Long-awaited guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other agencies dictates that e-resume senders are indeed “job applicants” subject to record keeping rules – but only if they meet three criteria.

It states that an individual will be considered an applicant “in the context of the Internet and related electronic data processing” technologies it:

• The employer has acted to fill a particular position
• The individual has followed the employer’s standard procedures for submitting applications.
• The individual has indicated an interest in the particular position

   Therefore, an individual who “submits a resume or personal profile repeatedly to the same employer…or simply sends resumes (for example, by using automated online tools that identify job listing and submit resumes)… is not automatically an applicant” and does not have to be recorded, according to the guidance.

No effective date has been given for the guidance, which is now open for public comment following it publication in the March 4 Federal Register.