Employment Applications: Do's and Don'ts

A common question I am asked is, should we update our job application form? My answer is typically, it depends on what you use it for?

When to keep your application form but review it
If your organization still accepts walk-in applicants and/or you collect application forms from people when they are still applicants, it is probably worth your while to take a fresh look at your document. 

Since you may likely collect many applications for each position you fill, it is prudent to avoid collecting personal data that you won't need until you're ready to make the applicant an offer. So here are some items that we don't recommend including on your application form:
- Social Security number
- Drivers License or CDL number (even if the job is for a driver) 
- Date of Birth
- Dates that the candidate attended or graduated from schools
- Questions about citizenship 
- Questions about health conditions 

If we decide to make an offer to an individual, we can collect Social Security, drivers license or CDL numbers at the offer stage so we can run the appropriate background screens. But there's no benefit to having file folders full of drivers license and Social Security numbers on individuals that we have no intention of hiring. 

Here are some questions that may be legal, but you may want to consult with legal counsel before including them on your application form:

- Have you ever filed a workers comp claim?  This may help protect you from serial workers comp abusers, but may also be perceived to be discriminatory against people with disabilities. Ask your attorney if this question makes sense for your organization.

- Have you ever been or convicted of a crime? This question is already illegal in some states and municipalities, and is falling out of favor with the EEOC.  If you use it, make sure that you are screening employees on crimes that apply to your situation and not on convictions that aren't really relevant. For example, people convicted of child abuse obviously can't work at a day care center and you won't hire a controller who's been convicted of a financial crime, but neither conviction may matter (in the eyes of the EEOC or DOL) when the candidate is applying for a job erecting scaffolding at a commercial construction site or answering non-financial customer service calls. 

When to ditch your employment application form

If you're like a lot of organizations that almost exclusively use a submitted resume to screen and interview applicants, but stick a formal application form in your new hire packet because you always have, you can probably replace the application form with some other data collection and disclaimers tools and eliminate one piece of aggravation for your new hire on their first day. Disclaimers and acknowledgements that typically appear on an application form should be duplicated somewhere else, however. These include:

- A release giving the company permission to run the appropriate background screens. We generally recommend including this in the offer letter. State the offer is conditional upon certain specific results, then include the language that gives you permission to verify the candidate meets those conditions. Also, attach a form to the offer letter in which the candidate provides you with whatever information you need to run the screens appropriate for their position (social security number, drivers license number, date of birth and even race), if required for the background screens. As long as you gather this information at the offer stage and not the application phase, you're fine (and even if those two phases occur within minutes of each other).

- Certification that the information that the applicant included in the resume is accurate. We can also include language to that effect in the offer letter - their acceptance of the offer is also certification that what they've told us is accurate. 

- Notice that the company is an equal opportunity employer. Be sure to include this in the wording of any ads placed on job boards.

In summary, if you need an application form, make sure it's a good one and if you don't really need one anymore, make sure you haven't forgotten to include the stuff that used to be on your application somewhere in your recruiting, selection and on-boarding process.