Risk Management Factors Impacting Pre-Conditional Offer of Employment Personality Assessments

Transcription

1 Risk Management Factors Impacting Pre-Conditional Offer of Employment Personality Assessments Stephen F. Curran, Ph.D., ABPP Board Certified, Police & Public Safety Psychology Towson, Maryland October 25,

2 Objectives The presentation will address pre-offer assessment issues to inform psychologists about risk management strategies to prevent ethical and legal actions. Results from original research using mock-jurors will demonstrate the legal and ethical issues. Implications to both pre and post-conditional testing programs.

3 Ethical Standards Principle A: Beneficence (the doing of good; active goodness or kindness; charity) and Nonmaleficence Psychologists strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to do no harm. In their professional actions, psychologists seek to safeguard the welfare and rights of those with whom they interact professionally and other affected persons and the welfare of animal subjects of research Avoiding Harm Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/patients, students, supervisees, research participants, organizational clients and others with whom they work, and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable.

4 Jury Selection Voire Dire Supreme Court Says Phones Can t Be Searched Without a Warrant (Riley v. California and United States v. Wurie) What was the decision margin? a. 9 0 b. 7 2 c. 5-4

5 Subjects N=55 28 Female and 27 Males Age range from 18 to 36, with 41 ages 18, 19 or 20 All participants signed a consent form approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB)of a local university.

6 Methods

7 EEOC Criteria

8 The Case of Rejected Applicant v Agency ABC The plaintiff, a rejected candidate, alleges Agency XYZ and its representative, the psychologist, violated the requirements of the EEOC criteria. The rejected candidate was required to complete a paper and pencil test prior to a Conditional Offer of Employment

9 Additional Educational Eligibility Is designed for professionals who are qualified to use complex assessment tools and have a solid background in personality theory and assessment methodology, as well as experience in the analysis of individual test data. Many professionals and practitioners are able to purchase the ABC Inventory right away by verifying their educational and/or professional license eligibility. If you hold a master s or doctoral degree in psychology or a related field and/or hold a specific state license or national or state certification, you are considered educationally eligible. If you hold the appropriate credentials, applying for eligibility is as simple as completing a brief form.

10 EEOC Criteria

11 Jury Instructions

12 Today s Jury of 6

13 Results

14 Ethical Principle 3.04 Avoiding Harm Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/patients, students, supervisees, research participants, organizational clients and others with whom they work, and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable.

15 Applicant Processing Steps Step 1 Initial Testing Step 2 Personality Testing Step 3 Background Investigation Step 4 Extend a COE or terminate

16 Applicant Processing Steps Post COE Medical Exam Post COE Psychological Exam Integration of Data Elements Hire Don t Hire Wait Listed

17 Quiz 1. Can, for example, the MMPI-2, MMPI-2-RF, IPI, PAI be administered, not interviewed by psychologist, prior to the COE? 2. Does a telephone interview between psychologist and applicant, post COE, suffice as a preemployment psychological evaluation?

18 Mission Creep Effect the tendency for a task to become unintentionally wider in scope than its initial objectives Prior to the June 2014 Supreme Court 9-0 decision that requires a search warrant before retrieving cell phone data, what was your agency policy? State v. Avery Topps, #4D (Fla. App. 4th Dist.) Insidious small steps in miss-direction lead to bigger steps and rationalization that there is no problem with an existing procedure. IMHO Too many psychologists have strayed from the EEOC requirements with rationalizations and minimizations about their procedures. Psychological Services Guidelines have evolved to exemplify Mission Creep.

19 Mission Creep Guideline Example Face to Face Interview Issues 1998 Guidelines: Only Licensed or Certified Psychologists 2004 inserted where laws allowed 2014 examiners Increasing administration of post-coe psychological measures PRIOR to the COE Example: The XYZ Inventory is an effective pre-conditional and postconditional offer screening instrument designed for law enforcement officer selection. It can be used either pre-offer to identify candidates liability potential, or post-offer as part of a total assessment battery that includes historical, interview, and observational data.

20 Ethical Principle 3.04 Avoiding Harm Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/patients, students, supervisees, research participants, organizational clients and others with whom they work, and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable.

21 Summary Best Practices to Minimize Risk Pre-COE There are effective measures of personality traits that may be administered, when the tests: a. Do not make medical inquires b. Purchase, administration and/or interpretation not restricted by education. Post-COE Psychological Evaluations consists of: a. Objective psychological testing b. Face to face interview of applicant by licensed, doctoral level psychologist c. Integration of testing and interview for purpose of risk rating of stability and suitability to execute essential job functions.