Hiring Guidelines

There are numerous Federal, State and Local rules regarding hiring employees and most large companies maintain in-house legal counsel and human resource departments to deal with these rules. But, if you are a small company, these are unaffordable luxuries. Therefore, General Counsel, P.C. is here to give your company some simple common-sense guidelines for hiring employees:

• Do not discriminate based on race, color, gender, religion, disability status, etc.
• Respect the applicant's right to privacy: marital situation, economic background, personal life.
• Don't imply things you can't deliver: job security, benefits.
• Observe all laws relating to minimum wage, hiring young or immigrant workers.
• Follow the IRS guidelines for hiring independent contractors.
• Follow all IRS and State new hiring requirements.

The Interview can be one of the most dangerous minefields an employer faces. Many federal, state and local laws limit the questions that can be asked about an applicant’s race, gender, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, age, family plans or other personal issues. These topics should be strictly avoided, as asking questions in these areas can give applicants who are not chosen grounds for a discrimination claim.

General Counsel, P.C. has prepared a checklist of preemployment inquires, which provides general guidance on the types of questions that should and should not be asked during the interview process.

Background checks are another large landmine that employers must treat with special care. The law varies from state to state. Some states allow for purposes of evaluating a person’s qualification for hiring. Some states ban all forms of background checks to prescreen applicants. Some states actually require extensive pre-employment screening requirements for certain professions such as schools, child care and healthcare facilities. Employers must look carefully at their state’s specific statute to determine its function, applicability, and compliance.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, prior to engaging an outside agency to conduct a background check and prepare a "consumer report," the employer must obtain the applicant’s written consent. The employer must give the applicant a copy of the report’s findings and allow the applicant to challenge the findings before taking any adverse action.

General Counsel, P.C. has prepared a checklist of preemployment inquires, which provides general guidance on the types of questions that should and should not be asked during the interview process.

Background checks are another large landmine that employers must treat with special care. The law varies from state to state. Some states allow for purposes of evaluating a person's qualification for hiring. Some states ban all forms of background checks to prescreen applicants. Some states actually require extensive pre-employment screening requirements for certain professions such as schools, child care and healthcare facilities. Employers must look carefully at their state's specific statute to determine its function, applicability, and compliance.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, prior to engaging an outside agency to conduct a background check and prepare a "consumer report," the employer must obtain the applicant's written consent. The employer must give the applicant a copy of the report's findings and allow the applicant to challenge the findings before taking any adverse action.