I have been trying to get a job with a public sector company. They have a policy where mid-level management are only hired from within the company. Does this violate any EEOC laws? Thank you.

I don't see anything illegal about this policy, expecially if it is just mid-management, that this pertains to, and not all positions. ElleMD, Pattymd, and CBG, are very qualified to answer these questions!

This violates no laws whatsoever.

I would add to what the others have said, that requiring agency specific experience is not at all uncommon in the public sector, depending upon the job. For some public sector jobs, it would make no sense to require that if it is a situation where job skills and knowledge could have been obtained in a variety of ways. However, for other jobs, private sector experience may not positively transfer to the public sector, and knowledge of how that public sector agency works could be essential to the job...particularly at the higher levels within the agency.

Take, for example, a couple of jobs that come to mind in the public sector arena where I am. Accounting skills are accounting skills, and always hungry for good accountants, agency specific accounting experience is rarely ever needed to be an accounting supervisor. What is needed is good accounting knowledge as applied to the public sector and good supervisory skills. OTOH, in the children's services department, a person is not going to be hired as a supervisor over case managers in the field unless they've had some field experience there themself. Even field experience in another jurisdiction may not be helpful since states may be very different in terms of how an agency such as children's services operates.

TMP, I started a management position last spring in a big city government after 28 years in the private sector. Oh, my, WHAT a difference. :eek:

TMP, I started a management position last spring in a big city government after 28 years in the private sector. Oh, my, WHAT a difference. :eek:


Care to elaborate a little more, since I am considering a public sector employement. Thanks!

Please PM me, we can discuss off-line.

btw, a couple of other things I wanted to add. In the public sector, there are often a myriad of unions wherein the contract requires that the job be posted internally first. Secondly, even if such contract mandates were not present, it's just good people management to do so. Why would the company take a chance on a new person, undergo training costs, etc., when there is an existing employee who is qualified and already knows the business? That's not great for employee morale while promoting from within is great for employee morale.

The bottom line here is, the EEOC considers race, religion, national origin, disability, gender, pregnancy, and being over 40 to be protected characteristics under the law. Neither the EEOC nor any state law offers protection to being an external candidate.

Where I work, we only hire internally, unless we feel that no one is qualified to do what we wish, like we hired externally for a new chef to operate the kitchen, and be a supervisor for all the cooks. No one in that department knew how to be a chef, hense the outside hiring, but other than that, we hire internally for jobs we have all been trained for in one way or another. Sorry poster, wish we could have given you different news.

Do you know whethet or not the position(s) at issue are union positions or management positions?

If they are union, then Patty make an excellent point that it is quite likely that the posting must be made internally before it can be offered to the general public.

Do you know whethet or not the position(s) at issue are union positions or management positions?

If they are union, then Patty make an excellent point that it is quite likely that the posting must be made internally before it can be offered to the general public.
She stated that she is trying to get the job, so I am not sure if it is union or not, she has stated that it is with the public sector, but did not elaborate on what kind of job, or if it is union. I imagine if she pm'd patty, then she is getting all the information she needs to know her answer. Hope your having a good one rjc!