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Hiring

‘Not accepting applications’ sign is legal

11/01/2006

Q. If we don’t have a job opening, are we required to hand out applications to anyone who asks? Or can we just say that we’re not taking applications at this time? —J. I., Washington

Boring Benefits? Perk ‘Em Up With 10 Real-Life Solutions

11/01/2006

When you rattle off your employee benefit offerings to prospective employees, what raises their eyebrows? It’s probably not the basics: People have come to expect health/life/dental, 401(k), etc. What really catches a prospect’s attention are the creative perks that prove your organization has their interests in mind …

Labor Department settles bias claim against Irving firm

10/01/2006

McCormick & Co., Inc. recently agreed to pay $300,000 in back pay and interest to settle allegations that the company discriminated against female job applicants at its facility in Irving, Texas. As part of the settlement, the company also agreed to hire 27 female applicants for production worker positions …

Brace for surge in applicants; 23,000 coming off welfare

10/01/2006

Pennsylvania employers can expect to see more applicants at their doorsteps starting this month. The level of welfare recipients isn’t falling fast enough for the federal government, so the state must find jobs for thousands …

Executive exemption requires true hiring/firing authority

10/01/2006

Before you classify supervisors as exempt executive employees, make sure you’ve given them enough authority to make that classification stick. That means delegating true hiring/firing power with the clear understanding that your organization will typically follow the supervisors’ recommendations …

‘Firing manager’ should be same one who did the hiring

10/01/2006

When you need to terminate an employee, it makes sense for the same manager who hired the employee to also pull the trigger on the firing. That bit of legal strategy—the so-called "same actor defense"—could help you defend a discrimination lawsuit down the road …

Must you rehire a disabled former employee?

10/01/2006

Q. One of our employees went on disability after a motorcycle accident. We terminated him at his request, as he wanted to cash out his 401(k). His doctor recently released him from disability, and he’s seeking re-employment for a different position. Our owner is concerned that if he doesn’t offer the ex-employee a job, we may face legal retribution. And he’s concerned that if we do bring him back, we’ll end up with a workers’ comp claim from a slip/fall injury. Do we have any obligation to rehire this employee? —B.O., Pennsylvania

Screen teleworkers before sending sensitive data home

10/01/2006

Allowing employees to work from home can be a boon for employers trying to increase productivity and keep talented employees from leaving for more flexible jobs. But this flexibility can present an increased risk of fraud, theft and legal action if you keep personal information about employees or customers on your computer network …

Latest Low-Cost Perk: Helping employees land child care

10/01/2006

With so much absenteeism linked to child care issues, more U.S. employers are offering employees access to new Web sites that help solve a common dilemma: finding a good, reliable babysitter …

No immigration papers = No unemployment check

10/01/2006

Texas employers who fire employees for failing to comply with federal immigration laws needn’t fear that doing so will mean that the employees can later collect unemployment compensation payments. When employees are terminated because they have not provided work authorization papers, you can protest the unemployment application on the basis of "misconduct"…