Legal regulation of the purpose of the competition on the position of the state service with the application of the polygraph

• Main Author: Олена Євгенівна Луценко
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University 2019-06-01
• Series: Проблеми Законності
• Subjects: civil service; competition; hiring; vacancy; polygraph
• Online Access: http://plaw.nlu.edu.ua/article/view/155428

The article has devoted to issues of legal regulation of the employment of civil service positions through competitive selection with the use of a polygraph.  The author has found that in most countries polygraph is used for the professional selection of civil service personnel.  Particular attention in the article has focused on the USA experience in conducting a polygraph survey in a competition for occupation of federal, state or local government positions, as well as positions in the field of national defense.  However, the author focuses on the USA's positive experience in protecting information obtained during polygraph testing, in particular if the candidate for a position has undergone such a polygraph test, the results can only be disclosed to the employer who ordered the test as well as to the employee , who passed the test.  Legislation of the USA prohibits potential employers from accessing old test results.  The article states that in Ukraine there is no single legislative act that would regulate the procedure for using the polygraph, but there are some departmental acts regulating the use of the polygraph during the competitive selection. The author argues that the main principle of the use of a polygraph should be voluntary. That is, testing can only take place if there is written voluntary consent of the person being inspected.  If the person does not consent to the testing and, accordingly, does not sign the application for voluntary consent to the procedure, then the check on this person's polygraph is not carried out, and the reasons for the refusal are indicated in the application.  The author concluded that the information obtained during the psycho-physiological research is a prerequisite for determining the situations that should be discussed with the candidate for a vacancy in the civil service, in other words, this information will contribute to the formation of the interview plan, helps the tender committee to determine the content of the questions that it is worth discussing.  The interview should be conducted in order to assess the suitability of the candidate's eligibility. In the article, the author insists that the commission, having checked the submitted documents by persons who wish to take part in the competition, on compliance with their requirements to the package of these documents and their contents, as well as the qualification requirement, can not refuse to pass the competition on the basis the fact that the person will not consent to a polygraph check.