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Hiring

Make sure fitness tests don’t unfairly target women

08/12/2008
Some jobs obviously require that the employees who perform them be in excellent physical condition. For example, firefighters and others engaged in heavy physical work may have to be extremely physically fit. It’s legitimate for employers to test those physical abilities on a regular basis. Be careful, though, about how you administer those tests to men and women …

Document why new talent got higher pay than existing staff

08/11/2008
You can pay more for a new hire than you pay those who hold similar positions. Just make sure you document exactly why newcomers deserve a higher wage or more benefits. You can do that by showing the new hire has more experience, education or specialized knowledge, or that the candidate wouldn’t accept an offer unless the salary and benefits met or exceeded what he was making elsewhere …

Suit claims Muslim employees were told to hold the hijab

08/08/2008
Two Muslim women are suing McDonald’s restaurants, claiming they were denied jobs at a restaurant in Dearborn because they wore Islamic head scarves, or hijabs …

Gather statistical evidence to show you don’t discriminate

08/05/2008
Employees who can show that a company routinely discriminates against members of a particular protected class will have a much easier time showing that, as members of that class, they were discriminated against, too. Perform your own statistical analyses to test your hiring practices for hidden discrimination …

Colorado in standoff with feds over immigration enforcement

08/05/2008
Colorado is one of a handful of holdouts in the battle between federal and state governments over verifying the status of immigrant workers. The U.S. Department of Labor’s “guidance letter” issued in November 2007 directed labor departments in 12 states to verify farm workers’ eligibility before allowing them to enter the workforce …

Benchmark Your Career Web Site Against Nation’s 25 Best

08/05/2008
More than 60% of all job seekers rely on web sites to learn about employment opportunities. Yet the career pages on too many employers’ sites remain hard to use, uninformative and so frustrating that many potential applicants simply give up and go looking elsewhere. If only there were some good examples of how to do career sites right! Good news: Here are links to the nation’s 25 best.

The legality of requiring job application fees

08/05/2008

Q. We have a problem with applicants who pass the pre-hiring process but then decide for some reason that they don’t want the job after all. They fail to show up their first day on the job. By that time, we have already spent time and money on drug tests and orientation, and turned down other promising applicants. Can we require applicants to submit fees to apply, which we will refund if we don’t hire them, or if they remain employed for a minimum period of time? …

Plant owners—And managers—Charged with employing illegals

08/04/2008
The owners and three managers of Action Rags USA, a used clothing plant in Houston, have been charged with conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants and inducing illegal immigrants to come to the United States …

Prepare hiring managers to explain interview assessments

08/04/2008
Sometimes employers need to get a feel for exactly how a candidate will react under stress. For jobs such as police officers, it’s appropriate to assess behavior and make subjective performance assessments. Beware, however, that subjective hiring processes often invite discrimination lawsuits from rejected applicants …

Beware! Now it’s even easier for disabled employees to sue

08/04/2008
A new federal appeals court case has made it easier for employees in the 5th Circuit to sue for disability discrimination. To prove disability discrimination, employees need to show only that the disability was a “motivating factor” in an employment decision, not the sole cause …