CODESP Legal and Ethical Compliance 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In CODESP practice, a 'bona fide occupational qualification' (BFOQ) defense allows an employer to use which otherwise prohibited criterion?
- Race when staffing a diversity initiative
- Sex or national origin when genuinely necessary for normal business operations (Correct answer)
- Age for any position involving physical labor
- Disability status for safety-sensitive roles without medical evidence
Correct answer: Sex or national origin when genuinely necessary for normal business operations
BFOQ is a narrow exception allowing employers to consider sex, religion, or national origin (but never race) when it is truly essential to the position.
Question 2: Which executive order requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure applicants and employees are treated without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin?
- Executive Order 11478
- Executive Order 11246 (Correct answer)
- Executive Order 13672
- Executive Order 10988
Correct answer: Executive Order 11246
Executive Order 11246 (1965) requires federal contractors with contracts over $10,000 to maintain non-discriminatory hiring and affirmative action programs.
Question 3: When a public agency uses a 'rule of three' certification, it must select from which candidates?
- The three highest-scoring individuals on the eligible list
- Any candidate within the top three ranks on the eligible list (Correct answer)
- The three candidates with the most seniority
- Three candidates chosen randomly from all passing scores
Correct answer: Any candidate within the top three ranks on the eligible list
The rule of three allows the appointing authority to select from any candidate in the top three ranks, not merely the top three scores.
Question 4: An agency's selection interview asks candidates about their future family planning. Under Title VII, this question is problematic because it could reveal:
- Criminal history
- Financial status
- Sex or pregnancy status (Correct answer)
- Political affiliation
Correct answer: Sex or pregnancy status
Questions about family planning can reveal sex or pregnancy status, creating evidence of potential discrimination under Title VII and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
Question 5: Which term describes the ethical obligation of a civil service examiner to apply the same scoring standards consistently to all candidates throughout a selection process?
- Standardization (Correct answer)
- Normalization
- Calibration
- Equating
Correct answer: Standardization
Standardization ensures that all candidates are assessed under identical conditions and criteria, which is essential for fairness and legal defensibility.
Question 6: A candidate who was passed over for promotion files a complaint claiming the promotional exam was biased. The agency's BEST initial response is to:
- Offer the candidate the promotion to avoid litigation
- Provide the candidate access to their own scores and the right to inspect the exam process (Correct answer)
- Destroy exam materials to protect test security
- Immediately suspend the eligible list pending the complaint
Correct answer: Provide the candidate access to their own scores and the right to inspect the exam process
Candidates generally have due process rights to review their own scores and understand the basis for selection decisions, without compromising overall test security.
Question 7: Under UGESP, which validation approach involves administering a test to current employees and correlating their scores with current performance ratings?
- Predictive validity
- Content validity
- Concurrent validity (Correct answer)
- Construct validity
Correct answer: Concurrent validity
Concurrent validity collects test scores and performance data at the same time from current employees, offering a faster but potentially less generalizable form of criterion-related validity.
CODESP Legal and Ethical Compliance 5
In CODESP practice, a 'bona fide occupational qualification' (BFOQ) defense allows an employer to use which otherwise prohibited criterion?