How does one identify an essential function? Job Analysis should focus on the purpose of the job and the importance of actual job functions in achieving its purpose.
By CLIFF SANDSMARK, CCP, CSCP, SHRM-SCP, SPHR
Martha was settling into her new role as the HR Director for a consumer goods company operating in the Midwest. Her company was then acquired by a large conglomerate, and she was assigned to the HR department of the new company. Her new boss Cathy, the CHRO for the organization, called Martha into her office and tasked with her new assignment – lead an effort to bring up to date all the job descriptions for the Company. Cathy had a recent meeting with her Corporate Counsel who was complaining about the poor quality of the current documents from the acquired company and were at risk for ADA claims. Writing job descriptions is the one task most hated by HR Professionals and managers alike, and Martha wondered if this was a good time to go to graduate school. She thought a good way to begin was to have a training class on job description basics with all the department heads and work with them on a one-on-one basis to update their documents. Pushing aside the notion of graduate school, Martha went to work.
First, she will cover the basics such as writing the General Summary, Job Specifications and Minimum Qualifications. Since the General Counsel specifically mentioned Essential Job Functions as his number one concern, she will put a major emphasis on that topic in the training.
The General Counsel sent this guidance to Martha for her manager training:
“Essential Functions are defined by the ADA as the basic job duties that an employee working in a job must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation. Duties that not every employee must perform are referred to as marginal functions. It is a violation of the ADA if you eliminate a qualified person based on that person’s inability to perform a marginal (not an essential) job duty.
“Factors that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says that an employer must consider whether a function is essential are:
- Whether the reason the position exists is to perform that function,
- The number of other employees available to perform the function or among whom the performance of the function can be distributed, and,
- The degree of expertise or skill required to perform the function.”1
Job duties that have been identified as being essential functions of a job generally do not change in status over time. Determining whether a job duty is a marginal or essential function can change over time based on the current needs of an organization. This could flip the status from marginal to essential at the time of hiring and subject the firm to risk.
How does one identify an essential function? Job Analysis should focus on the purpose of the job and the importance of actual job functions in achieving its purpose. This may include the frequency with which a function is performed, the amount of time spent doing the function, and the consequence if the function is not performed. Even if the function takes a small amount of time to perform, the consequences of not performing the task can be disastrous (landing an airplane for example – a duty that doesn’t take a large amount of time during the total flight time but is a very important part of the job and needs to be done properly).
Martha identified factors that could help managers determine whether a job duty is essential:
- Is it currently being done by all incumbents in this position?
- If this task is not done would the job change?
- Can only this person do this task?
- Are special skills, abilities, training, licenses, or experience necessary to do this task?
- Does the employer recognize or list this task in writing as an essential job function?
If the answer to one or more of these questions is yes, then this task is probably an essential job function and needs to be documented in the job description.
She outlined some basic tips when writing essential functions:
- Use short, abbreviated sentences.
- Start with present tense action verbs.
- Use clear concise language. Don’t use unnecessary articles such as “A,” “an,” “the.”
Here is a sentence using lots of articles: ‘The job incumbent transports the mail to locations throughout the departments and the local off-site facility.’ Cleaning up the articles: ‘Transports mail to locations throughout departments and local off-site facility.’
- Use the ‘What-How-Why’ format for writing essential job functions: What the job does – How do you do it – Why do you do it or the expected outcome.
“Prepares job descriptions (the What) by interviewing incumbents currently in the position (the How) to determine the appropriate pay grade (the Why).”
Leafing through the current job descriptions, many of them look like ‘to do’ lists with some listing 20+ tasks that an incumbent is responsible for with the last one always ending with: “And other duties as assigned.” The manager thinks this should cover anything he/she forgot to list (Hint: use a general disclaimer instead of the phrase “Other duties…”).
Here’s an example of ‘essential functions’ from a current job description for an Executive Assistant:
- “Be sure that the tape recorder has fresh batteries.”
- “Run the ‘Staffing Changes Report’ and provide a copy to each meeting participant.”
- “Take good notes during the meeting.”
Are these tasks unique for this position that the incumbent is the only person who can perform these tasks? Most people can install fresh batteries in a recorder – it’s not unique for this position. Here is a more accurate essential function using the above What/How/Why format: “Record and transcribe minutes of the Monday Morning Executive meeting by preparing reports and devices used at the meeting ahead of time to ensure the meeting starts and ends on time and essential information is captured and recorded.”
There will be managers that will insist on adding tasks and responsibilities even though they are marginal or simple tasks. Add them to a separate section after the Essential Functions as: ‘Other Duties & Responsibilities.’
Essential job done! Martha received praise, and her boss was impressed by the quality and thoroughness of her program. On the way home she thought about the Graduate School she applied for; “What if I’m accepted,” she wondered, “should I go?”.
Sources:
1 http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/ada17.html
Clifford C. Sandsmark, CCP, CSCP, SHRM-SCP, SPHR
Senior Consultant, Compensation Services
JER HR Groupc
sandsmark@jerhrgroup.com