NELA) are expected to retire in the next three years. This massive exodus of senior administrators is accompanied by the loss of institutional memory and contemporary knowledge related to legal compliance. The teacher turnover rate in the North East Region exceeds the state average by several percentage points. Consequently, the building-level principal is faced with numerous challenges related to hiring, including a potential lack of qualified candidates and the revolving door of staff vacancies. One of the commonly accepted best hiring practices is to involve nonadministrative staff members, particularly classroom teachers, in the hiring process. However, many of these teachers have far less specific knowledge of legal compliance as it relates to hiring than do their administrators. Without a mechanism in place to provide a sufficient, if not optimal, knowledge of the law, many well-meaning teachers on hiring committees can inadvertently violate the legal rights of prospective candidate and potential colleagues. Many school systems in eastern North Carolina, faced with numerous systemic challenges, may neglect to refresh principals routinely on legal compliance issues. A deliberate approach to ensuring legal compliance during the hiring process can help schools and systems avoid conflict with the Office of Civil Rights and other compliance organizations.
Rationale/Objectives
The goals of this professional development plan are as follows: To provide a common basis of legal knowledge for all members of the hiring process; To specify the statutory laws related to hiring that require compliance; To identify some common pitfalls and hiring missteps to avoid; To recommend several best hiring practices that can ensure legal compliance during the hiring process.
Legal Overview
Legal compliance in hiring practices begins with knowledge of the federal statutes, including the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and including other federal statutory laws, several of which are identified below. Federal Protections U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Equal Protection Clause
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII (SEC. 2000e-2. [Section 703])
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act provides federal legislation that forbids employers from discriminating against prospective or current employees in regards to several protected characteristics, specifically race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Civil Rights Act was updated in 1991 to provide additional protections and details regarding legal compliance and also punitive damages in cases of workplace discrimination. This excerpt serves as an exemplar of the protections afforded job candidates during the hiring process as defined in the CRA. It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer -
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individuals race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or (2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individuals race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Other Federal Legal Protections Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967: prohibits age discrimination in hiring specifically for qualified individuals over 40 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: prohibits employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), Title II: prohibits employment discrimination based on genetic information about an applicant, employee, or former employee Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) and Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Acts, which provide protections for men and women from sex-based discrimination if they perform substantially equal work in the same establishment
North Carolina State Protections North Carolina Equal Employment Practices Act, N.C. GEN. STAT. ANN. 143-49A The NCEEPA essentially reinforces the federal protections cited above. It does not offer any new or additional protections for prospective employees, such as protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Article 49A. Equal Employment Practices It is the public policy of this State to protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain and hold employment without discrimination or abridgement on account of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap by employers which regularly employ 15 or more employees. It is recognized that the practice of denying employment opportunity and discriminating in the terms of employment foments domestic strife and unrest, deprives the State of the fullest utilization of its capacities for advancement and
development, and substantially and adversely affects the interests of employees, employers, and the public in general. Other related NC statutes include the North Carolina State Personnel Act and the North Carolina Persons With Disabilities Protection Act.
Local Issues Within federal guidelines, state and local education agencies have flexibility to add additional legal protections, many of which are procedural, related to the hiring process. The fine print in many job contracts specifies job expectations and duties that go beyond federal guidelines but are still legally compliant. For example, some districts contractually require teachers to agree not to have amorous relationships with other staff members. Consequently, although there is general compliance with federal antidiscrimination guidelines from state to state and county to county, a wide degree of flexibility exists in what local Boards of Education can require of new hires. For this reason, it is critical that both hiring committees and prospective employees be aware of the contractual details (fine print) of the LEA and that these expectations are communicated transparently prior to an offer of employment being made or accepted.
5 7 min.
Warm-Up
7 10 min.
Legal Overview
7 10 min.
Scenario Challenge
5 8 min.
Following the scenario challenge, the facilitator will provide an overview of Best Hiring Practices that promote legal compliance. This overview will continue and conclude the PowerPoint. The facilitator will administer an assessment (Table 1.3) to training participants that will allow them to demonstrate mastery of the key points related to legal compliance during hiring. The facilitator will conclude the training by providing participants several print materials as exemplars for the hiring process. This will include a model set of interview questions, a confidentiality agreement for members of a hiring committee, and a release statement for prospective candidates. An additional resource will include a more detailed description of anti-discriminatory hiring practices for future reference.
7 10 min.
Assessment
3 5 min.
Closure
Assessment
There are two primary assessment components to this legal lesson plan:
The first assessment occurs as an element of the training. It documents the concerted effort by the facilitator (building-level administrator) to educate the members of the hiring committee about relevant antidiscrimination practices. Combined, the training and assessment should demonstrate some measure of legal protection should an inadvertent compliance infraction occur and an investigation by the Office of Civil Rights take place. The second assessment is performance-based: it is the real-world application of this training during the hiring process. The ultimate end-goal of this training is to better prepare public school hiring committees, especially those that include classroom teachers, to conduct legallycompliant interview processes that do not discriminate against any applicant based on race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, or genetic information.
Sources
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (www.eeoc.gov) Findlaw (www.findlaw.com) Cornell University Law School (www.law.cornell.edu)
Table 1.1
Directions: Independently review each set of questions that might be asked of prospective candidates interviewing for a job at our school. Indicate whether each question violates the legal rights of the candidate by checking Yes, Possibly, or No. For this exercise, assume the job offer is in North Carolina. Set 1 Hypothetical Question
1. Hello, should we call you Miss, Ms., or Mrs.? 2. How old are you? 3. In what country were you born? 4. Are you having a boy or girl? 5. Bradyis that Irish? 6. Do you have any disabilities? 7. Does heart disease run in your family?
Does this interview question likely violate the rights of the candidate? Yes Possibly No
Does this interview question likely violate the rights of the candidate? Yes Possibly No
Table 1.2
In small groups, discuss each scenario and decide together whether a legal compliance violation has occurred. Has a legal compliance violation occurred?
Yes SCENARIO 1: After interviewing a candidate for a science position at your school, the chair of your hiring committee decides to give the candidate a tour of the school. During the tour, the candidate, who is visibly pregnant, meets several faculty members, who greet her warmly and discuss the family-friendly culture of the school. Although the candidate has not acknowledged or discussed her pregnancy, one of the faculty members on the tour asks, When is your baby due? SCENARIO 2: As principal of your school, you are committed to involving both teachers and community stakeholders in the hiring process for new staff members. For this reason, you assemble a hiring committee comprised of the School Improvement Team chair, a counselor, three teachers, and a parent representative, who happens to be a local minister. Before the interview, each member of the hiring committee is introduced to the candidate, and the interview proceeds pleasantly. During the interview, the parent representative says to the candidate, I notice the cross you are wearing. If you do not have a home church, we would love for you to visit Sunrise Baptist Church. SCENARIO 3: The hiring committee at your school is meeting to discuss the anticipated vacancies for next year and to formulate a standard set of interview questions to be asked of all candidates. In addition, the committee will conduct a preliminary review of applicants for a current vacancy in your math department. During the meeting, the chair of your hiring committee says to the group: Our school system has a district goal of improving the diversity of our teaching staff. Our student population is becoming increasingly Asian, so we need to hire someone for this position who is Asian if at all possible. Lets look at those applications first. SCENARIO 4: The hiring committee at your school has reviewed several applications for a vacancy in your English department and wishes to meet and interview three of the candidates next week. One candidate is African-American, one candidate is Caucasian, and one candidate is Hispanic. After the interviews, the committee agrees that the Hispanic candidate is most qualified. However, the principal disagrees and chooses to hire the African-American candidate instead. The principal does not disclose her reasons for choosing the African-American candidate to the group. No
Scenario
Table 1.3
Part I. Which of the following are protected characteristics that should not be addressed directly or indirectlyduring the interview and hiring process? Circle all that apply. Race Disability Ethnicity Education Religion Work Experience Age Sex Personality Professional Goals National Origin Family planning
Part II. Which interview questions are legally complaint and which ones are not? Would this interview question be legally compliant? Yes
1. If we hire you, would you be interested in joining a morning prayer group at our school? 2. Tell us a little about yourself. 3. Do you plan to have kids one day? 4. What will your references say about you when we call them? 5. What are your philosophy and procedures for handling classroom discipline? 6. Why do you want to work at our school, in particular? 7. What strengths and weaknesses do you haveas a teacher that may not be evident in an interview? 8. Can you honestly say that you will be a Christian role model for our student body? 9. Tell us about a teaching strategy you use that is particularly effective. 10. If we hire you, will you be able to climb the stairs to the second floor if our elevator is out of order? Are you ambulatory without your wheelchair?
Interview Question
No
Part III. Name three strategies that hiring committees can utilize to eliminate discriminatory hiring practices and improve their legal compliance. 1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
BRADY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM EQUAL OPPORTUNITY NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT It is the policy of the Brady Public School System to provide equal opportunities without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, or veteran status in its hiring, employment, educational, and related programs. The School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.
The following contact has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the districts nondiscrimination policies: Kevin Brady Associate Superintendent, Human Resources Brady Public School System P.O. Box *** Skeetville, NC 25684 ***-***-****
_____________________________________ Signature
_______________ Date