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The Employer Handbook Blog
Articles Posted in Hiring & Firing
No, really. Demanding an employee’s social security number isn’t religious discrimination
Remember that blog post I had from July of last year, the one you contemplated getting tattooed on your back.
Yeah, you know the one. This one, silly. About the Fundamentalist Christian, who, upon filling out his new-employee paperwork, refused to provide a social security number because it would cause him to have the “Mark of the Beast.” So, he sought a religious accommodation, which the company refused to provide because obtaining a social security number is a federal requirement.
Welp, the employee appealed the decision to a federal appellate court?
How you think that turned out? Find out after the jump…
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A hospital may have broken the law by NOT hiring a convicted meth dealer.
I see your wild sexual harassment lawsuit and, after the jump, raise you this doozie…
Better call, Saul! Even Walter White and Jesse Pinkman were like, WTH?!?
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#WWHRD: You just discovered your employee’s angry racist Ferguson tweet
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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Social media blunders cost a chef and a chief their jobs
After the jump, more proof that both entry-level employees and C-Suite executives can do dumb stuff and receive the Vince McMahon treatment…
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Read this before you revoke a job offer in Pennsylvania based on criminal history
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:
NJ Gov. Christie vetoes bill to protect unemployed job hunters
A bill that would have made it illegal for New Jersey companies to refuse to hire a job candidate because of his/her employment status is dead for now. Find out why after the jump…
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This may be the worst lie ever told on a resumé. Like ever.
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.
NJ Gov. Christie signs ban-the-box legislation
Come January 1, most NJ employers will no longer be able to ask about an applicant’s criminal record during the initial employment application process.
That’s right.
Ban the box will be b-b-b-b-banned in the Garden State!
More on the new law after the jump…
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Can a NJ company legally shorten the statute of limitations on employment claims?
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?