Hiring Requirements and Qualifications of School Food Authority Directors Changed in Some Districts After Implementation of US Department of Agriculture Professional Standards

BACKGROUND

In 2015, the US Department of Agriculture set minimum education and training requirements (ie, professional standards) to ensure that school nutrition professionals have the knowledge and experience to operate school meal programs. No study to date has examined whether hiring requirements and qualifications of school food authority (SFA) directors have changed since 2015.

OBJECTIVE

To assess changes in hiring requirements and qualifications of SFA directors since the US Department of Agriculture professional standards were established, overall and by district size.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis of nationally representative district-level data from the 2012 and 2016 cycles of the School Health Policies and Practices Study.

PARTICIPANTS/SETTING

In 2012, 660 sampled districts completed the School Health Policies and Practices Study Nutrition Services questionnaire. In 2016, 599 sampled districts completed the questionnaire.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Hiring requirements for newly hired SFA directors and reported qualifications of SFA directors.

STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED

Differences in prevalence estimates from 2012 to 2016 for all districts and by district size were assessed with χ2 tests.

RESULTS

Significant increases were found for 3 hiring requirements: degree in nutrition or related field, registered dietitian credential, and food safety certification. Significant changes in 4 of the 5 reported qualifications were found including an increase in the percentage of district directors with a degree in nutrition or a related field and decreases in the percentage of directors with a School Nutrition Specialist credential from the School Nutrition Association, School Nutrition Association certifications, and certified dietary managers. Changes were found in small and medium districts, but not large districts.

CONCLUSIONS

District hiring requirements and SFA director qualifications have changed since the implementation of the US Department of Agriculture professional standards, including some differences by district size. Future research could identify challenges facing districts in hiring directors who have a degree in nutrition or related fields or who have specialized nutrition credentials or certificates (eg, registered dietitians).

Comparing demographics of signatories to public letters on diversity in the mathematical sciences

In its December 2019 edition, the Notices of the American Mathematical Society published an essay critical of the use of diversity statements in academic hiring. The publication of this essay prompted many responses, including three public letters circulated within the mathematical sciences community. Each letter was signed by hundreds of people and was published online, also by the American Mathematical Society. We report on a study of the signatories' demographics, which we infer using a crowdsourcing approach. Letter A highlights diversity and social justice. The pool of signatories contains relatively more individuals inferred to be women and/or members of underrepresented ethnic groups. Moreover, this pool is diverse with respect to the levels of professional security and types of academic institutions represented. Letter B does not comment on diversity, but rather, asks for discussion and debate. This letter was signed by a strong majority of individuals inferred to be white men in professionally secure positions at highly research intensive universities. Letter C speaks out specifically against diversity statements, calling them "a mistake," and claiming that their usage during early stages of faculty hiring "diminishes mathematical achievement." Individuals who signed both Letters B and C, that is, signatories who both privilege debate and oppose diversity statements, are overwhelmingly inferred to be tenured white men at highly research intensive universities. Our empirical results are consistent with theories of power drawn from the social sciences.

Recruitment of Dual-Career Academic Medicine Couples

Today it is not uncommon to discover that a candidate for a faculty position has a partner or spouse who is also an academician, adding complexity to the recruitment process. Here, the authors address two practical obstacles to the recruitment of faculty who have an academic partner: dual recruitment and conflict of interest. The authors have found that tandem recruitment works best when suitable positions for both spouses are first identified so that recruitment can proceed synchronously. This approach decreases misperceptions of favoritism toward either's candidacy. Managing conflict of interest, generated by the appointment of one spouse in a supervisory position over the other, requires a proactive, transparent, well-designed plan. After canvassing human resource policies and conducting interviews with national academic leaders, the authors have developed an administrative structure that places "key" decisions (hiring and retention; promotion and tenure; salary, bonuses, and benefits; performance evaluations; and disciplinary matters) regarding the supervised spouse in the jurisdiction of an alternative administrator or committee. The authors also offer suggestions both for mitigating misperceptions of bias in day-to-day decisions and for the support and mentoring of the supervised partner or spouse.

Should Employers Be Permitted not to Hire Smokers? A Review of US Legal Provisions

BACKGROUND

Increasingly, healthcare and non-healthcare employers prohibit or penalize the use of tobacco products among current and new employees in the United States. Despite this trend, and for a range of different reasons, around half of states currently legally protect employees from being denied positions, or having employment contracts terminated, due to tobacco use.

METHODS

We undertook a conceptual analysis of legal provisions in all 50 states.

RESULTS

We found ethically relevant variations in terms of how tobacco is defined, which employee populations are protected, and to what extent they are protected. Furthermore, the underlying ethical rationales for smoker protection differ, and can be grouped into two main categories: prevention of discrimination and protection of privacy.

CONCLUSION

We critically discuss these rationales and the role of their advocates and argue that enabling equality of opportunity is a more adequate overarching concept for preventing employers from disadvantaging smokers.

Hiring people with disabilities: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Many people with disabilities continue to encounter challenges trying to secure employment.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to synthesize existent knowledge about the hiring process for people with disabilities and explore research priorities from the perspective of key stakeholders.

METHODS

A scoping review of the literature related to hiring processes and practices as they relate to people with disabilities was undertaken. As part of the scoping review, seven key informant consultations were conducted in order to gain further insight into the key issues identified by those most involved in the hiring process for people with disabilities.

RESULTS

Findings from the literature and consultations revolve around seven inter-related topics: 1) regulationsversus practice, 2) stigma, 3) disclosure, 4) accommodations, 5) relationship building and use of disability organizations,6) information and support to employers, and 7) hiring practices that invite people with disabilities.

CONCLUSIONS

Although barriers to employment for people with disabilities have been examined in the literature, there remains a paucity of literature examining and evaluating strategies to improve hiring practices and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Future research must occur in consultation with key stakeholders including employers, people with disabilities, and employment support workers.

3. Becoming a midwife - protecting the public through disclosure and barring service checks

Becoming a midwife is the 16th series of 'Midwifery basics'targeted at practising midwives and midwifery students. The aim of these articles is to provide information to raise awareness of the impact of professionalism on women's experience, consider the implications for midwives' practice and encourage midwives to seek further information through a series of activities relating to the topic. This article looks at the need for a Disclosure and barring service (DBS) check; issues that can arise through this are used to demonstrate challenges that may affect students during recruitment or while awaiting clearance. This shows how the public are protected during recruitment procedures.

It Doesn't Have to End in Disaster: A Case for Employment Compliance

It only takes one unhappy or disgruntled person to create a legal nightmare for you. There's no need to take this gamble. All it takes is awareness, commitment and action on your part. Once you have your HR house in order and have implemented a sound HR program in your practice, you also can feel good about knowing you are giving your staff every protection due to them under the law and every opportunity to be happy and successful in your practice. For yourself, you will be minimizing your risks and protecting your most valuable asset--your practice. You also will have given yourself the gift of peace of mind.

NMC considers action against overseas unregistered nurses

The Nursing and Midwifery Council is considering whether to take action against three unregistered practitioners from overseas who were discovered working as nurses at a UK trust.

Trust takes control of Filipino recruitment exams

A London trust has tightened its procedures for hiring nurses in the Philippines because it said it had evidence that some candidates cheated in the recruitment exam.

The contribution made by nurses from overseas is irreplaceable

I was upset to read that new immigration rules mean nurses and healthcare assistants from countries such as the Philippines and India, and those from the Commonwealth, will be sent home after five years if they earn less than £35,000 (News, June 3).

How prevalent are potentially illegal questions during residency interviews?

PURPOSE

To study the prevalence of potentially illegal questions in residency interviews and to identify the impact of such questions on applicants' decisions to rank programs.

METHOD

Using an Electronic Residency Application Service-supported survey, the authors surveyed all applicants from U.S. medical schools to residency programs in five specialties (internal medicine, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, obstetrics-gynecology [OB/GYN], and emergency medicine) in 2006-2007. The survey included questions about the frequency with which respondents were asked about gender, age, marital status, couples matching, current children, intent to have children, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, and the effect that such questions had on their decision to rank programs.

RESULTS

Of 11,983 eligible applicants, 7,028 (58.6%) completed a survey. Of respondents, 4,557 (64.8%) reported that they were asked at least one potentially illegal question. Questions related to marital status (3,816; 54.3%) and whether the applicant currently had children (1,923; 27.4%) were most common. Regardless of specialty, women were more likely than men to receive questions about their gender, marital status, and family planning (P < .001). Among those respondents who indicated their specialty, those in OB/GYN (162/756; 21.4%) and general surgery (214/876; 24.4%) reported the highest prevalence of potentially illegal questions about gender. Being asked a potentially illegal question negatively affected how respondents ranked that program.

CONCLUSIONS

Many residency applicants were asked potentially illegal questions. Developing a formal interview code of conduct targeting both applicants and programs may be necessary to address the potential flaws in the resident selection process.

The invisible minority: revisiting the debate on foreign-accented speakers and upward mobility in the workplace

Of some of the major types of discrimination, the one that gets the least attention is national origin discrimination and in particular, accent discrimination, especially when it comes to upward mobility in the workplace. Yet, unlike other forms of discrimination, accent discrimination is rarely a subject of any robust public debate. This paper is a modest attempt to help establish a framework for understanding the relative neglect to which the discourse on accent discrimination has been subjected vis-a-vis the overall national debate on diversity. Hopefully, in the process, it will stimulate a more robust conversation on the plight of foreign-accented speakers.

Protection of Freedoms Act 2012: safeguarding vulnerable groups

In last month's article on changes to the law protecting vulnerable adults from harm by health and social care professionals, Richard Griffith and Cassam Tengnah discussed changes to be made to Criminal Records Bureau checks. This month's article discusses the changes to the vetting and barring scheme to be introduced under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which mean that people currently working in regulated activities with vulnerable groups, such as district nurses, will no longer need to register and be monitored by the independent safeguarding authority or its replacement, the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Why don't employers hire and retain workers with disabilities?

INTRODUCTION

Despite persistently low employment rates among working-age adults with disabilities, prior research on employer practices and attitudes toward workers with disabilities paints a generally rosy picture of successfully accommodated workers in a welcoming environment. Findings from previous studies might have been biased because of either employer self-selection or social desirability, yielding non-representative or artificially positive conclusions.

METHODS

In this study, a novel approach was used to survey human resource professionals and supervisors working for employers known or reputed to be resistant to complying with the ADA's employment provisions. Attendees of employer-requested ADA training sessions were asked to assess various possible reasons that employers in general might not hire, retain, or accommodate workers with disabilities and to rate strategies and policy changes that might make it more likely for employers to do so.

RESULTS

As cited by respondents, the principal barriers to employing workers with disabilities are lack of awareness of disability and accommodation issues, concern over costs, and fear of legal liability. With regard to strategies employers might use to increase hiring and retention, respondents identified increased training and centralized disability and accommodation expertise and mechanisms. Public policy approaches preferred by respondents include no-cost external problem-solving, subsidized accommodations, tax breaks, and mediation in lieu of formal complaints or lawsuits.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest straightforward approaches that employers might use to facilitate hiring and retention of workers with disabilities, as well as new public programs or policy changes that could increase labor force participation among working-age adults who have disabilities.

Pride and prejudice: employment discrimination against openly gay men in the United States

This article presents the first large-scale audit study of discrimination against openly gay men in the United States. Pairs of fictitious résumés were sent in response to 1,769 job postings in seven states. One résumé in each pair was randomly assigned experience in a gay campus organization, and the other résumé was assigned a control organization. Two main findings have emerged. First, in some but not all states, there was significant discrimination against the fictitious applicants who appeared to be gay. This geographic variation in the level of discrimination appears to reflect regional differences in attitudes and antidiscrimination laws. Second, employers who emphasized the importance of stereotypically male heterosexual traits were particularly likely to discriminate against openly gay men. Beyond these particular findings, this study advances the audit literature more generally by covering multiple regions and by highlighting how audit techniques may be used to identify stereotypes that affect employment decisions in real labor markets.

Equal-opportunity burden. Legal order for Florida hospital could mean new hiring rules on top of health reform hurdles for thousands of healthcare providers

A judge's decision that a Florida hospital is a federal subcontractor because it provides care through the military's Tricare program has put the industry on alert. Hospitals fear they'll be forced to to jump through lots of hoops to comply with federal rules regarding hiring. "Many of the substantive obligations that are sought to be imposed ... are already fully applicable to hospitals through state and other federal laws," says Curt Kirschner, left, a lawyer with Jones Day.