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Photo: Shutterstock.com[/caption] Federal regulators put a greater focus in recent years on how companies were using personality tests to screen job applicants, as hiring processes increasingly incorporated online tools. Now, two major companies have scuttled such practices under a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity probe into whether the tests were discriminatory. Best Buy and CVS Caremark Corporation agreed to stop their practice of using personality tests as part of the job application process in separate conciliation agreements with the EEOC, the agency said Wednesday. The details of the agreements are confidential. The agency said the concerns about the policies were raised by a former EEOC commissioner. Neither company admitted liability. The use of personality tests ballooned over the last decade, as companies tried to find efficient ways to hire workers by using algorithms to predict how a worker will perform. A 2014 study by Human Resources group CEB found that 62 percent of the employers surveyed said they required applicants to take a personality test. Another survey that year found dozens of major U.S. companies in the energy and financial sectors were employing personality tests. The tests came under increasing scrutiny for their potential to weed out people with mental illness or certain racial groups. CVS had previously agreed, for example, to remove certain mental-health-related questions from its questionnaire after a probe from the Rhode Island Human Rights Commission. In recent years, the EEOC launched investigations in personality tests on the grounds of discrimination and has guidelines for these job applicant assessments. Some companies on their own have decided to eliminate or reduce parts of the assessment tests, including Whole Foods Market Inc. Target Corp. reached an agreement with the EEOC in 2015 in which the retail giant agreed to pay $2.8 million to resolve claims that its employment assessments discriminated against candidates based on race and sex. The company ended the practice in question before reaching litigation with the commission. In court, the EEOC has won cases over employment assessment tests, including against Ford Motor Company, Dial Corp. and DaimlerChrysler Corp. These cases centered around tests that the commission found discriminated against prospective hires on the basis of race, sex and disability, respectively. In the CVS investigation, the EEOC said the Rhode Island-based company's use of personality tests between 2002 and 2010 adversely affected applicants based on race and national origin. CVS stopped using the assessments after receiving the discrimination charge. The company declined to comment on the resolution with the EEOC. Following the agency’s probe, CVS agreed to implement “best practices,” which include modifying its hiring process, employing staff to recruit and monitor the hiring of minorities and developing a comprehensive training curriculum for managers. The company said it will also regularly conduct evaluations of its hiring practices and provide reports to the EEOC for several years. "CVS has shown model cooperativeness in this conciliation process," said Jamie Williamson, director of the EEOC's Philadelphia District, of which Cleveland is a part. "It's a great sign when such a major employer of national scope works with the EEOC to straighten out a situation that was discriminatory, even if it was never intended to be." The case was similar for Best Buy. The agency said that Best Buy's tests between 2003 and 2010 harmed applicants based on race and national origin. The Minnesota-based electronics company agreed to stop end the assessment practices. The company agreed to comprehensive in-house training modules for hiring managers and will form regional diversity and inclusion committees. It will also evaluate its practices and submit regular reports to the EEOC. A Best Buy representative wasn't reached for comment. "So-called 'personality tests' are unacceptable if they have the effect of screening out people because of their race or national origin,” Cheryl Mabry, director of the EEOC's Cleveland field office, said. “We appreciate Best Buy cooperating with the EEOC to correct this situation."