Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/710421
LEGAL LANE 14 // COMPANY DRIVER // AUGUST 2016 Sleep Apnea, and High Blood Pressure are all taking their toll on the driver populace. Many fleets have implemented work ability tests as part of their orientation process. Those that have implemented these tests tell me it has had a huge impact on their work related inju- ries. However, you have to be willing to let a truck sit empty even when this driver is quali- fied in every other way because you've sent him home for failing the work ability test. Here is my advice for carriers to increase their recruiting of qualified drivers. I find the internet is the number one place drivers go to find a job. You need to have a good on-line recruiting page and application that is not only PC but also Mobile compat- ible. You need to have a plan to immediately recruit direct applicants and to market to indi- rect applicants. There are several other major issues recruit- ing departments face such as the Equal Em- ployment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) en- forcement. The EEOC laws have not changed, but the enforcement guidelines have and most carri- ers don't realize their current policies may put them in jeopardy. For instance, a carrier in New York had in their advertisement that they don't hire Felons. A potential driver calls and says – "I've got a felony will you hire me?" the recruiter says "no, we have a company policy that we don't hire anyone with a felony". The next call they got was from the EEOC. Here's the situation; about 1 in 3 African American men, about 1 in 6 Hispanics, and 1 in 17 White men have been incarcerated. So the EEOC has looked at this statistic and decided if you have a blanket policy that you won't hire anyone with a felony conviction that you will have a "disparate impact" on Black and Hispanic men. Moreover, they don't think a criminal conviction should keep a person unemployed for the rest of their life. There are also some cities that have passed laws prohibiting the question on the applica- tion that asks "Have you ever been convicted of a felony." There are two ways for a carrier to address this: • Be able to prove that you are only ban- ning criminal conduct that is directly re- lated to the job requirements; and • Do one-on-one interactions with the potential employee and consider that in- dividual's specific information about the nature of the crime, the time elapsed and the nature of the job. If you do have the question on your applica- tion asking if a person has had a felony, it is recommended that you have a statement that "answering yes is not necessarily grounds for denial, all criminal records are considered on a case by case basis." So we've entered the day when a company can't have a blanket policy regarding not hir- ing a person with a criminal record. Since you have to hire a person with a criminal re- cord wouldn't it be nice to take the subjectiv- ity out of the hiring decision and be at least fairly certain you are hiring a good person that will do the right thing - a person that will be safe, compliant, listen to and follow instruc- tions. With this in mind I highly recommend JoBehaviors. JoBehaviors is a behavioral as- sessment tool that takes the subjectivity out of the hiring decision. It tests a person on their behavior – and their score gives you an indica- tion of whether they have the right behavior for your company. So if you have to hire peo- ple with criminal records I recommend know- ing if they have the right behavior to be on your fleet. As long as you test every applicant