Job Descriptions Job Descriptions 3 â Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a 'job specification' as distinct from a 'job description'?
- A legal contract between employer and employee
- The minimum qualifications, skills, and attributes required of the person filling the role (Correct answer)
- A list of tasks assigned during onboarding
- A performance review form
Correct answer: The minimum qualifications, skills, and attributes required of the person filling the role
A job specification focuses on the personâeducation, experience, skillsâwhile a job description focuses on the role and its duties.
Question 2: Which approach best helps ensure a job description remains legally defensible over time?
- Writing it once and never revising it
- Reviewing and updating it regularly to reflect actual duties performed (Correct answer)
- Keeping it vague to allow flexibility
- Removing all performance standards
Correct answer: Reviewing and updating it regularly to reflect actual duties performed
Regular updates ensure the description accurately reflects the role, which is essential for ADA, FLSA, and other compliance purposes.
Question 3: When a job description includes 'preferred' qualifications, what does that typically mean?
- Candidates without them will be automatically rejected
- They are desirable but not required for the role (Correct answer)
- They are legally mandated minimum standards
- They replace the required qualifications section
Correct answer: They are desirable but not required for the role
Preferred qualifications indicate attributes that would be advantageous but are not eliminatory screening criteria.
Question 4: A hiring manager wants to add 'must have a car' to a job description for an office-based role. What concern should HR raise?
- It increases the salary budget
- It may discriminate against individuals with disabilities or lower income without being job-related (Correct answer)
- It violates OSHA guidelines
- It makes the posting too long
Correct answer: It may discriminate against individuals with disabilities or lower income without being job-related
Requirements unrelated to actual job duties can have discriminatory effects and should be included only when genuinely necessary for the position.
Question 5: What is the benefit of listing a salary range in a job description?
- It eliminates the need for a background check
- It increases transparency, attracts well-matched candidates, and is required by pay transparency laws in several US states (Correct answer)
- It automatically determines the employee's classification
- It reduces the number of applicants
Correct answer: It increases transparency, attracts well-matched candidates, and is required by pay transparency laws in several US states
States like Colorado, New York, and California require salary range disclosure, and transparency generally improves candidate quality and trust.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes a 'job analysis' in the context of writing job descriptions?
- An annual employee performance evaluation
- A systematic process of collecting data about a job's duties, required skills, and working conditions (Correct answer)
- A financial assessment of compensation benchmarks
- A legal audit of hiring practices
Correct answer: A systematic process of collecting data about a job's duties, required skills, and working conditions
Job analysis is the foundational research stepâgathering information through observation, interviews, or surveysâbefore drafting an accurate job description.
Question 7: If a job description lists a college degree as required but the employer cannot demonstrate it is job-related, what legal risk exists?
- Violation of FLSA minimum wage provisions
- A potential disparate impact discrimination claim under Title VII (Correct answer)
- An OSHA recordkeeping violation
- Automatic NLRA liability
Correct answer: A potential disparate impact discrimination claim under Title VII
Degree requirements that lack demonstrated job-relatedness can disproportionately exclude protected groups and invite EEOC scrutiny.
Job Descriptions Job Descriptions 3
What is a 'job specification' as distinct from a 'job description'?