A high school diploma or its equivalent has long been a standard for employers in the hiring process. That could all change now that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has advised employers that they may run afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act in doing so.
Employers are facing more uncertainty in the wake of a letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission warning them that requiring a high school diploma from a job applicant might violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The development also has some wondering if the agency’s advice will result in an educational backlash by creating less of an incentive for some high-school students to graduate.
The “informal discussion letter” from the EEOC said an employer’s requirement of a high school diploma, long a standard criteria for screening potential employees, must be “job-related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity.” The letter was posted on the commission’s website on Dec. 2.
Employers could run afoul of the ADA if their requirement of a high school diploma ” ‘screens out’ an individual who is unable to graduate because of a learning disability that meets the ADA’s definition of ‘disability,’ ” the EEOC explained.
The commission’s advice, which does not carry the force of law, is raising alarms among employment-law experts who say it could carry far-reaching implications for businesses. (Read More)
This is ridiculous, sometimes a potential employee’s education is the only tool an employer has to use to judge the candidate’s qualifications. This is just another move by the Obama administration making it harder to do business in America. It’s also an insult to those who have learning disabilities, as if they should just give up.
I can hear the lawyers licking their chops already.
Update: Lady Liberty linked – thanks.
Tags: ADA, EEOC, high school diploma, job requirement, obama
Not graduating high school is now a disability? They’re just running blocker for the non-performance of the teachers unions. In a city close by where I live (not Detroit) the percentage of children not graduating high school is 25%. That’s a staggering number IMHO and I’m sure Detroit and other major metropolitan school systems are comparable if not worse. Somehow, someway, those people not graduating must become employable and the government will force it if they have to and blaming the private sector is always the perfect alibi for the progressives.
This is a shame on the public teaching profession and delinquent parents across America. I don’t know if the EEOC is going to be able to make this stick because the military requires you to be a high school grad or equivalent, but they’ll probably change that too. Lower the bar and the state finds it just that much easier to exert their control.
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That’s the most moronic thing I have heard yet and I doubt it will hold water if tested.
The message here is kids don’t need to stay in school to get a job — your job, my job, who ever’s job — because they are entitled to it.
I think we will see teachers unions get their panties in a wad over this, watch.
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Gimme…Gimmee…Gimmee!
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[...] EEOC Advises Employers Requiring High School Diploma Could Violate ADA | The Lonely Conservative [...]
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In the immortal words of Home J. Simpson……D’OH
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