Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures

Elements used in a selection process must be job-related, requiring criteria used to determine the candidates referred and selected be related to the job to be filled. This is not a new concept. Merit principles and job-relatedness have been long-standing requirements in Federal and Department of the Army personnel management.

In 1978, the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP) were issued. The guidelines are intended to establish a uniform basis of selection procedure criteria in the Federal sector. This guide imposes on employers the criteria by which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would evaluate hiring practices to ensure adherence to merit principles. The UGESP applies to both inservice placement actions and external hiring practices.

A selection procedure is any measure, combination of measures, or procedures used as a basis for an employment decision. In Defense components and agencies, this would apply, but not be limited to, job analysis, crediting (ranking) plan, interviews, and the selection process itself.

All these documents and the processes which develop these documents, which support the referral and selection of candidates, must clearly contain only job-related criteria. The documents become part of the overall documentation supporting selection procedures used.