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Hiring

Applicant can sue only if there’s a true job opening

03/01/2007

Do you worry you may be courting a discrimination lawsuit when you turn away an applicant or toss an unsolicited résumé in the trash? Rest assured that turning away applicants when you don’t have an opening isn’t likely to get you in trouble …

Prevent new type of lawsuit: Credit-Check discrimination

03/01/2007

If your organization uses credit checks in the hiring process, you’d better have a sound business reason for doing so or you could face a new type of litigation …

Asking applicants about age: When is it legal?

03/01/2007

Q. I work as an HR generalist at a large hospital. My supervisor told me to ask a certain applicant for her date of birth during the hiring process. Isn’t it illegal to ask for an applicant’s birth date? —K.G., Philadelphia

Giving references: Limiting info is still safest policy

03/01/2007

Q. I’m new to the HR world. When we receive reference checks on ex-employees, what information can we (or should we) give out without a signed release? —L.M., Pasadena, Calif.

‘Hello, Liability?’ The new trend of telephone testing

03/01/2007

Why does “testing” bring about that sledgehammer-in-the-stomach feeling? Maybe because, as students, we never knew quite what to expect. Now, the same is true when it comes to a recent trend in employment-law cases: applicants and employees making phone calls to secretly test whether your organization is discriminating …

Should you ask applicants about expunged criminal record?

03/01/2007

Pennsylvania employers can use information obtained as part of a criminal record check to deny a job if it shows that the applicant was convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor. But what if the applicant reveals that he or she has an expunged criminal record? …

You can file H-1B visa petitions starting April 1

03/01/2007

If you typically hire foreign employees through the federal government’s H-1B visa program, be aware of an upcoming date: April 1 …

In tight labor market, hotels cast wide recruiting net overseas

03/01/2007

Facing pervasive labor shortages, many hospitality employers in Florida are paying big bucks to recruit employees from as far away as Brazil and Romania …

Immigration raids create hiring trouble at Ga. chicken plant

03/01/2007

When federal immigration agents descended on tiny Stillmore, Ga., to raid Crider Inc., the local chicken processing plant lost 75 percent of its mostly Hispanic work force in one weekend. Many feared for the local economy …

Immigrant glass in New Jersey: Is it half empty or half full?

03/01/2007

Is New Jersey’s immigrant population an HR advantage or a fiscal liability? Whichever your view, you won’t have to look far for statistics to back you up …