Why Bother Writing Job Descriptions?
Published May 6, 2008 Writing job descriptions for all of the positions in your company may sound like a lot of work, especially when they are not required by any law. But there are plenty of legal reasons why you should have them. 1. Defend against discrimination claims. If an applicant claims that you rejected them because of their gender, race, etc., you can show a court that you rejected them because they did not meet all job qualifications. You may be lucky enough to have a situation where multiple applicants meet the minimum qualifications for the job. So how do you break the tie? It is perfectly legal to base the decision on unwritten criteria, even a gut feeling. But it’s better to base the decision on criteria that’s already listed in the job description (which may not have been listed in the job ad). 2. Determine essential functions for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) purposes. Employees must be able to perform essential job duties, with or without reasonable accommodat
