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Hiring

Avoid bad hires and bad lawsuits by testing for job skills before hiring

06/09/2010

It happens all the time: A manager decides to take a chance by hiring a marginally qualified applicant. Then, days later, it becomes clear she can’t do the job. The employer has little choice but to terminate. But then the fired employee feels she has little choice but to sue for some form of discrimination. The best way to avoid those lawsuits: Don’t count on “gut feeling” or interview skills. Run the applicant through job-specific tests.

Know the law governing background criminal and credit checks

06/02/2010
No law bars employers from conducting criminal background checks. However, conducting checks when it isn’t necessary not only wastes resources, it may increase the risk of being sued. The same is true of credit checks. Two lawsuits challenging the fairness of background checks serve as cautionary tales for employers.

Worker can’t show he’s legal? He’s still eligible for workers’ comp

06/02/2010
Illegal immigrants who can’t legally work in the United States are still eligible for benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), according to a recent 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

Pre-Employment Testing

06/01/2010

HR Law 101: Many organizations use pre-employment tests to screen applicants. But be aware of the risks involved. Unless you can demonstrate that a test measures job-related qualities and fulfills a business necessity, you could be exposing your organization to charges of discrimination …

Put this on your interview checklist

05/28/2010
You can tell a lot about potential hires by the way they treat the receptionist when they call or arrive for an interview.

Warn bosses: E-mail is smoking-gun evidence

05/27/2010

The risk isn’t new—e-mail has been around for a while. But managers and supervisors still continue to play fast and loose with their e-comments. E-mail messages are increasingly finding their way into employment-law court battles. Remind managers in the hiring process that it’s typically better to pick up the phone or walk down the hall to discuss a candidate than it is to send an e-mail.

Is it OK to ask about race?

05/26/2010
Q. We have all new employees fill out a data sheet. Is it OK to ask them to reveal their race on this form?

EEOC, N.J. man say Accenture’s background checks are biased

05/26/2010
Management consulting giant Accenture faces a class-action lawsuit over its use of background checks on job applicants. The suit, filed in New York, alleges Accenture’s policy of background checks has a disparate impact on minorities.

Have business justification for hiring rules that could cause disparate impact

05/26/2010

Is your workforce less diverse than the local labor market? You can head off discrimination lawsuits by citing legitimate business needs that justify hiring rules that seem to cause disparities. The best approach: Have a clear business justification for any screening or job criteria you use, even if you don’t expect they will cause a disparate impact on any protected group.

Creating drug-free workplace: How to draft a policy, conduct legal tests

05/26/2010

When drug abuse isn’t an obvious problem in the workplace, it’s easy for employers to develop a cavalier attitude about it. That’s not smart. It’s in your best interest to detect employee drug abuse early and root it out immediately. Keeping your workplace drug-free means knowing how to spot the problem and effectively respond to it—without violating employees’ legal rights and creating legal liability.