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Applicant Tracking System – Who should be able to see Self-ID responses?

Anonymous - June 17, 2015
Back to Ask the Experts

I am the System Administrator of our ATS and am also newly responsible for our Affirmative Action Plans. It recently came to my attention that our HRBP with the main responsibility for Veteran Outreach could not identify applicants who Pre-Hire Self-ID as Veterans due to the permissions granted within our system.

When I looked into it, I also determined that the HRBPs/Recruiters don’t have access to those applicants who Self-ID as IWD.

I discussed it with our ATS vendor and, while they were willing to give access to Veteran information, they were reluctant to give access to IWD. Here is their response:

“While the OFCCP requires disability related data to be collected, it is our understanding that disability information should not be available to hiring managers (including recruiters) to ensure that individuals making hiring decisions do not have knowledge about the applicant’s self-identification of disability status. This disability information is only intended for reporting purposes at the aggregate level to help federal contractors self-assess whether they are meeting the benchmark goal set by the OFCCP for hiring individuals with disabilities.”

So my questions are:
1) As a Federal Contractor with all of the associated OFCCP responsibilities, who within the screening/hiring process should be able to see the Pre-hire Self-ID information, both, Veteran and IWD?
2) I know that the hiring manager should not, but what about the Recruiter?
3) To “meet the benchmark goals set by the OFCCP,” wouldn’t it be helpful to know the Self-ID responses when comparing otherwise equally qualified candidates?

Our Affirmative Action TPA believes that it is OK for Recruiters to see this information.

Thanks!

1 Answer

Our Experts

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Ahmed Younies

President and CEO, HR Unlimited, Inc.

Alissa Horvitz, Esq.

Member Attorney, Roffman Horvitz, PLC

Allen Hudson, PHR, SHRM-CP

CEO, HudsonMann

Bill Osterndorf

Principal Consultant, DCI Consulting Group, Inc

Carla Irwin, Esq.

President, Carla Irwin & Associates, Inc.

Craig Leen

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David Cohen

President and Founder, DCI Consulting

Ellen Shong-Bergman

Former Director, OFCCP and Retired President, Ellen Shong & Associates,

Josh Roffman, Esq.

Managing Attorney, Roffman Horvitz, PLC

Lisa Kaiser, Esq.

Lawyer, The Kaiser Law Group, PLLC

Marilynn L. Schuyler, Esq.

Senior Counsel, Seyfarth Shaw

Matt Nusbaum

Senior Consultant, Director, Biddle Consulting Group, Inc.

Stephanie Stahr

Senior HR Consultant, Berkshire Associates

William E. Doyle, Jr., Esq.

Former Deputy Director, OFCCP Partner, McGuireWoods LLP

Zoe Ann Whitley

Manager, Consulting Services, Affirmity

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