Dive Brief:

• New York City employers are faced with the possibility of having government officials posing as job applicants when investigating their hiring practices, according to HRMorning.
• Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a new law that requires the city’s Human Rights Commission to conduct “matched-pair” testing of at least five employers’ hiring processes between Oct. 1, 2015 and Sept. 30, 2016. In the bill, there is no limit to how many actual "matched pair" tests the commission can conduct.
• The commission will have two “testers” apply for or inquire about the same position at the same company. The testers will have similar qualifications; the major difference will be that one will have a characteristic protected by the city’s Human Rights Law, factors such as race, gender, criminal history and others.

Dive Insight

The upshot here is that employers should try their best to not discriminate during the hiring process by having a solid non-discriminatory policy in place.

For example, the employment law firm of Jackson Lewis says employers must ensure job advertisements are non-discriminatory and that individuals who review applications and conduct interviews focus on job-related skills and abilities, not protected characteristics. To do that, job applicant screeners may follow a precautionary approach of assuming every applicant is an official tester. 

The firm adds that more pro-employee legislation is expected to be enacted in New York City soon. For example, the Mayor is expected to sign legislation generally prohibiting credit checks in employment.