• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Background Checks

The dreaded reference check: What to say about former employees?

10/01/2007

Q. What may an employer say about why an employee left or was fired? …

Employee References: Sample Release Form

09/28/2007
White Paper published by The HR Specialist, copyright 2007 ______________________ It’s a smart legal move to require employees to sign a waiver releasing your organization from liability for providing truthful employment references. The following is a sample Employment Reference Release form that was adapted from several state bar associations’ employment law groups. You can use […]

Violence puts Six Flags on the defensive over youth hiring

09/01/2007

Six Flags says it probably will reevaluate its employee screening process in the wake of an attack on a teenager on park property this past summer. Three seasonal employees have been arrested for participating in the beating of a 19-year-old Marietta man just outside the park.

Georgia Crime Information Center an invaluable tool for employers

09/01/2007

Q. I’ve heard that the state of Georgia can help me make sure my employees are honest, law-abiding citizens. In conducting background checks on applicants, what sort of information is available from the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC)? …

Standard background checks not foolproof—Try Internet, too

08/01/2007

When the Lima School District hired a new head football coach, the school conducted a standard background check, including reference checks and fingerprint screening by the FBI …
 

Reference checking: ERKA and how employers should respond

08/01/2007

Releasing employment information about a former employee can be a dangerous and tricky situation …

Ask job applicants about felony convictions, but be careful

08/01/2007

Q. We are reviewing our employment application, which includes a question about felony convictions. We have been told that we should not ask about an applicant’s arrest record. Can you explain what we can ask and what we cannot ask? We are a relatively small company, with fewer than 100 employees. — C.T.

Can an arrest record factor into hiring?

08/01/2007

Q May a California employer consider a worker’s arrest record in making a hiring decision?

Handle employee background checks correctly to lessen liability

08/01/2007

More and more employers are conducting criminal background checks on prospective and current employees, and that means employers are asking tough questions about prior arrests and convictions in the application process. To avoid potential liability, your company needs to develop practices and procedures for managing the process. You need to understand applicable state and federal laws concerning background checks …

Fire them before you hire them

07/03/2007

Culling through stacks of resumes and conducting two or three rounds of interviews takes too long, is too subjective and too often results in bad hires. Employee selection expert Karl Alrichs proposes a four-step hiring process that saves managers time, reveals the best candidates, and highlights the intangibles that separate good employees from the bad ones.