The National Law Journal’s story Employment tests may fail legal exam and recent settlements regarding testing procedures in the hiring process have raised a few eyebrows. Since many more companies are using some form of aptitude testing, the number of discrimination complaints regarding job screening tests has also risen.

"This is an enforcement priority for the EEOC right now," said Michael Rosen, a management-side attorney at Boston’s Foley Hoag. "That in and of itself is something that employers should be paying attention to."

Organizations can take certain steps to maximize the level of defensibility of the selection tests they deploy. Trouble begins when you use tests that are not properly developed for your company and/or your positions.

According to Nathan Mondragon Ph.D., a Senior Industrial Psychologist at Taleo, following these five steps could help maximize the legal defensibility of your selection tests:

1. Conduct an analysis of the jobs for which tests will be deployed.
2. Select tests that will best predict competency or develop custom versions.
3. Statistically validate the test with job outcome criteria.
4. Establish selection cut-offs to differentiate between poor, good, and excellent scores.
5. Continually check and revalidate tests over regular periods of time.