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Unsuccessful applicants have rights regarding criminal background checks

07/01/2007

Q. Our company uses the sheriff’s office to run criminal background checks on all finalists for employment. Our application form notifies the applicants that their criminal histories might be reviewed, but we do not provide any further notice to them. Our new personnel director is adamant that this practice is in violation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Is she correct?

Good faith and bad references

07/01/2007

Q. How do I give a reference for a worker I had to fire?

‘One-Man death squad’ headed Palisades nuclear plant security

07/01/2007

Officials are investigating a possible security breach at the Palisades nuclear power plant after Esquire magazine ran a profile of the plant’s head of security. Turns out, William Clark bragged about being a hit man …

Prevent hostile-environment lawsuits: No teasing allowed

07/01/2007

Many employees today are sensitive about their ethnic backgrounds, but may hesitate to report teasing or name-calling for fear of being seen as troublemakers. That means a lawsuit could be brewing …

Georgia CEO says immigration bill doesn’t equal amnesty

07/01/2007

Some call the on-again, off-again (on, as of press time) U.S. Senate immigration-reform bill an offer of “amnesty” for millions of lawbreaking, undocumented immigrants. But Tommy Bagwell, CEO of American Proteins, Inc.—a poultry byproducts rendering plant in Cumming—says that’s hogwash …

Be prepared to explain each promotion decision

07/01/2007

One of the most important factors in promotion discrimination cases is also one of the easiest to control. The courts may not care that your decisions on whom to promote were perfectly rational; they want proof that you used the same factors for each candidate, flawed or not …

Minority decision-Maker doesn’t prevent promotion bias

07/01/2007

Although it may defy logic to think that a member of a protected class would discriminate in hiring or promoting another member of the same class, having a minority decision-maker doesn’t automatically mean there’s no bias in the selection process …

UCLA report: California growth to slow in 2007, as real estate lags

07/01/2007

The quarterly University of California at Los Angeles’ (UCLA) Anderson Forecast predicts a significant slowing of California’s economic growth in 2007. The forecast contradicts revised employment figures …

Pasadena local news. live from India

07/01/2007

In another sign of just how diverse California’s economy is—and how challenging its HR environment could become—a web site that focuses on Pasadena’s municipal affairs has hired two reporters to cover City Hall. From India …

Employee didn’t apply, so college couldn’t have discriminated

07/01/2007

When Harcum College in Bryn Mawr had an opening for a facilities supervisor, the department’s manager considered hiring an outside firm to run the unit …