By Jerry Hanke, OTR CEAS
National Training Director, WorkSTEPS
How current and complete are your job descriptions? Over 70% of hiring managers believe they provide clear job descriptions, but only about 35% of candidates agree. This discrepancy suggests that while many potential employees receive job descriptions, the quality is dubious.
Accurate job descriptions, based on comprehensive job analysis, save time and money by enabling better “matches” between employees and positions. Without these fundamental tools in place, even the best-intentioned recruiting, testing, and accommodation efforts can fall short. Mismatches are costly in terms of lost candidates, the wrong candidates, increased injuries, and missed production goals. If a candidate is denied employment based on an inaccurate job description, this could lead to an ADA or EEOC discrimination or unfair employment claim.
Accurate Job Descriptions Help Manage Risk
Current and complete job descriptions help avoid the risk of misaligned hiring and training. Ideally, managers aim to match the right worker to the right job, starting with a shared understanding of the physical demands involved. The next step is leveraging physical agility testing to verify the match. If there is a surprising element of the job or a poor fit, you’ve wasted time for both parties, with financial implications for all.
Further, companies increase legal risk from ADA, EEOC, and FMLA claims by using outdated or incomplete job descriptions. While regulatory bodies don’t specifically require job descriptions, the associated hiring practices may be construed as having an adverse impact, particularly if protected classes or individuals with disabilities are not offered positions. In the event of claims, your job descriptions (and employment advertisements) will certainly be subject to scrutiny.
Another risk of mismatched roles is injury. Did you know that in 2021, over 40% of industrial workers’ compensation claims were filed by first-year employees? New hires are most prone to incidents – especially strain injuries, cuts/punctures/scrapes, and falls/slips. The average number of lost workdays for new industrial workers ranges from 67-103 days, according to a 2024 Travelers report. You can reduce these incidents by setting clear expectations, conducting thorough employment and agility testing, and training workers who are well-suited by matching the workers’ abilities to the job.
Don’t invest time, money, and effort in a candidate only to discover that you’ve hired your next workers’ compensation claim.
What Makes a Job Description Accurate?
Components of a job description typically include a company overview, job title, job purpose, and summary of the position. It should specify duties, qualifications, responsibilities, and working conditions, including accurate and detailed essential job functions and physical demands.
This job description serves as a baseline reference for managers and candidates to clarify requirements and determine if they are a good match. At the same time, employers can select suitable screening methods and make informed decisions, ensuring compliance with relevant legal requirements.
Essential job functions, including fundamental duties and responsibilities critical to job success, are vital elements for hiring, performance management, and reasonable accommodation under the ADA (EEOC Section 2.3(a) technical assistance manual).
Employers may ask applicants whether they can perform these essential functions, but if an applicant notifies them of a disability or impairment precluding performance, it is the employer’s responsibility to determine whether reasonable accommodation can be made. For example, the accommodation of a step stool to lift a heavy object to a certain shelf height is reasonable, but not if a crouched position is required to lift and place the unit in a small space.
Suppose a claim of disability discrimination is made. In that case, an accurate job description is a defense if you can establish that the individual could not perform one or more of the essential functions, even with reasonable accommodation. Specified essential duties are among the first things the EEOC examines when investigating ADA complaints, so including detailed and accurate physical demands in job descriptions is considered best practice.
Job Analysis: The Foundation of Precision
Objective Data: A quality job description is based on a thorough job analysis that details the tasks, duties, and responsibilities, as well as the physical demands. The Department of Labor details five levels of physical demand characteristics (PDCs): sedentary, light, medium, heavy, and very heavy, along with the duration of lifting and the percentage of the workday spent standing. The job description should also specify the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform the job.
A formal job analysis helps quantify the physical demand requirements of essential job functions to meet ADA requirements, which is vital if an applicant with a disability or impairment seeks employment and possible accommodation.
Typically, employers rely on internal sources to establish the physical demands of a position, but these can be inaccurate or lack detailed information. The physical demands section of the job description is often the most limited when, instead, it should contain substantial information. We often see job descriptions that simply state, “must be able to lift in the heavy PDC level,” but the range of 51-100 pounds is a wide variance. What’s usually missing is the postural component: Will the candidate have to walk, kneel, bend, climb, carry, push/pull with the load? How often? Once a day or 20x daily? Providing as many details as possible will create an accurate picture of the job.
Testing Support: For pre-employment, post-offer, or post-employment functional testing, the job analysis establishes the basis for job-specific tests that replicate essential functions. EEOC guidelines permit a physical ability test to determine whether a candidate has the physical capabilities to perform the tasks required. These tests are standard in physically demanding jobs that require lifting, manual labor, or endurance. Examples include testing for strength, flexibility, or cardiovascular endurance.
To comply with EEOC and ADA guidelines, employers must ensure that hiring practices do not discriminate based on race, gender, age, disability, or other protected characteristics. For example, in EEOC vs. Dial Corporation, a pre-employment strength test used at a meat-packing plant was found to have a disparate impact on women and was not justified by business necessity. The cost? $3 million in back pay and damages to 52 discrimination victims, plus a publicity nightmare.
Some progressive companies are forming video clips of employees performing tasks in the field, along with simulations of dynamics in the clinic. By using verifiable, job-related testing and validated simulations, employers minimize the risk of legal action and ensure fairness in candidate selection.
According to the EEOC, once employment has begun, an employer may require a medical examination if there is a reasonable belief—based on objective evidence—that the employee poses a direct threat to safety or is unable to perform essential job functions.
Following any necessary treatment, a fit-for-duty test ensures that the employee can safely perform essential job functions, and documentation records the process for legal purposes. For example, an employee injures a knee playing soccer and their manager notices limping and job impairment. The manager engages them in discussion and sends them for a medical exam, where treatment is deemed necessary. Following the worker’s release from physical therapy, the employer enacts fit-for-duty testing to ensure and document the ability to return to duties safely.
Compliance Support: Job analysis as a foundation for job descriptions helps to support regulatory compliance. According to the EEOC’s Uniform Guidelines, test validation must ensure that any pre-employment tests are job-related and consistent with job requirements. The tests must reflect the physical demands of the position to ensure compliance and legality. Per Section 5 of the EEOC uniform guidelines, there are three types of validation:
- Content Validation – Ensuring that assessments and testing accurately measure essential job duties. A current, onsite job analysis helps establish the physical demands for test simulations. Example: An electrician needs to climb a ladder while carrying 65 pounds of equipment and place it on a 72”-high shelf. A task simulation of climbing a specified number of rungs on a ladder carrying this weight is EEOC-compliant.
- Criterion-Related Validation – Measuring a test’s ability to predict a candidate’s job performance. Comparing pre-employment test scores to employees’ performance metrics is the primary method for implementing this type of validation.
- Construct Validation – Often used when assessing a candidate’s ability in abstract or intangible constructs, such as intelligence, personality, or mood. Construct validation refers to how well a test reflects the concepts to be measured.
Next Steps: Review, Update, and Strengthen
If your job descriptions haven’t been refreshed in the last few years, now is the time to take a closer look. Roles evolve, equipment changes, and work environments shift—so it’s essential to ensure your descriptions are current and complete. Pay special attention to physical demands, essential job functions, and consider conducting thorough job analyses to support accuracy and compliance.
Ready to strengthen your hiring foundation? Contact WorkSTEPS today to learn how we can help you optimize your job descriptions and employment practices—so you can hire smarter, reduce turnover, minimize injuries, and build a workforce that’s aligned, resilient, and ready to perform.
Jerry Hanke joined WorkSTEPS in October 2013 as the corporate National Training Director. He has 30 years of experience in the fitness and healthcare industry and has been specializing in industrial rehabilitation for the past 23 years. Jerry graduated from Angelo State University with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 1995 and earned a degree in occupational therapy from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in 2000. He brings extensive expertise in industrial rehabilitation and ergonomics, specializing in functional capacity evaluations, job assessments, employment testing, and ergonomic consulting. As a Certified Ergonomics Assessment Specialist, his knowledge and experience make him a valuable asset in promoting workplace safety and efficiency.
