• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Hiring

When hiring, what shouldn’t we ask?

06/23/2011
Q. Are there any questions we cannot or should not ask a reference when screening applicants?

Check your hiring practices! EEOC takes aim at systemic bias

06/23/2011
As its workload has increased, the EEOC has sought greater funding so it can pursue cases in which employer hiring practices discriminate broadly against members of protected classes. Those practices include using criminal background checks and credit-history checks to screen applicants.

Is Arizona-style E-Verify mandate headed to Pennsylvania?

06/23/2011
If state Rep. Bill Galloway has his way, certain employers may be re­quired to use the federal government’s E-Verify web-based employment eligibility verification system. Several states already mandate E-Verify, and the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled that an Arizona law requiring employers to use it is constitutional.

Keep it clean (and sober)! Ensure drug testing is uniform and fair

06/23/2011
When you offer employees a chance for drug or alcohol treatment and rehabilitation, make sure you treat them fairly. There’s nothing wrong with telling recovering employees they may be randomly tested for drugs or alcohol without notice. You can even use a “lottery” system that results in some employees being tested more often than others.

Firm markets brands in effort to recruit

06/21/2011
The maker of Clearasil, Lysol and Woolite doesn’t market to young adults just so they will use its household, health and personal-care products. Its new multi-country, multibillion-dollar campaign is designed to create awareness of its corporate brand so young people will want to work there.

What web resources can we use to make sure we are in compliance with I-9 rules?

06/16/2011
Q. Our company needs guidance on keeping up with our obligations with regard to employment eligibility. What resources are available?

Supreme Court upholds Arizona immigration law, backs E-Verify

06/16/2011
The U.S. Supreme Court has concluded that federal immigration law does not pre-empt or invalidate an Arizona law that subjects Arizona employers to sanctions for knowingly or intentionally employing unauthorized workers and requiring them to use the federal government’s E-Verify online employment eligibility verification system.

Supreme Court OKs Arizona’s work authorization law

06/16/2011
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal immigration law doesn’t pre-empt an Arizona law, The Legal Arizona Workers Act. Therefore, Arizona employers that knowingly or intentionally hire illegal immigrants may have their licenses to do business in the state revoked or suspended.

Thinking of stiffing illegal immigrant workers? Better be ready to defend huge class-action suit

06/15/2011
The fact that a worker is in this coun­try illegally does not mean he can’t file a Fair Labor Standards Act overtime lawsuit. What’s more, that case can turn into a class-action suit, representing all other similarly situated illegal workers.

Chicago firefighters’ case burns on–focus still on allegedly biased promotion tests

06/10/2011
The litigation over promotion tests for Chicago’s firefighters is by no means over, despite a 2010 trip to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is again working its way through the legal system—something that carries a lesson for all employers.