In one of its strangest declarations yet, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is warning employers that they may be breaking the law if they won’t hire high school dropouts.
The warning, posted on the EEOC’s website, says requiring a diploma is permissible only if it is “job-related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity.” Otherwise, the agency says, the employer risks discriminating against people who did not graduate because they had a learning disability.
But with vast numbers of employers long having required a diploma before they will hire someone, they plainly consider the basic skills a person is supposed to have after graduating from high school “job-related.”
Most jobs these days require at least some basic math and reading skills that a dropout may not possess. Hinting at legal action against employers who require a diploma may force them to hire people who may not be qualified.
And it could even encourage people to drop out of high school, said Mary Theresa Metzler, a Philadelphia attorney.