Mar 4, 2015 | Blog

Win the Argument with Legal. What you Need to Know about Video Interviewing and Discrimination

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So you’ve done your homework and developed a solid business case for your company’s acquisition of a video interviewing solution.  As a TA professional, you realize video interviewing has become a mainstream best practice employed, in some capacity, by nearly 80% of enterprise-level businesses. Still, you face some hurdles with your uber-conservative, risk-averse legal department. Here’s how to win that argument and be dubbed as your organization’s top innovation leader bringing transformation into the hiring process.

4 Ways Video Interviewing Protects Against Discrimination Risk

If Legal is raising a red flag, they may be concerned about potential discrimination issues with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). However, the fact is, when used correctly, a video interview presents no greater legal risk than a traditional in-person interview.

A new whitepaper on this topic, written by noted Attorney Les Rosen, a regular speaker on the SHRM circuit, is available here. The paper concludes that a well-designed video interviewing platform becomes part of the solution for reducing the risk of discrimination. It outlines four points you can make with Legal about ways video interviewing protects your organization by providing:

  1. Transparency: Everything that happens during the video interview is on the screen for everyone to see: employers, recruiters, hiring managers, candidates, the EEOC and OFCCP. In other words, “what you see is what you get,” and with many video interviewing solutions, it’s not just live, it’s all recorded proof of compliance.
  2. Consistency: Employers can create a single recording of the same interview questions and ask those questions in the same way from the same interviewer to every candidate interviewed. Everyone receives the same consistent experience, and the same fair and equal process.
  3. Non-Discriminatory Discussions: Video interviewing using pre-prepared and/or pre-recorded standardized questions for candidates. This helps prevent small talk, flattery, jokes and off-subject discussions that may create unwanted opportunities for discrimination.   
  4. Record Retention: Using video interviewing in the hiring process can strengthen compliance with the OFCCP since contractors and sub-contractors are required to store interviewing and applicant data for up to two years. Video interviewing technology enables TA professionals to perform this task with ease and efficiency.

Your Strong Closing Points

If you’re still getting friction after you’ve shared this information with Legal, there are four additional steps you can take to win your case. First, be sure your legal department understands clearly how video interviewing works.  Make sure they are not confusing video interviewing with something that won’t provide the safeguards outlined above, such as receiving unsolicited video resumes from candidates, or interviewing a candidate with a chat or conferencing tool.

Second, involve them early and often when shopping video interviewing technology firms. The more they know about the functionality and its business benefits, the better.

Third, invite them to join the live or archived webcast hosted by Human Capital Institute on this subject featuring our expert speaker, Les Rosen. He can be a valuable resource for ongoing questions or concerns.

And, finally, emphasize that you fully embrace compliance with EEOC and OFCCP regulations in all interviewing activity. If they entrust TA and hiring managers with in-person interviews then they entrust TA and hiring managers with technology-enabled interviews. In the eyes of the EEOC, they are exactly the same thing.