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Hiring

Conducting online background checks? Beware the pitfalls

11/16/2010
Online tools can be highly valuable in recruiting and selecting the best candidates and screening out bad hires. Despite the potential advantages, those activities come with potential employment law risks that are still evolving due to the relatively recent emergence and growth of social media. Some of the obvious and not-so-obvious legal risks:

What can the HIRE Act do for our company?

11/15/2010
Q. How can the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act help us add staff?

How should we report new hires?

11/15/2010
Q. What are an employer’s obligations to report new hires?

EEOC: U.S. Steel blew it with random alcohol testing policy

11/15/2010
The EEOC has sued U.S. Steel—with Illinois operations in Granite City—because the company’s policy of randomly testing probationary employees for alcohol allegedly violates the ADA.

Stop lawsuits by double-teaming hiring process

11/11/2010

You can help lawsuit-proof your hiring process by relying on strength in numbers. Have two company representatives sit in on interviews. Then have both reps deliver the news when you have to tell an applicant she wasn’t selected. That’s insurance against a drawn-out he said/she said lawsuit.

EEOC: U.S. Steel blew it with random alcohol testing policy

11/11/2010
The EEOC has sued U.S. Steel—with Minnesota operations in Hibbing, Ishpeming, Keewatin and Mountain Iron—because the company’s policy of randomly testing probationary employees for alcohol allegedly violates the ADA.

Palm Beach diocese wins grant to fight immigrant bias

11/08/2010
The Catholic Charities Diocese of Palm Beach is one of 13 recipients of U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) grant funds meant to aid victims of immigration discrimination.

It’s sometimes OK to ask about expunged records

11/08/2010
Florida’s criminal court dockets are so overloaded that some relatively minor offenses are never tried. And courts often expunge arrest records so people who were charged but never convicted can move on without the shadow of a criminal record hanging over them, affecting their ability to work. However, in Florida, some employers can still ask about expunged criminal records.

Temp-to-permanent promotions the norm? Check for unintentional bias toward one group

11/08/2010

Sometimes it makes sense to appoint workers to temporarily fill vacancies and then use your formal promotion process to make permanent appointments. But that practice carries some risk. You could wind up in court if you make those temporary appointments permanent.

Drugs at work: Cocaine use declines again, but use of prescription opiates rises sharply

11/08/2010
Use of prescription opiates (hydrocondone, oxycondone, etc.) by employees and applicants rose 18% in the past year and has grown 40% since 2005, according to 5 million drug tests done by testing firm Quest. The report also says cocaine use among workers continues to decline (down 29% from 2008 to 2009).