eeo language in employment ads

MrCreosote

An auditor has suggested that we use the "equal opportunity language" in our employment ads "to prevent any possible misunderstandings in the future."
We have never done this because it seems useless and slightly raises the cost of ads by adding a line. It seems unncessary to me to list illegal things that we will not do since we don't do anything illegal.
Also, we have fewer than 50 employees and don't report to the EEOC, don't track applicant race, and don't have an affirmative action plan. It seems that if we use that language we might be asked to prove it some day and we would not be able to.
When I look through want ads I don't see the eeo language in many ads. How many people use it and is anyone required to use it?

LindaS

Whenever we place an employment ad the words "Equal Opportunity Employer" are ALWAYS placed at the bottom of the ad. I'm not sure what the cost is for this line but I have NEVER placed an ad without it.

Dasher

I just say "EOE" at the end of the ad. That does not add much and everyone knows what it stands for.

njjel

and for those that are required to do so, don't forget to add Affirmative Action Employer

Gillian

Most employers of any size use the notation, even if it is just EOE. I haven't heard of any employer, at least in the last bunch of years, who have had to justify why they didn't have it or used it as a demonstration that they are a good employer, but do it, it isn't a big issue.

MrCreosote

Thanks for the replies. I will probably just start using it in order to appease the auditors. A check in Chicago Tribune want ads, where we advertise, shows me that only about 25% of the ads include the eoe language. What are the vast majority of us missing?

cthr

We are an AA employer and I use EOE M/V/F/D. This should cover you and adds little to the cost of the ad, certainly much less than a discrimination suit would.

jules2001

>We are an AA employer and I use EOE M/V/F/D

We have just been bought out and will have an AA plan this year. I know EOE, but what does the rest of the above stand for? Veteran? Disabled? I know, it's probably something I should already know...

Gillian

Minority, veteran, female, disabled.

jules2001

Thanks Gillian! #-o

djacobs475

Gillian,

Still an HR nubie, I am now wondering: we are under 50 ees but are a govt. contractor, do we need to put an AA plan together and do we need to file with EEO? So far, we have done neither. x:-/

Thanks.

HR in Okla

To the HR nubie asking about requirements for AA plans: The SHRM learning materials I studied for the SPHR exam say "... affirmative action plans are required of federal contractors with 50 or more employees and $50, 000 or more in government contractors." That's from Executive Orders 11246, 11375 and 11478.

I believe if you have over 100 employees, you are required to file an EEO-1 report annually. EEOC sends me the information to do it in September each year, but that process was already in place when I started here, so I'm not sure what triggers it.

I'd go to the EEOC website for information to start with.

Good luck.

djacobs475

HR in Okla,

Thanks - I will check the EEOC site.

pecohr

I agree with the above posts. There are things we do that are not required but just make good sense. Adding EOE or some such language to your ad's can go a long way towards establishing you are a non-discriminatory hiring group.

Steve McElfresh

Some of our clients (with encouragement . . .) have concluded that EEO is better presented as an aspect of what makes them an attractive employer to the best applicants, rather an just an obligation. As a result, ad statements tend to be more expressive, such as:

"Note that XXX is an equal opportunity employer. We take pride in the diversity of our staff, and seek diversity in our applicants."

The additional wording is made easy/cheap since almost all of our clients' advertising is in job boards, not print.

Regards,

Steve Mac

Steve McElfresh, PhD
Principal
HR Futures

408.605.1870

MrCreosote

I understand that the eoe language can help in recruiting by making the company more attractive, and that it can be used the same way that one might mention a good schedule or nice match on the 401(k). I like the suggested language, especially for boards that don't charge by the line.
I don't understand how it can help one avoid a discrimination lawsuit. If we're doing something illegal, how can the wording in an ad help to exonerate us?

pecohr

You are correct that the EOE wording will not help (much) if you have discriminatory hiring practices, but if it's a case of just being accused than it's one more point in your defense.

Steve McElfresh

The EEO language is indeed not likely to be of much value in reducing discrimination liabiity. IMHO.

It is, however, of more value in your response to an OFCCP desk (or other) audit about your good faith efforts. More precisely, its absence is likely cause consternation and elevation in auditor eyebrows, even if its presence garners you little positive credit.

And, as I have said above, when done right the language is of much more value when it conveys the openness of your company and hence makes you more attractive to the best candidates.

Regards,

Steve Mac

Steve McElfresh, PhD
Principal
HR Futures

408.605.1870

Don D

As will surprise very few, if any, of you, I have just enough 'resistance to government control' in me to not list such things in employment ads unless required to do so. It's perhaps done so often that it has become totally meaningless except to the lady at the paper who counts the words and runs your tab. If doing so might garner us a bit of favor with an auditor, why not go ahead and pay for the additional lines to also list: "Handicapped Accessible Facility", "Male and Female Restrooms Provided", "FMLA Observed Here", We Support Your USERRA Rights", "Non-Secular Holidays Observed Here", "Democratic Management Style Employed Here" and "We Provide Suggestion Boxes and Observe All National and State Labor Laws". Is there any among you who has actually NOT applied for work somewhere because the company did not end ads with EOE? Unless legislation or agreement requires that such be included in your ads, doing so is about as useless untimately as paying these organizations who claim to publish obscure journals of EOE employers to include your company name among those of thousands of companies who cave in to such manipulation and intimidation. A better question might be, is there any among you who has been told by an applicant that the reason they chose not to pursue opportunities with your company was because, although you ran a really informational ad, you failed to conclude it by promising to do what is right? Don D.

Steve McElfresh

Don,

With all due respect (which is a great deal), your question is rather upside down. You suggest asking if we know of someone who did not pursue applying becasue of what was not said in the ad. Uh, right.

The question that can be answered is whether anyone was more inclined to apply (or accept) because of what was said. Answer: Yes. Including some of the best candidates. Not often, but at $0 cost, well worth it.

Perhaps that is an effect specific to the left coast, but I don't think so.

By the way, you are quite right about the obsure and sometimes non-existent EEO journals that oft separate a fool and their advertising dollars.

Regards,

Steve Mac

McElfresh, PhD
Principal
HR Futures

408.605.1870

Don D

Steve: I think your logic is fatally flawed. How can my question be upside down? The answer to my question can be easily found where yours has no answer. Either ask yourself or run a poll in your hallway to ascertain whether there are people in reality who have either applied or not applied for work dependent on the concluding meaningless initials at the bottom of an employment ad. There is no answer to your question because one cannot ultimately ever prove or disprove the conjecture of your thought that some might not apply because of the absence of magic letters in an ad. That indeed is 'left coast logic'. P.S. Other than a rare T-Bone steak or a willing lover, there is absolutely nothing I would rather find in my inbox than a comment from Steve Mc.

ritaanz

What is "left coast" and "left coast logic"? It's a new one on me.

Parabeagle

"Left coast" is a term, often meant to be derogatory, referring to the West Coast. In my experience it's usually used by east coast (or should I say "right coast") natives or southern residents.

Steve McElfresh

Rita Anz:

This is a subtle reference to the astonishing respect given California values, widely recognized in the deep south by those envious to live here . . . ;- } Sorry Don.

Seriously, it is a term for the west coast, and the value attached to the phrase depends on one's perspective, geographic and otherwise.

Steve Mac

Steve McElfresh, PhD
Principal
HR Futures

408.605.1870

Parabeagle

As a native Oregonian, puh-LEEZE don't get me started on California!

Eric

ritaanz

For a minute there, I thought the Jersey gurl was gonna hav ta take charge. x:P

Don D

Ritaanz: Understanding you're from Jersey, let me take you through this reeeallll slow like. Pretend you're looking at a map of the US. To your right might be, say for example, the Carolinas, or Delaware, The Right Coast (although not spoken of in geographic context often, like Left Coast). Stay with me. You live in Arizona, so you are maybe 58 miles from the LEFT coast. Just kidding. I don't want to rile an ex-Jersey-woman. The term left-coast was not coined by a Southerner. The first time I heard the phrase, it was said by David Brinkley, who arguably was a mighty liberal guy back 'in his day'. Shortly after that, Sam Donaldson, hardly a Southerner, began to use it with regularity on the Sunday morning news/talk program. The 'Left Coast' applies only to California. Oregon and Washington are generally regarded as part of 'the regular United States'. Although there are many opinions held about the Left Coast, there is at least one person out there who should run for President. That's Steve Mc. Timothy Leary and Jane Fonda are also from The Left Coast. (Please don't remind me that Trent Lott is from my state).

ritaanz

My Dearest Mr. Don: It was sooooo nice of you to take the time and make the effort to reply to my question of What's a left coast. I appreciate the history of the phrase, identifying the distinguished gentlemen that spoke the phrase, and lastly, narrowing down the expanse to California.

However, growing up and aging in the East, presumably the Right Coast, I always thought that California and its early inhabitants were bestowed upon us by the aliens from another galaxy. That could be the only explanation for why they, to this day, "march to a different drummer". Best regards, R.

Steve McElfresh

Further elucidation of political geography: we do not appear to have many vocal participants from So. or Central California, as most of them (but for Santa Monica and Hollywood) will claim that the Left Coast appellation really applies only Santa Barbara north, and Eureka south, clinging rather closely to the ocean front.

To all: your jealousy about the good life hereabouts is understandable and appreciated. ;-}


Steve Mac

Steve McElfresh, PhD
Principal
HR Futures

408.605.1870

ritaanz

Viola! You have not disappointed me.

Parabeagle

Steve, I've been biting my cheek all morning willing myself not to take the bait on your "good life" comments, but I can't restrain myself. If the Golden State (aka the Left Coast) is the promised land, why am I surrounded by Californians up here in cold, rainy, green Oregon? Why does it take me forever to go home on Highway 26, why has the average cost of a home up here doubled in the last couple of decades, why is Portland popping at the seams and why do I see so many California license plates? Hmmmm... the mind boggles (at least mine does).


Oh, and to answer the original question: Yes, we put EEO language in our ads.