Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
I understand that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, we shouldn’t make an offer of employment until we have done all our other evaluative processes. For example, we should say the offer is contingent on passing a physical. But our hiring managers put pressure on us to get the offer out before we get a […]
Forty-nine percent of day laborers polled for a new study said that an employer denied wages for work they completed in the previous two months. In the study, “On the Corner: Day Labor in the United States,” 48 percent of day laborers said that an employer underpaid them during the same time period; 44 percent […]
We need to know whether we can treat new employees differently as far as the benefits we offer them. For example, our policy says that with under five years of service, employees get two weeks of vacation. However, when we hire experienced people, they want us to match the vacation they had at their old […]
We routinely do background checks on our final candidates for employment. Now we’ve got a finalist that we all really like, but the background check revealed a problem credit history. The job doesn’t involve money, but we’re wondering what the credit history might reveal about this person’s character. I want to ask the candidate about […]
When our employees go on leave, such as FMLA leave, we adjust their appraisal dates to reflect the leave time. For example, if they take 3 months of leave, they get their appraisal at the 15-month point rather than the usual 12 months. Now some of them are saying that the FMLA says that leave […]
We have two main types of nonemployee workers: temps (who usually work just a few days or weeks) and leased employees (who work basically full time). In both cases, we pay a fee to the agency and the leasing company, and they handle all the employment matters, including hiring, payment, and benefits. My question is […]
As part of National Disability Awareness Month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued guidance discussing how federal law protects applicants and employees who associate with someone who is disabled.
As the American workforce ages, the potential for running afoul of age bias laws is increasing for employers. As a result, all employers should consider how they can alter their policies and practices to reduce their risk of getting hit with an age bias suit. One place to begin is to review your hiring practices, […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reports that it has received complaints from thousands of returning military personnel about their reemployment rights under the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). To better educate employees and employers about their rights and obligations under this law, the DOL has released draft regulations designed to […]
The Department of Labor recently issued final changes to the white-collar overtime exemption rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The new regulations take effect Aug. 23, 2004.