Physical testing before hire

March22Collector

Currently my company will make a job offer contingent upon satisfactorily completing a physical and drug screen. We recently interviewed a gentleman who looks to be in not so good of shape. No disabilities just really really out of shape. I'm concerned that he may not be able to perform the job for which we would like to hire him. Everything else about the guy is fantastic though. My boss wants me to bring him in and test him physically on the job he would be doing if hired. We have no policy on this, no plan, and no set testing criteria. We do profile testing, but have never done physical testing. Would it be ok to bring someone in and have them perform portions of the job for 10-15 minutes as a test? My understanding is that if the test is related directly to their work it would be ok. But, I'm not sure. Any help? Thanks!

Gillian3

Not when the motive is because he's not in too good a shape. You could do testing, which includes physical testing, if you were to give the test to all applicants. One of the problems you might have is maybe the person can do the job for 15 minutes (the test) but can't handle two hours. Your best bet is probably to have a physical by a doctor who knows what the job is. Even there, though, it should apply to all applicants.

lorrie

I agree. You can't pick out one person to test differently. You can require the agility test etc. if it is required of all applicants.

System

That's the whole point of paying a provider to conduct the physical and drug screen. If the provider has copies of your job descriptions, they should compare the applicant's ability to perform against the demands of the job requirements. Your job description should contain physical demands and samples of work. It might say "must be able to climb a ladder and fit through a crawl space 12" X 18." It could say "frequently uses hand tools such as shovels, axes, hammers, picks, rakes, and minor power tools." If your job description is well-written, let the people who conduct the physical determine if he can do the job or not. That's what you're paying for.

HRinFL

I agree with the others. Changing your process this one time will cause unnecessar liability. Follow your normal procedures.

Another reason not to test in the work environment is that if the prospective ee gets injured performing this test, you are liable for his injury and all realted costs. Just not a good plan.

LivindonSouth

Sometimes I have a bad memory and sometimes I have a good memory. I remember the original Gillian, about three and a half or four years ago posting something a client told him. It was something along the lines of Gillian asking him what their pre employment physical policy was and the guy told him it was something like, "We don't really have one except we test only the guys who look like they may be sick or disabled". This has come back to G3 full circle now.

Gillian3

You are correct. The words were "we only test the sickly looking ones".

pork1

We have made the passenger seat available to any candidate who wishes to see the job in full vision; from time to time, we even encourage the interviewee to pick-up the "piglets" and hang with the big girls 300 to 700 lbs. Just to see and get a feel from their perspective, if he/she would be physically and mentally capable of doing the job task. We watch their actions and any resistance to being around the animals is included in our decision to pick the most qualified person out of an interview group. The most important thing is to make sure the individual is in agreement not to do any work and only Kibitz. We have only had one accident and it was minor, one candidate jumped back in the presence of a herded sow. The jumping back caused us to identify a nail in the wall which caught the uniform, she was wearing and tore the uniform and scratched her back. It was taken careof by our First Responder Team member assign to that work site.

I feel comfortable in writing that you can physically test all applicants, but I would not suggest that you test just one unless it is a specialty position of one.

PORK

LivindonSouth

After the candidate sees the '300 to 700 pound big girls', do you then take them from the office out to the area where the pigs are?