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Hiring

‘Virtual’ job fairs save money, click with candidates

11/10/2008

When tax firm KPMG wanted to fill hundreds of positions worldwide, it held an enormous job fair that attracted 20,000 candidates. But nobody showed up in person. The two-day, round-the-clock fair was entirely online. More organizations are tapping the global reach of the Internet to recruit employees …

Call security! But don’t micromanage them

11/07/2008

If you hire a security company to help keep your workplace safe for customers and employees, make sure your supervisors don’t wind up providing specific direction to the guards the company assigns to your company. If you and your staff resist the temptation to control their every move and give them just general instructions, the security company and its guards remain independent contractors. That’s important for liability reasons.

Firing justified if applicant failed to reveal checkered past

11/07/2008

Sometimes, candidates filling out job applications think it’s a good idea to omit information about minor criminal convictions and past problems such as terminations. If your application specifically asks for that information and someone you hired didn’t supply it, you can terminate for lying on the application.

Can we administer personality tests without running afoul of the ADA?

11/06/2008

Q. My company would like to administer personality tests to job applicants. Does this practice violate the ADA?

Alleged discrimination brings claims against insurance agency

11/04/2008

The EEOC recently filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against Time Insurance Agency of Austin, alleging pregnancy discrimination against a female job applicant.

Was Galveston retirement home biased against older worker?

11/04/2008

The EEOC has been busy this fall in Texas. The agency recently sued the Edgewater Retirement Community in Galveston for allegedly refusing to hire a 78-year-old job applicant.                        

DOL awards Texas $15 million for Hurricane Ike recovery

11/04/2008

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded the state of Texas a $15.8 million grant to help the Texas Workforce Commission with Hurricane Ike recovery efforts.

DHS Issues ‘Final’ No-Match Letter Rule, While Critics Vow to Continue Opposition

10/28/2008

The Department of Homeland Security has, for the second time, issued a final rule on what employers must do when they receive "no-match" letters questioning the employment eligibility of their workers. Immigrant-right groups are preparing to oppose the rule. Next stop: a federal court in California, where a judge will decide whether the new rule is constitutional.

New employee obviously not working out? Let hiring manager be the one who terminates

10/24/2008

Sometimes, it becomes clear early on that it was a mistake to hire that new employee. If it doesn’t look as though things will improve, it’s a good idea to let the same manager who recommended hiring the employee also be the one to fire her. That makes the termination decision much easier to defend if there’s any question about possible discrimination.

How far back can we go when conducting background checks on employees?

10/24/2008

Q. We do background checks on our employees. Is there a restriction on how many years we can go back on the employee? …