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Hiring

How to safely handle calls for references, recommendations

08/03/2010

The unemployment rate has been hovering between 9% and 10% for more than a year. Some of those unemployed people probably once worked for you—and they would probably love to list you as a reference. That means it’s time to make sure you have policies on how to handle reference-check calls.

Grass getting greener: 7 tips for post-recession recruiting

08/03/2010

As the economy turns the corner, more employees are looking over the fence to see if the grass is greener elsewhere. “For the first time since 2008, we’re seeing more people quitting than being laid off,” Jamie Minier, president of The Right Thing recruiting firm, says. “Employers need to be thinking now about how to create a strategy to recruit.”

Base hiring decisions on listed qualifications

08/02/2010

Make sure your job announcements list all relevant experience and educational requirements. Why? Courts deciding whether to send a failure-to-hire case to trial won’t consider any qualifications you didn’t list in the job announcement. Here’s how that could play out:

DOL’s advice: Think twice before using interns as free labor

07/27/2010

On paper, internships are good for everyone. Interns learn a business and make connections in organizations where they hope to one day get jobs. In turn, businesses pay nearly nothing for work that needs to be done. However, the U.S. Department of Labor recently issued a fact sheet that casts that equation into doubt.

Newark car-prep giant faces discrimination, ADA charges

07/27/2010
The EEOC has sued Newark- and Port Elizabeth-based automotive processor FAPS Inc., for race and disability discrimination. The suit charges the company with engaging in a “pattern and practice” that discriminates against black applicants and asking job-application questions that violate the ADA.

Checking applicant references: How to dig the dirt–legally

07/26/2010

As part of the hiring process, supervisors are sometimes called on to check an applicant’s references. Those phone calls can help you accurately assess a person’s strengths, weaknesses and past job performance. But checking references can also be challenging—and legally tricky. Here are six guidelines for soliciting information without bumping into legal issues:

Are there privacy concerns when I use social media to check out applicants?

07/23/2010
Q. Am I invading applicants’ privacy by reviewing their Facebook, MySpace, blogs and Twitter feeds?

Am I allowed to check social media web sites for information on job applicants?

07/23/2010
Q. Is it OK for me to consider information about a job applicant that I learn by using Google, viewing Facebook pages and reviewing Twitter feeds?

Charlotte company learns the hard way: You will pay for bias

07/23/2010

Junior Revels, age 76, has been a diesel mechanic for a long time. So long, in fact, that when he applied for a job at Southern Metals in Charlotte, the company flat out told him it had decided to hire someone younger. Bad move.

The HR I.Q. Test: July ’10

07/16/2010
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …