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Hiring

Illinois bucks feds on electronic employee verification

11/01/2007

The Illinois legislature sent a shot across the bow of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in August. It passed a law that forbids state employers from using the feds’ electronic E-Verify system to confirm employees’ eligibility to work unless the government can prove the system provides accurate and timely employee information 99% of the time …

Correcting I-9 mistakes four years after the fact

11/01/2007

Q. We recently discovered a stack of I-9s dating back to 2002. The forms were signed by the employees and include copies of the employees’ driver’s licenses and Social Security cards. Unfortunately, a company official never signed the I-9s. Can we sign the forms and backdate them to 2002? If not, what should we do? …

Require special credentials for foreign hires? Tell applicants

11/01/2007

Applicants from other countries or who were educated abroad pose special problems for HR professionals. For example, can you be sure their education and training are as good as that of U.S.-educated applicants? One way to find out is to require a credentialing company to certify the applicant’s educational equivalence. But if you go that route, make sure you inform applicants about the requirement …

Boone tree farmer tells Congress about H-2A visa problems

11/01/2007

Boone Christmas tree farmer Harry Yates testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture in an October hearing to review the labor needs of farmers. Yates offered his insights into the federal H-2A worker visa program …

Asking applicants about prior lawsuits is asking for trouble

11/01/2007

It may be natural to want to know whether an applicant has sued former employers. After all, if past performance predicts future behavior, you probably don’t want to end up with a serial litigator on your payroll. But asking about prior lawsuits may be hazardous: You can’t refuse to hire someone just because they sued for discrimination in the past …

As ye ask, so shall ye receive

11/01/2007

It’s OK to pay employees more if they negotiate harder during an interview, an Ohio court recently affirmed in a lawsuit against the Grande Pointe residential care facility in Richmond Heights …

Family-Responsibility discrimination: A growing trend

11/01/2007

The EEOC has issued new enforcement guidance concerning disparate treatment of workers with caregiving responsibilities—or “family-responsibility discrimination.” The guidelines are designed to help determine whether a particular employment decision is discriminatory. Family-responsibility discrimination is not a new type of discrimination, but rather an application of the existing discrimination laws to a situation that is drawing increasing attention …

Statements about race may trigger reverse discrimination

11/01/2007

When it comes to reverse discrimination, comments by senior managers may backfire if others perceive them as encouraging racial preferences. For example, when a high-level executive comments that the organization needs more black employees in management positions, hiring managers could construe it as authorization to bypass qualified white candidates in favor of black candidates with lesser qualifications …

Open accommodations: Sonoma settles agoraphobia case

11/01/2007

In a case filed by a 24-year human services department employee who was diagnosed with panic disorder and agoraphobia, Sonoma County agreed to settle a claim that the county failed to accommodate his disability …

Use cutoff point on promotion list to lessen legal risk

11/01/2007

To lower the risk of a failure-to-promote lawsuit, consider creating a cutoff point on your internal promotion list. For example, instead of considering all 15 potential candidates for an open position, consider just the top three. The disappointed candidates lower on the list will have a tougher time getting to court …