Hiring do's and don'ts.

Your hiring criteria should pass these tests.

Is it time to review your hiring practices? New legislation such as the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and policies adopted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over the past few years may require changes in how you go

Job advertising language. EEOC regulations and policy guides on avoiding race and sex discrimination in job advertisements are 20 years old, but they bear repeating. The only time sex or race may be specified is when the job requires either a male or a female or a person of a particular race; this is referred to as the bona fide occupational qualification. With respect to sex in particular, such jobs are rare.

Age discrimination. EEOC also has a policy warning employers to avoid language that may subtly discourage people in protected age groups from seeking employment. Out-and-out age discrimination, of course, is forbidden by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which protects anyone 40 or older. Associations must be sensitive to using descriptions in job ads that may signal older workers not to apply. An ad touting the association's "young, dynamic, with-it, '90s staff," for example, might discourage older applicants' interest. Similarly, ads that say a position is well-suited "for supplementing retirement income" would violate this policy.

Expanding the reach of job ads. EEOC says job ads should be calculated to reach the largest number of qualified applicants, especially when the employer has an affirmative action program. The ADA adds some impetus to this advice by making it illegal to discriminate in the application process on the basis of disability.

In practice that means associations will have to pay closer attention to placing ads where they are most likely to reach people with disabilities. This may mean using the job services of organizations for people with disabilities or advertising in special outlets, such as large-print or Braille newspapers. You aren't required to do so, of course. But these suggestions follow from the ADA's mandate not to discriminate in the application process.

Job requirements and qualifications. Writing accurate and defensible job descriptions is absolutely crucial to complying with the disabilities act. The ADA does not mandate job descriptions; but given the weight the statute accords descriptions written in advance, it is foolish for associations not to have them.