In a recent case found here, BALCA reversed a denial where the employer did not list every single required bit of educational/experiential requirement in the newspaper advertisement. This was obviously the right result because not listing these things would have no negative impact such as chilling or reducing applications; if anything, it would have the opposite impact.
While this case may seem irrelevant to employers hiring entry-level and blue collar positions via this program (since the case revolved around an IT position requiring a degree and experience), it is nonetheless instructive because it highlights the real-world balancing act when it comes to placing newspaper advertisements, which can be quite costly.
Employers in smaller markets enjoy very reasonable pricing when it comes to newspaper advertisements. I’ve worked with employers in smaller markets like Annapolis, MD; Biloxi, MS; and, Grand Rapids, MI. In those locations newspaper ads often run less than $250. However, in the largest markets like New York and San Francisco, a simple ad might run 10 times that much! In addition, for some reason, a few random markets have unusually high ad costs (Pittsburgh and the entire state of Texas come to mind). Anyway, when paying by the letter or character, literally everything that goes into the ad counts. In all cases, we work hard with employers to craft text that says as much as is necessary under the law… in as little space as possible. How concise we can get the ad ultimately depends on two things - the job duties and the requirements (and arguably a third - the number of ways in which the employer is prepared to accept responses/inquiries). In these situations, it’s important for the employer to differentiate between “actual minimum requirements” and “wants.” Usually, we can communicate effective such that we can understand where the lines between those two things are and thus boil the ad text down as best we can. And in these cases, the savings can be significant - 50% or more.
Of course, we all have to be careful to list all actual requirements. But the purpose of this case - which was wrongly denied in the first instance - is to show that the purpose of being careful with the ads is to make sure an employer’s ads are not scaring off any prospective employees. You do that by listing overly restrictive qualification requirements; not by keeping your ads brief and concise (which keeps costs down as well).
Originally from July 2019, published at: https://www.permlabor.com/blog/balancing-required-descriptions-with-financial-considerations