📓 red flags at work

😷 IQ tests & asbestos

✍🏾 What should someone do when they’re asked to take an IQ or personality test as part of an interview process? It feels ableist and like a big red flag, but not everyone has the privilege of just opting out of a potential job!

Context: Arts nonprofit organization sent an IQ test between interview round one and interview round two. About 50 questions, and things like “Person 1 is Person 2’s cousin. Person 2 and Person 3 are (whatever relationship). Who is Person 1 to Person 3?”

📣 Melissa Stough, HR Coordinator @ Project Genesis:

I’m a firm believer that unless it has something to do with the role a person will be doing, it shouldn’t be done or asked. I cannot, under any circumstances, fathom a reason to justify an IQ test, and one could argue that it could be discriminatory, especially if you are basing hiring decisions on it. I’m not an expert on neurodivergence by any means, but I don’t doubt that a number of people with neurodivergent diagnoses may not score well as or may score better than neurotypical people. 

Whether you’re cutting neurodivergent or neurotypical people, especially for something that has literally nothing to do with the job, you’re in the wrong. If your company is trying to assess a person’s fit for the role, either create a short (like 3-5 questions MAX) questionnaire of position-specific questions after the first interview or use a skills assessment before the first interview.

📣 Sondra Norris, OD/OE Consulting:

Agree with Melissa. As a candidate being asked to complete an IQ or personality test (doesn’t matter which one, but I’d be clear about which one is being requested) I would be thinking about the following:

1. Any legal considerations may only be about current legally protected classes (typically limited to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin) in your state, which right now doesn’t generally and broadly include neurodivergence (unless it’s diagnosed mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities). These definitions are often forgotten details. Similar to people wanting to claim a hostile work environment – the law is clear and many complaints don’t fulfill the legal definitions and conditions.

2. Any testing done in the hiring process must be (1) related to the job and (2) applied consistently to all candidates. From the employer’s perspective and for safety’s sake, the test(s) should also be proven statistically reliable and valid (they probably test what they say they’re testing for). Many of the engineering teams I supported loved to “throw a problem up on the whiteboard” to “see how people did.”

3. Recognizing that not all people can afford to pass up an opportunity for a job: I’d try to balance that with (1) Yes, I need the money; (2) Even so, do I want to go try and fight this battle; (3) If I did, is it worth it to work for a place that employs these tactics, after fighting a battle to win the chance and be that person in that job at that company?

4. I’d hesitate jumping to an ableist and discriminatory conclusion first. Many companies employ different tactics (testing like this, probationary periods) to protect themselves from bad hires. I would ask the recruiter or company rep some questions: (1) How is this being used in the selection process? (2) Are all candidates required to complete this? (3) Is it a proven, valid, and reliable instrument? (4) How does this instrument predict job performance? (5) When and how will the results and their interpretation be shared with me?

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✍🏾 Our office was built in 1972. Half of the team has been sent to work from home due to carpet replacement. Our offices 10 feet away aren’t affected. Is it ok to insist we all work from home? We think the building has asbestos.

Context: Enterprise. Marketing.

📣Elizabeth Manz, HR Director:

Hi there! If you “think” there is asbestos in the building I would get that confirmed and determine the actual risk to employees to be present in the building. That way you know what you are dealing with for sure and you aren’t just guessing. The last thing you want is employees starting rumors that the building is unsafe to work in and no one is doing anything about it. 

As far as being ok to insist all employees work from home, since you already have half of them doing so, it doesn’t sound like it impacts how you do business but then you didn’t say what your business is so that would be an assumption on my part.

📣Katelyn Olson, Director of Human Resources @ ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain:

I can certainly understand your concern. Quite a bit of information is missing from your post (and therefore, from whatever argument you might make to request WFH). Why do you think there is asbestos present? Is anyone having negative health impacts from the carpet work? The way your post is currently worded, your concerns sound theoretical, which isn’t the strongest basis for a request to WFH.

I would start by making a general request to be allowed to work from home until the work is done (on a number of other bases, like noise or dust or disruption). If that request isn’t approved, I would look at your other options, all of which would be more complicated, like trying to track down whether they checked for asbestos before beginning work or filing a claim with OSHA to have them look into it.

Lastly, if anyone is having health effects now, file a worker’s comp claim both because it’s your right as an employee but also because having some medical information about the impacts of the work will bolster your request.

📣Laurita Long, HR Manager @ Prime:

I agree with Katelyn, and emphasize her point that if someone is experiencing negative health effects please file work comp and get the appropriate treatment asap.

You may be able to reach out to the project or property manager about the work being done. Owners of commercial buildings have a responsibility to identify and manage asbestos-containing materials before demolition or renovation work. They may be able to provide you details, or at the very least provide you assurance that the testing was managed and appropriate steps are being taken.

That said, if the demo and installation crew isn’t concerned about asbestos that is a good clue that you don’t need to worry either. Odds are that the building has been upgraded a time or two since its original construction and any potential asbestos risk may have already been mitigated in previous projects.

Best of luck!

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