> DOJ Best Practices for Online Job Postings

These days most jobs are posted online, whether on the employer's web site, in an online publication or with an organization related to the position, among other venues.  The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) offers best practices for employers posting jobs online, aimed primarily at avoiding the appearance of national origin discrimination.   For employers who won't offer immigration sponsorship, DOJ advises against limiting positions to "U.S. citizens or permanent residents" because this is unduly restrictive and rules out certain categories of individuals who are eligible for unrestricted employment in the United States but who aren't U.S. citizens or permanent residents. 

Clients often ask how to avoid the appearance of national origin discrimination while complying with immigration law which requires employers to verify eligibility for employment in the United States.  Employers have no duty to offer immigration sponsorship, as long as the decision to not to offer immigration sponsorship isn't based on discrimination as to the employee's or candidate's actual (or believed) country of origin.  And employers can't discriminate against workers authorized for employment in the United States based on their country of origin.

Many employers use third party online service providers to host their job postings.  Some service providers are updating their job posting systems to reflect the DOJ best practices, and others are asking the employers using their service to identify any changes that should be made under the DOJ best practices so the service provider can customize the system to each client's compliance plan.  Asking the employer to identify changes needed for best practices makes sense because liability for an unfair employment practice lies with the employer, not the third party service provider hosting the employer's job posting.  Also, the DOJ best practices read more like suggestions than directives, leaving much to the discretion of the employer, so service providers can't necessarily make one change that will suit all employers using their service. Our clients are seeking our input on how they should follow the best practices in their own job postings.

If you have questions about how to incorporate DOJ's best practices into your online job postings, please contact me and I'll be happy to discuss it with you.