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Hiring

Check state law before asking about convictions

04/01/2000

Q. Our employment application asks whether the candidate has been convicted of a felony. Is it legal for us to ask this? If so, can we ask what the applicant has been convicted of and can that information be used as a basis for not hiring an individual? —C.H., Arizona

What not to ask job references

03/01/2000

Q. Are there any questions we cannot or should not ask a reference when screening applicants? —B.B., Louisiana

Beware new legal threat of accepting ‘walk-in’ applicants

02/01/2000
Employment attorneys are increasingly warning companies to avoid relying too heavily on walk-in job applicants. While there’s no legal requirement to advertise a job opening, …

Climb over the hill of age discrimination claims

02/01/2000
An increase in age discrimination claims may be as inevitable as the graying of baby boomers. But some smart planning and good policy follow-through on your part can keep you …

What should we do with unsolicited résumés?

02/01/2000
Q. We get numerous unsolicited résumés through email and regular mail. Do we have any duty toward these individuals? Do we have any obligation to keep the materials they send?

Even ‘indirect’ victims of bias can sue

02/01/2000
Women mailroom clerks at several New York newspapers sued their companies, claiming discrimination in hiring and promotions. The women said the firms manipulated their hiring priority lists by routinely stopping any …

Walk the line on drug tests; bad policy lets workers reap benefits

02/01/2000
Jack Eaton got the boot after a drug test showed he’d been using marijuana and cocaine. Yet a court said he can still collect unemployment compensation, because his employer gave the …

Don’t assume you can’t accommodate workers’ religious objections

01/01/2000
When a manager checked Hillel Hellinger’s references for a pharmacy job, a former supervisor told the manager that Hellinger, an Orthodox Jew, refused to sell condoms in his previous job.
…

Don’t rush into affirmative action hiring

01/01/2000
When the Resorts International Hotel in Atlantic City needed a full-time light and sound technician, the choice appeared simple. The two top candidates were equally qualified but, knowing that the casino …

Protect job applicants’ answer sheets from written tests

01/01/2000
Applicants had to pass three tests to be considered for a quality helper position at a Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. (3M) plant. Mary Austin failed all three.
She claims …