EEO

Been through mandatory EEO training and testing in the office today for about two hours - painful, but every government employee is required to go through this once in two years. I must admit that I do enjoy some of the new things and euphemisms these folks keep coming up with.

Calling someone handicapped used to be OK. It is not politically correct now, as the word originated from hand in cap. Even though hand in cap is not derogatory Per Se, as it sounds like cap in hand (which is begging), we are being told to avoid this word. Now we need to call it disabled.

The other interesting thing I learned is, it is not OK for an employer to ask the question Have you ever been arrested?, on employment applications. This is because minorities get arrested more than Caucasians. Therefore, based on answer to this question, an employer can potentially commit racial discrimination. To look for employees with no criminal background, an employer is allowed to ask Have you ever been convicted? Neat! Conviction is a solid record, whereas arrests can be made on illegal racial profiling.