HR Specialist: Employment Law

Clear, common-sense employment law advice that cuts directly to the bottom line. An attorney may say what the law is – but the monthly issues of HR Specialist: Employment Law and its related weekly e-letters explain what managers and human resource professionals should do that is both safe and practical in the real world of business. Learn more about HR Specialist: Employment Law and the two free reports you'll get when you subscribe...

If your organization is typical, you’re relying more heavily on internal promotions than in the past. And as greater numbers of existing employees compete for coveted “inside” jobs, expect a corresponding rise in the number of failure-to-promote lawsuits.

HR people and managers are aware of the legal dangers in hiring outside applicants. But many forget that internal promotions also carry risks.

Base promotions on job criteria

Private employers are generally free to decide when to hand out promotions and raises, unless an employment contract or collective-bargaining agreement puts limits on the organization.

But you still must keep discrimination out of your promotion process. Reason: Promotions fall under the heading of “terms, conditions or privileges of employment,” meaning they’re covered by both state and federal anti-bias laws, including Title VII.

So make sure your promotion decisions don’t discriminate against employees because of age, race, religion, national origin, color, sex, pregnancy or disability. To do that, remind hiring managers to base promotion decisions on neutral, job-based criteria.

To bring failure-to-promote claims to court, employees must show:

• They are members of a protected group.
• They are qualified for (and applied for) the promotion sought.
• They were rejected despite their qualifications.
• Other similarly qualified employees who weren’t members of a protected class were promoted instead.

6 steps to legal promotions

Most failure-to-promote suits hinge on inconsistencies in your job-filling process. To ensure a discrimination-proof selection process, you should:

1. Analyze the position. Define which characteristics are essential to the job, including manual and creative skills, education, training and supervisory or managerial ability.

2. Determine neutral criteria for screening candidates, such as the employee’s work record.

3. Develop a promotion policy. Consider whether to give seniority preference and whether you should publicize job opportunities within the organization before going outside.

Tip: Don’t require minimum length of service by employees before being eligible for promotions. That only penalizes fast learners or top performers by classifying them as job-hoppers.

4. Train hiring managers to base promotion decisions on neutral, job-based criteria applied equally to all.

5. Analyze your promotion system for bias. Make sure it doesn’t eliminate certain categories of people from job advancement. Distribute job announcements widely, not just in public spaces of your workplace.

6. Avoid specific promises in company handbooks, job interviews and employment contracts that commit you to handing out promotions.