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Janet Parkhurst
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466
Copy that gets RESULTS.
08/07/20 at 12:01AM UTC
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Career

The PUMA story continued...

Hello FGBers! I thought those of you who were initially interested in the post where I talked about really intrusive questions that appeared on an online application page for PUMA North America--including the one that fueled my fire--"Are you under/over 40?", might be interested in a follow-up report. As one FGBer suggested, I wrote the CEO of the company, expressing my deep concern over an applicant's privacy, given the invasive questions contained within its online application, and calling particular attention to the illegal "age" question that, in my mind, constituted a potential breeding ground for age discrimination. I recently received a letter, mailed via FedEX, from the company's SVP, General Counsel. It contained an explanation for the overly intrusive questioning which, in a nutshell, was that the company is part of a federal program where it receives tax credits when it hires individuals who meet certain criteria. The online application (or that part of it) is actually a federal government applicant questionnaire that determines whether certain individuals meet eligibility requirements. The letter assured me that PUMA's hiring managers do not see the applicants' supplied answers to those very personal questions. Hmmm. I don't recall seeing at the top of the page (or anywhere on the page) that the following questions were being asked for purposes of federal tax program eligibility. I would think that that disclosure would have been a requirement, as well as an option not to answer! But I do recall, clearly, that WITHOUT answering those questions, I could not complete my application for the position. I still think that's wrong. Other than a certain section of an application that specifies it is collecting profile info and that completion is totally voluntary, I have NEVER heard of such a practice. Anyone? Human Resource professionals out there? Anyway, in conclusion, I guess I'll simply feel satisfied that my letter was read and addressed. Thank you all for sharing YOUR concerns about that situation.

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Janet Parkhurst
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466
Copy that gets RESULTS.
08/07/20 at 12:31AM UTC
Thank you, ladies. I really appreciate your responses and, Barb, I love that you went and filled out that application! I did take a couple of screen shots of it, which I included with my letter to the CEO, just so there would be no doubt as to what I was referring to. Not only no disclaimer statement; it was just really bad. And, Elle, I think you may be right about the company having gotten into trouble before. I found it interesting that the CEO immediately directed my letter to the corporate attorney. It's funny, too, some recruitment services firms are blatantly ignoring the basic "don'ts" in their postings that were just about illegal many years ago. I just found another one, yesterday, that's new to me: "2 to 3 years of postgrad work experience." Yikes! It's abundantly clear they are actively seeking YOUTH.
Anonymous
08/06/20 at 11:50PM UTC
I call BS on this. It isn't tax credits they receive. It's possible PUMA North America got in trouble for what appeared to be a pattern or practice of age discrimination based on trends in their required EEO reporting. Age is still an off limits question as marital status and number of children, etc. These are questions the Fed's encourage employers ask based on laws and aspirational policy changes. However, none of them are to require mandatory disclosure. I believe the laws were also updated to ban prior salary reporting: -Race -Ethnicity -Gender -Disability (some tax credits) -Veteran (some tax credits) -English as a Second Language (or limited English proficiency - sometimes based on accent alone) There's a lot of stuff now that's not supposed to be part of the application and why offers are supposed to be made based on a "background check". That's when you give your DOB, social, etc. My concern is that college graduation dates are required and when it requires "every" degree program to be reported and not just the highest level or most recent.
Barb Hansen
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6.67k
Startup Product, Growth & Strategy
08/06/20 at 10:24PM UTC
I seem to recall companies being able to receive tax credits during the 2008/10 recession (I might be incorrect with the timing) but I'm sure I've seen preambles on job applications (not recently) where certain information was being collected for "reasons other than hiring including possible tax refunds for the company" FYI - I filled out that PUMA application when you brought it to our attention weeks ago and I do not recall any preamble on their application.

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