Articles Posted in Hiring & Firing

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Last night, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan came to me in a dream.

You see, we were at a video arcade, the two of them playing the classic, Street Fighter. I had next. Mr. Gorbachev was playing as Zangief and President Reagan was Guile. Because, of course.

So, just as the Premier was about to close it out, the President dropped the controls, put Mr. Gorbachev in a headlock and gave him a noogie. I’m talking right on that spot! I mean, the more he noogied, well, the spot started to change colors. From red to silver to pure gold. At which point, Mr. Gorbachev turned to me and said,

“Meyer, start a series on your blog called What Would HR Do. Perestroika!”

Alrighty then. So, it begins. WWHRD coming up after the jump…

* * *

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Across the country, many states and localities have enacted ban-the-box legislation. In a nutshell, ban the box means that employers cannot inquire about an applicant’s criminal history until after the first job interview.

For example, Philadelphia has ban the box. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does not.

Still, Pennsylvania does have the Criminal History Record Information Act. But, indeed, a Pennsylvania federal court ruled on Wednesday that the Act and ban the box are two separate things:

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I was reading this recent CareerBuilder survey, which reports that 58% of employers have caught a lie on a resumé. (Most popular lie: skills embellishment).

As, CareerBuilder is apt to do, the survey contained a section of some of the most outlandish lies ever caught on a resumé.

Some that made that list include: Applicant included job experience that was actually his father’s. Meh.

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Let’s assume that you operate a business in New Jersey. And you get to thinking:

“What if we put a provision in our employment application, by which a job applicant waives the two-year statute of limitations applicable to most workplace claims and shortens the period for such claims to six months?”

Would that be enforceable?

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Many cities in the Mid-Atlantic region (Philadelphia, Newark) have passed legislation that makes it illegal for employers to inquire about criminal history early on in the job application / interview process. The State of Delaware too has passed this so-called “ban the box” rule.

Last week, a New Jersey Senate Committee recommended passage of ban-the-box legislation in the Garden State.

Under the proposed NJ law, an employer may not inquire (orally or in writing) regarding an applicant’s criminal record during the initial employment application process. Although after the initial application process has concluded, then this information would be fair game.

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ScarfaceIn every one of the United States, except Montana, employment is at-will. This means that, absent a contract of employment for a specific period of time, you may fire an employee for any reason or no reason at all.

(Not to be confused with “right to work” — more on that here)

Well, I suppose that there are some exceptions. Like, you can’t discriminate. And many laws make it illegal to retaliate as well.

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Why, just last week, I was saying that the Facebook stupidity scale had shifted away from teachers in favor of bar/tavern staff.

I stand corrected.

For future reference, you can never go wrong with Vining the one-year-old slugger.

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