2M04 Analysis of Subjective Criteria and Determination of Adverse Impact

The CO will generally undertake an analysis of subjective criteria only after first determining the effects of any objective qualifications used by the contractor. Subjective criteria are analyzed in essentially the same way as objective criteria: namely, the CO first makes a determination as to whether the contractor is actually using the stated subjective criteria (verification) and then whether the contractor is applying them to members of all groups (if not, disparate treatment may have occurred). If the contractor applied subjective criteria to all groups, then use of subjective criteria will be analyzed for adverse impact.

The CO determines this by comparing the selection rates of members of favored and nonfavored groups who met the subjective requirements to determine whether statistically significant differences exist. If the disparity in these selection rates is not significant, then it is highly unlikely that discrimination resulted from the use of the subjective criteria. If the disparity is significant, then adverse impact exists and disparate impact discrimination may have occurred. The adverse impact analysis here is the same as the analysis described in 2M03 for the objective criteria analysis.