As more employers and governmental entities test new and returning employees, many have found the benefits to be immediate and cost-effective. As a risk reduction strategy, ERGOS® pre and post offer testing lowers the lost time of new workers the first eighteen months of employment. As a “fitness for duty” requirement, dramatically fewer injured workers are re-injured. The ERGOS® Work Assessment System was designed to meet all the requirements promulgated by the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). The developer of the ERGOS® testing methodology worked on the initial draft of the ADA legislation. Consequently, many of the ERGOS® assessment features are precisely designed to meet the legal requirements of this law.
The purpose of pre and post offer testing is to determine whether a job applicant can physically perform the essential demands of the job safely without gender, race, age, ethnic or disability bias. The ERGOS® Work Assessment System objectively measures whether the applicant meets these requirements. The employer is required to objectively and quantitatively determine the essential physical demands of the job prior to testing with input from the existing workforce. Once the essential demands are determined, a criterion based objective method of measure must be used to assess whether the applicant meets the essential physical demands. This is important since normative (prejudicial) testing is no longer allowed under the ADA. Testing is performed in many situations by an outside contractor to prevent the possibility or perception of pre-selection by the employer. Using an expert testing provider protects the employer from nuisance lawsuits claiming various forms of discrimination.
There are two approaches to employment testing under the ADA. Pre-employment testing is a personnel exam conducted by non-medically trained staff, and post-offer testing is a medical exam conducted by medical staff or allied health workers. Despite these differences, both tests may use the same protocol. The procedural differences are below.
PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTING
Under 42 U.S.C. § 12112 (d) (2) (A) and (B); 29 C.F. R. § 1630.13 (a) and § 1630.14 (a), a pre-employment test is not a medical exam and must be conducted by a non-medically trained evaluator. If the evaluator were medically trained, the applicant could claim they have a conditional offer of employment since only conditional employees are offered a medical exam. There are risks to the evaluator since they are not allowed to measure any biological (medically grounded) functions of the applicant when a pre-employment test is given. Conceivably, an applicant could be at risk for injury because of high blood pressure, severe osteoporosis, or a bulging disc and hurt themselves during testing if they did not reveal these risks beforehand.
POST-OFFER TESTING
Contrasting pre-employment testing, Under 42 U.S.C. §12112 (d) (3); 29 C.F.R. § 1630.14 (b), a medical exam such as a post offer assessment can only be given after a conditional job offer has been made. Because a post offer assessment is a medical exam, it must be given by medical or allied health personnel. Biological functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and range of motion can be measured as part of the assessment. Enforcement of pre and post offer testing under the ADA were originally set forth by the EEOC with guidelines listed in the publication “Pre-employment Disability-Related Questions and Medical Examinations,” Number 915.002 (Oct. 10, 1995).
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
Because the ADA requires an employer to make reasonable accommodations to allow an individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job (42 U.S.C. § 12112 (b) (A)), this must be factored in both the pre and post offer test. Unless it is considered an undue hardship, the employer must make reasonable accommodation to the applicant who identifies that they have a disability requiring such. To protect both the employer and the testing agent, it is vital that a written document detailing the purpose of the test be presented to and understood by the applicant during orientation. The document should also state the measurable essential physical demands of the job being tested. The form should also ask the applicant whether they will need accommodation before performing any of the assessment activities listed in the essential physical demands. If the accommodation(s) requested by the applicant are not feasible, the applicant should be asked if there are any alternative accommodations. If accommodations are not possible, then testing is not achievable and a plan of action for managing this quandary should be in place by the employer prior to testing.
HOW THE ERGOS® SYSTEM TESTS AN APPLICANT
The ERGOS® Work Assessment System has the ability to objectively measure 17 physical demands defined by the U.S. Department of Labor in six languages. Once the measurable essential physical demands have been established by the employer, an evidence based testing protocol can be established on the ERGOS® system. The testing protocol can then be used to assess each applicant as part of the pre or post offer assessment. If need be, each applicant can be assigned an anonymous ID so there is no possible way to know the gender, ethnic or any other identity detail of the applicant. This prevents the assertion that bias was used in the testing process. If the employer has a new plant or series of jobs to be filled and there is no history of physical demands that would allow an essential functions standard to be tested, ERGOS® can provide an appropriate initial standard using an updated database of over 12,700 jobs from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Once an applicant has been tested, ERGOS® immediately identifies whether he/she meets the essential standards. From this information, the employer can decide whether the applicant passes or fails the employment hire standard. This is important since only the employer can make this decision, not the testing agent.
The ERGOS® Work Assessment System is designed to meet all the standards required for a fair and evidence based applicant test. It has unique features not available with other human performance assessment tools or systems. ERGOS® provides test instructions in a standardized written and auditory manner. Test instructions are presented at an eighth grade reading level in each of the six languages currently available. Each peer reviewed Certified ERGOS® Evaluator (CEE™) has been trained to administer tests the same each time given. All tests are designed to make sure the applicant knows what is required before starting so there is no possibility of testing error or bias. Test instructions are structured to assure that the legal requirements for “informed consent” are met. As with all ERGOS® testing, only the applicant can make the test proceed so there can be no claims that the test subject was forced to perform anything without full understanding of what is expected. The applicant must affirm each new instruction before proceeding with the test. All these features are designed to protect the employer and testing agent.
Test results are generated immediately as soon as the test in completed. Results can be faxed to the employer or printed for inclusion into the applicant’s file. Once the applicant becomes hired, the performance data can become part of the medical record. This allows the employer the ability to review the actual physical demand strength of the new hire should future injury occur.
The ERGOS® Work Assessment System can also be used to assess an injured worker’s physical demands when returning to work. Using the same criterion for new hires, the employer can assure the returning worker is “fit for duty” after recovery and rehabilitation.
HOW DOES THE ERGOS® WORK ASSESSMENT SYSTEM SAVE THE EMPLOYER THROUGH RISK REDUCTION?
Since Simwork Systems developed the ERGOS® Work Assessment System in 1999 it has been used world-wide as an effective employment hiring tool. Our internal research has shown it to be a cost-effective risk reduction method for personnel selection. Most notable are the multiple tier savings it provides the employer in heavy manufacturing and industry. When compared to medical exam alone, industry has benefited from what the system provides. Saving are realized at several levels as described below.
REDUCTION IN LOSS-TIME OF NEW HIRES
New hires assessed with the ERGOS® Work Assessment System together with a medical exam are 42% less likely to miss work because of “soreness” or other physical problems such as muscle weakness, infirmity or other sick listing.*
COST OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIM IS LESS
The average cost per loss-time workers’ compensation claim of workers hired using the ERGOS® Work Assessment System together with a medical exam was 52% less compared to workers hired having only a medical exam alone.**
AVERAGE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION TIME OFF WORK IS LESS
The average time off work per loss-time workers’ compensation claim of workers hired using the ERGOS® Work Assessment System together with a medical exam was 48% less compared to workers hired having only a medical exam alone.**
REPEAT WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS ARE LESS
Repeat workers’ compensation claims of workers injured who were hired using the ERGOS® Work Assessment System together with a medical exam were 51% less compared to workers hired having only a medical exam alone.***
*For the first 18 months of employment after hire
**Comparison made on the same injury diagnosis
***Within 24 months of returning to work following the first claim