Three steps to remaining compliant when leveraging video interviewing.
By Chris Young
Digital interviews are being rapidly integrated into HR and recruitment practices. In fact today, video interviewing is quickly becoming the norm in an employer’s interview process with more than two thirds of organizations using live or pre-recorded video technologies, according to an OfficeTeam survey. Many organizations use live video interviews to reduce travel costs and break down the geographical barriers in the latter part of the interview process. Pre-recorded video interviewing allows the sourcing process to become more time efficient. Video offers the ability to provide an authentic look into early-round candidates at the convenience of both the candidate and the recruiter. Despite the cost and time savings benefits that video interviewing offers, with the movement to video comes concerns around Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) compliance.
The EEOC states that a job applicant should be evaluated on the basis of skill and education, and not religion, color, disability or gender. Since video interviewing allows an employer to ‘see’ the applicant before proceeding with the hiring process, some worry that disgruntled applicants will use this as ammunition for a discrimination case. Others believe that video interviewing is simply not EEOC compliant. But the reality is, digital interviews might actually help safeguard a company from such disputes.
Fortunately for recruiters and companies, the
EEOC discusses video interviewing in more detail
in a new whitepaper, EEOC Compliance Using
Video Interviewing. From the report, the EEOC recommends: “Employers and recruiters continue to structure their recruitment and selection processes to be nondiscriminatory and to consistently focus on the job qualifications of all job seekers, regardless of technology or of the information available by virtue of that technology.”
There are a few keys to making sure that digital interviewing doesn’t fall out of line with compliance when implementing during the hiring process:
1. Privacy and terms. It’s important to make sure that the digital interviewing vendor provides consent to candidates before doing their interview so candidates understand the purpose behind it as well as the privacy needed to ensure compliance.
2. Storage and recordkeeping. Make sure that the provider you’ve selected keeps the data, videos, 
and other appropriate information long enough
to protect you from any disputes you may need to defend. The OFCCP requires storage of interviewing and applicant data for up to two years, but your company may require longer storage. Make sure your vendor and your company’s requirements are aligned.
3. Recruiter and manager training. As with all types of interviews, make sure recruiters and managers are trained on evaluating candidates on the “job qualifications of all job seekers.” One way to help managers is to provide them an interview rubric so it can help structure their thinking when reviewing a pre-recorded video interview or conducting a live video interview with a candidate.
Video interviewing may be misperceived to be a drastic change from traditional recruitment practices, but in reality, it’s actually just a more advanced
tool to process the same assessment you would on
 a phone call or in-person interview, with the added cost and time savings benefits. Some may argue digital interviews could even keep your EEOC worries in check because it’s more consistent: All candidates receive the same questions in the same format via the same technology. The key is making sure these platforms are being used with the right intent and that they’re in compliance with recordkeeping and storage policies.
Chris Young is CEO and founder of Async Interview.
