Self Identification Requirements for Applicants with Disabilities

Self Identification Requirements for Applicants with Disabilities
and/or Veterans
by Marife Ramos, Sr. Consultant, Biddle Consulting Group

As a part of their record-keeping requirements, federal contractors are required to make good faith efforts to solicit the race and gender information of their applicants (41 CFR 60-1.12). Voluntary self-identification forms to solicit race and gender information can be provided to job seekers at any stage of the application process. However, the regulations only require that the invitation to self-identify be extended when a job seeker becomes an applicant.

It is a different story however, when it comes to the solicitation of the applicants’ disability and/or veteran status(es). Contractors may not invite applicants to self-identify as disabled and/or veterans before a job is offered. Invitations for self- identifications can be made by contractors only at the post-offer stage but before employment. Also, it should be noted that the regulations at 41 CFR 60-741.42 listed only two exceptions to this requirement.

What does this mean to contractors? Contractors may not solicit disability or veteran status from applicants in general. Self-id invitations should be made after a job offer is made but NOT after the applicant becomes an employee. It is therefore, recommended that contractors should develop two self-identification forms for applicants: 1) to solicit gender and race for applicants in general; and 2) to solicit disability and veteran status after a job offer is made but before official employment occurs (race and gender information can again be solicited at this stage). It is also recommended that contractors should establish a well-defined system that can remind hiring personnel to provide the self-id form to an applicant who was offered a job but before such applicant becomes officially an employee (for example, include the self-id form with the I-9 or W-4 forms to be filled by the prospective employee).