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Personnel Files

Judge Stops Implementation of ‘No-Match’ rules

10/11/2007

A federal judge has stopped implementation of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new rules on how employers should respond to “no-match” letters. Now unless the judge rules differently at trial, it’s back to square one for DHS.

Save hours, employee worry with identity-Theft protection

10/01/2007

More than 10 million people a year fall victim to identity thieves—and some of them work for you. It could take up to 600 hours to undo the damage caused by identity theft. And those hours are usually workday hours. That’s why more organizations are beginning to offer identity-theft protections …

Immigration: Know your ‘Border guard’ responsibilities

10/01/2007

Together, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 govern U.S. immigration policy. IRCA was amended in 1990. With each new law, employers gain new responsibilities. For each new employee hired, U.S. employers must complete a Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. The I-9 establishes the employee’s identity and his or her legal work status. Employers can hire only those who are eligible to work legally in this country …

Complying with the revised EEO-1 reporting requirements

10/01/2007

Employers were required to file a new and revised EEO-1 report by Sept. 30. The EEOC recently revised the report form for the first time in more than 40 years. Did your organization comply with the new reporting requirements—or will you need to make changes? …

Employees must request copy of personnel file in writing

10/01/2007

Q. An employee orally requested that we provide him with a copy of his personnel file. Employee files are voluminous, and we would prefer not to provide a copy if we don’t have to. Are we required to copy the file for our employee? Can we require that the employee copy the file on his own time? …

Keeping I-9 forms in separate file: Is it mandatory?

10/01/2007

Q. I’ve read that we shouldn’t keep employees’ I-9s in their personnel files. Is this a suggestion or are there laws that require them to be in separate files? —L.K., Alabama …

Document good faith when disciplining for rule violation

10/01/2007

Employees who sue for sex or other forms of discrimination under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act often claim their employer based discharge or other punishment on trumped-up charges. Employers can win these cases if they have good records showing their actions were reasonable and “in good faith” …

New regulations issued regarding Social Security ‘No-Match’ letters

10/01/2007

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued new final regulations detailing how employers must respond to Social Security “no-match” letters. That means employers that receive no-match letters now have new legal obligations when it comes to verifying and maintaining federal I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification documents …

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 […]

Suspicious of claimed injury? Examine records carefully for prior problems

09/01/2007

Too often, employees who suffer a minor accident at work milk that injury for extended workers’ compensation benefits. That’s why it’s important to diligently pursue suspected false claims with your insurance carrier. That may involve alerting it to your suspicions and reviewing the employee’s medical records to see if what he or she is complaining about is really a preexisting condition and not the result of a more recent injury …