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Hiring

Mn/DOT criticized for lack of women and minority hiring

08/13/2009

A group of 200 community and religious leaders marched on the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) building on July 23 to demand renewed efforts to hire more women and minorities. According to protesters, Mn/DOT is employing fewer women and minorities, even as federal stimulus dollars and state infrastructure spending have swelled the agency’s employee rolls.

Minneapolis: It’s the nation’s happiest place for families

08/13/2009

Twin Cities employers have another recruiting tool. Ronald McDonald is lovin’ it here! In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Happy Meal, McDonald’s hired Sperling’s Best Places Research to evaluate the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas for family fun. When the results were tabulated, Minneapolis came out on top.

Develop objective promotion criteria, stick with them—and be sure to document them

08/11/2009

You’ve just made another tough promotion decision, and 10 other urgent tasks require your attention. Before you move to the next item on your to-do list, take the time to document the promotion process. That way, if you are later sued, you can easily show the court the factors you considered.

Miami makes list of sprawling job markets

08/11/2009

Miami placed seventh-worst in a Brookings Institution study that ranks cities by how spread out their employment centers are. About 62% of Miami jobs are located more than 10 miles from the city center …

Preventing identity theft: 6 steps to protect employees’ data

08/11/2009

Employers have a duty to protect their employees from identity theft. The federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) says employers that negligently or purposely let employees’ personally identifiable data fall into the wrong hands can face fines of up to $2,500 per infraction. Here are six tips on developing a data security strategy:

What plaintiff’s lawyers don’t want HR pros to know

08/11/2009

Want to know how to get under the skin of the lawyers who represent employees? Ask one. They won’t all cop to what sinks their cases, but attorney Whitney Warner did. Learn what she fears most when staring down an employer in court.

Security gives gov’t hiring edge in hard times

08/08/2009

Local, state and federal agencies could have a key edge over corporate America during a recession: job security. In a CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,900 workers, 88% said they were interested in public-sector jobs. Their reasons:

Downside of providing a recommendation on an employee’s social media page?

08/07/2009

Q. An employee has asked me, as his direct supervisor, to provide him a recommendation on his LinkedIn page. He’s a good employee and I don’t see any harm in granting his request. Are there any risks?

Court: We won’t micromanage hiring decisions

08/06/2009

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that an employee who was passed over for a promotion can’t later use the poor performance of the person who got the job to prove the decision was discriminatory. The case shows that courts are willing to let employers make mistakes; they won’t micromanage hiring and promotion decisions.

Hiring independent contractor? Be prepared to document that he’s not an employee

08/06/2009

A recent federal court decision means you’ll now have to go the extra mile to prove that your worker is an independent contractor, not an employee. Advice: Take steps to document exactly why you believe someone is an independent contractor when you begin using his or her services.