Staffing & Training

Conducting Background Checks

6420667 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:52:28 GMT

We are looking into conducting background checks on new hires. Does anyone have any advice reagrding how to go about it? Local versus national? What do you do with the information? Is there guidlines that need to be followed for dealing with what you find out? Like, can you still hire an employee with a criminal history as long as they disclosed the information first? Thanks!

Brain Freeze on a Job Title

HRBaby — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:04:23 GMT

I'm looking for any recommendations on a positon we are looking to fill. This person will support the HR dept, Finance and other depts as needed. The responsibilities will include; filing, faxing, making copies, all clerical related duties and working on special projects.

So far, I came up with:

Office Assistant

Office Clerk

Office Support Specialist

Maybe, Admin Asst

Anything out there that sounds better?

Thx

Free BLR Training Session - Drug-Free Workweek

BLR_KLagana — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:15:16 GMT

National Drug-Free Workweek is October 19 - 25, 2009. BLR is offering a free training session to HR forum readers.

See http://www.blr.com/pages/marketing/2009/DrugFreeworkweek/default.aspx?Source=WBZ&Effort=178

Internet Applicant Rule

cb499 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:29:34 GMT

Good morning! We have in our hiring process the exemption for job postings when the position is for an executive, less than three days or filled internally. Can someone point me to the exact location in Chapter 60 where this exists? I'm unable to locate it.

Thank you for your assistance!

Full Time employee

hbarnes — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:37:54 GMT

OK I have a full time RN and the Doctor is going to change his case load and they want to change her to a Per Diem bases what do I need to do to make sure we don't violate any labor laws?

Using Facebook as a screening process for new hires

6238872 — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:04:41 GMT

Can anyone tell me how they are utilizing Facebook or MySpace as a screening process for new applicants? Is it recommended or not and legally what are the guidelines. We have heard many stories of people being hired by firms and then information is found out after they are hired on their Facebook that may have caused them not to hire this person. What are the general guidelines for use? Thanks for any and all input I can get. Do you need to be invited on to view their Facebook page??

HR Manager--Ophthalmology Practice

Orientations

ddnicole — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:19:34 GMT

Does anyone have a powerpoint of a basic orientation you give to new employees. We have never had a formal one in place and I think this is due to us operating as a "mom and pop" operation. Over the past several months we have gone through some drastic changes and one of the goals of our new Preident is to start orientations. Anything you can give me would be a great help.

rant - letters to applicants

tytoalba — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:00:10 GMT

Not really a question that I expect many answers to . . . more of a rant, but . . . WHAT is up with HR people NOT responding to applicants & resume responses to open advertisements??????????????????

I really hate this. I currently work as a stand-alone full-service HR guy for a small/medium size company and I am busy as hell but if I put an advertisement out for an open position I ALWAYS send acknowledgement letters to respondents. They get 1 letter confirming that I got the resume, and another letter when I have filled the position or closed the search. Granted, there have been a few times in the past when I got behind and the last letter didn't get sent until a month after the fact, but I felt guilty as hell for it. I just always assumed this was common practice. Basic manners! It is plain rude to not do so in my opinion. It doesn't take that much time to craft a general letter that can be individualized for the situation. People who actually make it to the interview stage always get something even more personal from me if they don't make the cut - a phone call if possible, a detailed letter and encouragement if not.

It's one thing to recieve a random resume when you weren't looking - in those cases I usually don't respond. But if I put an ad out - then I'd better be prepared to answer to people inquiring. I was lucky enough to only have two jobs in the last 15 years, so I haven't had to endure it myself very often, but I'm in a situation now where I need to start and the lack of courtesy is astonishing.

I have to know, is this just an LA thing? Are people just lazy and rude here, or is this everywhere? What is the norm? And if you don't acknowledge job seekers, how can you defend your laziness? grrrrr

Applicant Tracking HRIS?

HRGeg — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:36:25 GMT

Has anyone come across any Applicant Tracking Software that can be purchased (from a retail store) rather than using a company that charges a monthly/quarterly fee? I am desperately trying to implement some sort of applicant tracking system into our company but I'm certain that my proposal will be immediately dismissed if I suggest anything other than a one time, fixed cost. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Recruitment and social networks

cyndi r — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:17:45 GMT

The time has come for me to learn more about recruiting through social networks, but I'm not sure where to start. Any advice out there?

If a new hire asks to put unpaid leave for a pre-scheduled vacation in her offer letter...

mikeerdas — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:56:10 GMT

New hires sometimes have pre-planned vacations, reserved while with their former employers. Vacations they've already paid for perhaps, e.g. non-refundable airfare, deposits, etc.

If a new hire asks to put unpaid leave for a pre-scheduled 2 week vacation in her offer letter, what should be done? With probationary periods, new hires often aren't allowed to use or even accrue vacation time during that period.

A verbal agreement would seem to be enough, but what if the candidate asks to have it put in writing for protection? Should it be put in the offer letter or can the hiring manager and the new hire do a one paragraph write up, both sign it, and deposit it in the new hire's personnel file when one is created?

How do or would you deal with this situation?

Thanks very much.

Mike

Unpaid leave as a recruiting tool?

mikeerdas — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:49:06 GMT

What if a non-executive candidate asks for more paid vacation time as a condition of employment? Typically, this type of request is only considered for those at the senior executive level.

Would it be prudent to offer 1-2 weeks of additional unpaid leave per year if time off is the most important thing to the candidate? Especially if it's a high-performing candidate with a proven track record?

If so, would a verbal agreement be enough or should the arrangement be put into an offer letter or elsewhere in writing, to protect both the company and the candidate?

Thanks.

Mike

Quick question...

PHS09 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:03:28 GMT

I'm drafting up an auto reply to go out to any candidate that submits a resume to us in response to ads. I used one at my old firm but for the life of me can't remember what it said. It is something like, "Thank you for submitting your resume. We will review it and get in touch with if you if you meet our needs." but sounded a lot better. Has anyone used something like this before?

Radio Resumes

IT HR — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:01:55 GMT

I wanted to see if anyone else had heard about this. Most of the Clear Channel radio stations in my area (Washington DC Metro Area) are advertising for people to submit their information to have a Radio Resume ad on the airwaves. I have heard a couple of the radio resumes over the past few days and they have actually been done fairly well. The radio stations are using this as a way to help out those that are currently out of work or looking for a new position.

I know Clear Channel is a national company, so not sure if they are doing this in some of the other metro areas.

Those in the DC area - Cappy and others, have you heard these yet?

Need Help, Looking to Help College Students Preparing to Graduate Interview Successfully

SJennings1 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:58:17 GMT

First, I hope this is ok to post and if not please let me know and I will take off.

I need your help. I'm looking to gather informaton from HR professionals to better help college students as they interview and prepare to enter the workforce. I would like to share the information with students as I speak with them so they better understand what makes a successfull interview.

My name is Stephen Jennings and I'm the author of the book Promotning Yourself, Tips & Tools for Acing the Interview, Receiving the Raise and Helping Others Along the Way. As I speak to college students across the country my goal is to help them be as prepared as possible when interivewing. Because of this I'm requesting your help.

First a little background so you better understand the two questions asked:

I teach students and for that matter anyone who works, how to stand out from the crowd when interviewing so they become a top candidate and ultimately get hired. One of the keys is teaching students how to create a personl Success Portfolio where they bring their experience while in school to life. Their portfolio would include examples of things they did while in school, offices held, jobs worked, awards won, honors they received, sports played adn what they learned, etc...

By bringing to the interview a personal Success Portfolio they will be able to successfully package, promote, and communicate their experience and skills. When asked a question such as "Tell me about a time when..." they will now be able to provide an answer and then provide the supporting documentation for their answer. They learn to utilize their Success Portfolio by providing those interviewing them withh a copy and walking them thru their answer of a particular question. This brings credibility and validation to their response.

Here are my two questions:

1. What difference would it make for a candidate to be able to support their answers to your questions through the use of a Success Portfolio and would it help set them apart from other candidates?

2. How important is it for a person interviewing with you to be able to successfully promote and communicate their experience and skills when answering an interview question and why?

You can post your response here or e-mail me at Stephen@PromotingYourself.net with your answers. If you provide me with an address I will send the first 20 responders a free copy of my book for taking the time to help. When responding, let me know if I could use your first name and the industry you work in with the informaton you share. I would love to include a company name but I also understand that may not be viable.

Thanks,

Stephen

Language to use in a Letter for requesting Employees must reapply for their job

6389996 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:41:38 GMT

I am looking for the appropriate language to use in a letter to mail or hand out requesting that a group of employees (Teachers and Administrative Assistants) must reapply for their current jobs with the School District. They are under agreement which ended June 19, 2009 for the Teachers. The Agreement for the Administrative Assistants ends on August 31, 2009.

Rescinding a Job Offer --Please Help!!!

HRBaby — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:32:33 GMT

We made a verbal and written offer to a candidate that was supplied to us from a staffing agency. However, we want to rescind the offer due to her recent difficult behavior she displayed while in our office last Friday to complete her new hire paperwork. She showed up 30 min late and offered no explanation. In addition, she was missing one of the documents (she knew in advance) and as a result her start date was pushed back. After she found out this out she became hostile and difficult to work with. I’m sure it’s risky to rescind a job offer to someone that has already given notice to their previous employer, but is it legal. Has anyone experienced this and how would you go about handling this with minimal liability?

Thank you in advance!

Temporay Employees?????

Montana66 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:35:51 GMT

We currently use a staffing company to fill our employment needs however we will hire those individuals who prove to be very good workers and can meet our standards. My concern is this, when someone applies for a job the employer (if they are large enough) must maintain all of the EEO information but when that person then gets hired by the new employer (e.g. my company) do we now need to maintain EEO information? We have not directly hired anyone(non-exempt that is) since about 1994 and we have not yet hired any of these temporary workers. Just curious if we were going to hire them from the temporary agency if we needed to maintain those records? Thanks

Recurring Criminal Checks?

HRBaby — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:07:46 GMT

I work for a company that works with the elderly population. The majority of our staff has some kind of interaction with them, whether it's visiting their home or supervising them for 8 hours at one of our facilities. We do pre-employment background checks, but are also considering instituting recurring background checks for our employees with a lot of access to our elderly clients. The purpose of this is to ensure the safety of our clients.

Does anyone currently do recurring background checks on employees? If so, would you be willing to share how you do it - for example, is it best to do checks on all employees once a year or should we randomly check a certain percentage of employees several times a year, etc. Or maybe we should re-evaluate doing this at all. I would love your input.

If we do decide to do this, we also need to figure out what we will do with the information we find - if someone has been convicted of a crime - what will we do?

Thanks in advance!

Ethical Question on Search Firms

bsmith@acceleroninc — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:57:47 GMT

A search firm we have met with but have never done business with sent us a resume with no name on it. I forwarded it on to the hiring manager, then asked them to ask the candidate a few follow-up questions, which they did. I was busy, so I never got back to them. Conincidetally, in the meantime, the actual candidate himself has contacted us directly, and the hiring manager just emailed me saying that based on the resume from the search firm, he'd like to meet the candidate. I compared the search firm copy with the candidate's copy and it was pretty easy to verify that it's the same individual. Since the candidate contacted me directly, what do I owe the search firm?

Written I-9 compliance policy?

gi_janearng — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:32:01 GMT

Does anyone have a written policy that covers how your completers are to be trained on filling in new hire I-9s, retaining and purging I-9s and when the I-9 should be filled out that I could see? I have been having our out-of-state supervisors waiting too long to complete I-9s and filling them out wrong. We have also recently signed up for E-Verify and I would be interested in hearing from others that use this program too.

Contractor vs. Employee

cb499 — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:10:46 GMT

A staffing service company says they are the 'independent contractor' providing me (a business) with a 'contract employee'. My research is finding only "independent contractors" vs. employees. Is a 'contract employee' the same as an 'independent contractor'?

Thank you!

Job share option OK?

ninanewbie — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:46:10 GMT

We have an opening because an employee moved.

To save money, the department head wants to hire two part-timers to job-share the position and who both will not work enough hours to qualify for health benefits, instead of one full time employee with benefits. It is an exempt position. Can we do this?