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Hiring

How long should we keep applications?

07/20/2012
Q. We are swamped with applications, most from people who don’t meet our basic requirements. We typically toss out applications that clearly aren’t from qualified applicants. Should we keep copies?

What’s the timetable for reverifying I-9s?

07/13/2012
Q. When should we reverify employees’ work eligibility on the Form I-9 they signed when they were hired?

When can we insist on a substance-abuse test?

07/13/2012

Q. A couple of weeks ago, an employee came into work smelling like alcohol. His supervisor later reported that day that the employee “acted drunk” in a staff meeting. Yesterday, one of the same employee’s co-workers indicated that the employee came back from lunch “smelling like marijuana.” Can these reports justify requiring the employee to undergo a drug or alcohol test?

Subjective hiring criteria are fine–if you can cite a sound business reason

07/13/2012

When you have several good applicants for a job opening, picking the best-qualified candidate isn’t easy. While you should be as objective as possible, the final decision can have a subjective element. Just make sure you document a good business reason to back up your choice.

One innocent interview question that could land you in court

07/12/2012

Do you ask applicants what year they graduated from high school or college (or otherwise finished their education)? Does your application re­­quest that information? Watch out!

Avoid ‘talented terrors’: Hire for attitude

07/06/2012
Figuring out if applicants have the technical skills to perform a job is relatively easy. What’s more difficult is finding out whether a person has the personal characteristics to become successful and be someone co-workers wouldn’t go nuts working alongside.

Manhattan school can’t dance away from age-bias claim

07/05/2012
Marymount Manhattan College’s refusal to hire a 64-year-old choreography instructor for a tenure-track position has left the New York City liberal arts school tap dancing around age discrimination charges.

Assumptions about disability cost Dallas company $50,000

07/03/2012
Stevens Transport, a Dallas-area trucking company, has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle EEOC charges that it refused to hire a paraplegic man for a management position due to his disability.

Set clear, easy-to-use processes so employees know about all promotion opportunities

06/27/2012

If you don’t regularly post your job openings and promotion opportunities, you are asking for trouble. Here’s why: Applicants and employees can sue if they believe they missed out on an opportunity—even if they never applied. That litigation blindside may force you to justify your hiring and promotion decisions long after you made them. And if you didn’t keep careful records, you may be in trouble.

HR law: All eyes on the Supreme Court

06/26/2012
The center of the HR universe is in Washington, D.C., this week, as the U.S. Supreme Court issues a key decision affecting hiring of undocumented workers and announces it will hear an important case concerning supervisor harassment in its next term. Oh yeah, and then there’s that health care reform case, which should be decided Thursday.