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Firefighter Physical Agility Tests

LeahLeah 1 Post
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down
Our municipal fire department conducts physical agility tests as part of their recuitment process (climbing & carrying ladders, pulling hose, etc.). What, if any, are concerns in regard to female applicants? Should there be 2 separate tests, one for males and one for females (disparate impact issues)? Thanks for your help. Leah
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  • DBDB 136 Posts
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    I work for a city in Illinois and we use a physical agility test for police officers and EMS personnel. Numerous other cities and counties use it also. It has four components (benchpress, sit ups, 1 mile run & I forgot the last one); is pass/fail and has different criteria depending on gender and age. It was challanged in court long some ago and upheld. It's called the POWER test. If you want a copy, send me an email & I'll send you what I have. Our Public Safety department administers it so I don't have all of the details.

    Donna
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  • SystemSystem 5,885 Posts
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    The EEOC says disparate impact is when the pass rate for women is less than 80% of the pass rate for men. Then you'd have the burden of proving that the test was job related.

    There's a good article in the September 1999 issue of New York Employment Law Letter ("Fire department hosed for failing to show test was job-related"). If you're a member of our Law Center in your state, you can find it in the members area of HRhero.com. If not, you can order a back copy from [email]custserv@mleesmith.com[/email]

    James Sokolowski
    Senior Editor
    M. Lee Smith Publishers
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