The EEOC on Video Resumes
Video Resumes are a fairly new way of applying for a job. As a result, no standards have been established and defined yet.
In October 2004, an Assistant Legal Councel of the EEOC published an informal discussion letter on “Recordkeeping Responsibilities for Electronic Resumes with Video Clips / Employer Knowledge of Ethnicity, Gender, and Disability Prior to Interview”.
“… This is in response to your recent correspondence sent through the Department of Labor requesting that the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provide guidance on the recordkeeping responsibilities of an employer considering electronic resumes with video clips.
… There are two EEOC rules that involve recordkeeping: the Title VII and ADA recordkeeping rule (29 C.F.R. Part 1602); and the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP) (29 C.F.R. Part 1607). …
... Under Title VII, it is not illegal for an employer to learn the race, gender or ethnicity of an individual prior to an interview. Of course, Title VII requires that all individuals be provided equal, nondiscriminatory treatment throughout the hiring process. If an employer representative observes a job seeker in a video clip, and either learns or surmises the person's gender, race, or ethnicity, such knowledge could increase the risk of discrimination or the appearance of discrimination. Employers need to take care in training hiring officials and human resources staff about the appropriate responses when gender, race, or ethnicity are disclosed during recruitment. Video clips might be analogized to information on a resume that clearly tells an individual's race, such as, "President, Black Law Students Association." In this situation, as with the video clip, the employer needs to focus on the person's qualifications for the job.
… If you learn or suspect that an individual has a disability after seeing his/her video clip, you have not violated the inquiry prohibition of the ADA, but you must not use that information to discriminate in hiring…
... an individual would not be an "applicant" simply because a potential employer viewed his video, listened to his audio, or reviewed his resume on the Internet. The individual only would become an "applicant" after he appropriately expressed an interest in a particular position that the employer had acted to fill….
Read the full letter: EEOC www.eeoc.gov/foia/letters/2004/titlevii_ada_recordkeeping_video.html