The EEOC muddies the waters.

The New Year opens with a classic example of regulatory overreach. The EEOC has issued an opinion letter questioning whether employers who require a high school diploma for job openings are not violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC’s reasoning is that a blanket requirement would discriminate against individuals who have a learning disability that prevents them getting a high school diploma, but who could learn to do the job in question with reasonable accommodations.

Frankly, although I have not yet heard of a potted plant graduating from high school, I suspect anyone with a pulse who showed up every day could. A for effort and all that. I just have to wonder how severe a learning disability has to be if you can go to school every day and still not complete the requirements for graduation. Based on my experience hiring high school graduates, the requirements for graduation certainly don’t include literacy.

Businesses don’t require high school diplomas because of the intellectual content of the job. It is more of a determinant of character than anything else. If you can’t make it through high school, you have to suspect problems like lack of focus, disrespect for authority, or sheer laziness. All characteristics that don’t exactly endear you to first line supervisors. Maybe over time those problems get resolved. After all, almost everybody eventually grows up. But if that is the case, you can always go back and get a GED.

Approximately 10% of Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 are classified as high school dropouts. Maybe some small percentage of that group has learning disabilities that prevent them from graduation, but don’t prevent them from being good employees. My own highly unscientific survey leads me to think the number is higher with advancing age. Given enough time a river will rub all the rough edges off all the stones in the streambed. But in the meantime employers should be allowed to impose filters on the applicant pool, to narrow the choice of candidates for a job offering. A high school diploma is one that has stood the tests of time and experience.

It’s not clear to me why the EEOC is inserting the government’s snout into private relationships like the hiring decision without presenting any evidence that a large pool of applicants is being discriminated against. Or, for that matter, telling employers what would constitute a reasonable accommodation.