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Hiring

What are the rules on applicant credit checks?

09/16/2010
Q. Our company would like to review applicants’ credit information when we make hiring decisions. Can we do this?

New laws for a new year: Illinois employers face new credit check, wage payment requirements

09/16/2010

The Illinois General Assembly has been busy, passing legislation that HR professionals need to know about. Specifically: the Employee Credit Privacy Act, which prohibits many Illinois employers from basing hiring, promotion and other employment decisions on the credit histories of employees and job applicants, and the Wage Payment and Collection Act, which protects employees who have not been paid all their wages.

States putting new limits on background checks

09/14/2010
Illinois last month passed a law that prohibits employers (in most cases) from using a person’s personal credit history to fire, refuse to hire or otherwise discriminate against the person. Several other states are considering similar bills.

‘Résumé mining’ services can save time, money

09/10/2010

If you’re truly looking for the best candidates, they’re sometimes the ones busy in their cubicles, while their résumés are sitting in cyber space. Low-cost “résumé mining” services can save HR time and money by searching online résumé databases for candidates that match specific qualifications. Here’s how résumé mining services work:

Can we make this hire? Confidentiality agreement doesn’t include a noncompete

09/08/2010
Q. We want to hire an applicant, but received a letter from his employer stating that working for us would violate a confidentiality agreement he signed with that employer. Since he doesn’t have a noncompete agreement, can we hire him?

Can we legally a hire a foreign national?

09/08/2010
Q. Our software company is considering hiring a Canadian citizen for a computer systems analyst position. Does the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allow us to hire this individual?

Will we run into legal trouble if we commit to hiring only ‘careful’ workers?

09/08/2010
Q. Several recent hires have suffered work-related injuries shortly after starting to work for us. As a result, our workers’ compensation premiums have soared. Our CEO, in an effort to avoid this problem, has directed managers to hire only “careful” workers in the future. Is this legal?

First Transit sued over criminal background checks

09/03/2010
Cincinnati-based First Transit faces charges that its policy barring all applicants who have a felony conviction disparately impacts minorities and therefore violates the Civil Rights Act.

An easy way to avoid failure-to-hire lawsuits: Post openings for all to see

09/03/2010

Here’s a simple hiring best practice to follow: Advertise all your open positions internally and let employees and applicants know how to look for opportunities. Otherwise, you could be sued by an employee or potential applicant, alleging that she would have applied if she had only known about the opening.

It’s a buyer’s market: Hire the best candidates over those who meet minimum requirements

09/01/2010
Many employers are discovering they have many—perhaps dozens—of well-qualified applicants for each opening. That may leave some perfectly qualified applicants wondering why they weren’t picked. Don’t fret about selecting the applicant with the best résumé. While you may be sued by another applicant who believes some form of discrimination must have been at work in the selection process, that lawsuit won’t go far.