Checklist: Skills and Psychological Testing

The following are among the factors employers should consider in using a skills or ability test or a psychological test as a tool in making employment decisions:

• Is the test job-related (i.e., does it measure skills, abilities, or traits that are relevant to actual job functions)?
• Are nondiscriminatory factors used in determining who takes the test?
• Are the purpose and nature of the test explained to the people required to take it? Have they consented in writing? Have the consequences of refusing to take the test been explained?
• Is the test administered in a nondiscriminatory way?
• Does the test tend to have a disproportionate adverse effect on members of a protected class?
• Does the test constitute a medical exam under the ADA because it:
  • measures the existence, nature, or severity of an individual's physical or mental impairment or an individual's physical or psychological health?
  • is administered and interpreted by a health care professional or someone trained by a health care professional?
  • is given for the purpose of revealing either disabilities or the individual's general health?
  • measures physiological or psychological responses as opposed to performance of a job-related task?
  • is invasive? (Examples of invasive tests are blood, urine, and breath tests).
  • would normally be administered in a medical setting, and uses medical equipment or devices?

(Note: If the answer to any of these questions is yes, the test may not be administered before a conditional offer of employment has been made, and it may be used for current employees only in limited situations).

• Is the test professionally developed?
• Has the test been validated under EEOC guidelines?
• If the test asks highly intrusive questions, can the questions be justified by a legitimate business interest?
• Do the test results provided to the employer reveal how the person who was tested answered specific questions? (preferably not)
• In the case of psychological tests, is the test well-recognized and well respected for measuring what it claims to measure?
• In the case of psychological tests, does the test use a distortion scale to adjust scores for faking?
• Does research or past experience indicate that the test serves its intended purpose (are the people hired on the basis of test results actually performing better)?
• In the case of commercially available testing tools, has the product been legally challenged, and what was the outcome?