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Hiring

Deciding on promotion? Purge file of prior litigious actions

03/01/2007

When it’s time to decide on promotions, do you send employees’ personnel files over to a supervisor or hiring committee to help make the decisions? Make sure the files don’t contain references to past discrimination claims or investigations. Otherwise, you could be inviting a passed-over candidate to sue for retaliation …

Understanding religious accommodations in Georgia workplaces

03/01/2007

Georgia mirrors America’s growing diversity in many ways. Today, mosques occupy old churches; many workers wear burqas and yarmulkes; and some employees request “prayer breaks.” Religious diversity is a reason for celebration, but it also presents challenges in the workplace …

TSA can deny airport screener jobs based on physical abilities

03/01/2007

A man rejected for a job as an airport security screener because he suffered physiological, nonepileptic seizures has lost a discrimination suit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security …

Don’t single out disabled applicants for special treatment

03/01/2007

If you hire emotionally disabled employees, be sure to integrate them into your regular staff meetings and events. Avoid treating them as a separate (even if equal) component of your work force …

You can insist on bilingual ability if the job requires it

03/01/2007

Many employers have run afoul of federal discrimination law by requiring all employees to speak only English at all times. The EEOC has said employers can only set such “English-only” rules if they can show a clear business need …

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 …