In its popular HR Quiz, CCH's Human Resources Management experts highlight critical areas that can lead to costly people management missteps. An archive of past HR Quizzes appears below. We suggest that you and your staff review the situations posed in the questions, and consider whether managers and supervisors throughout your organization are prepared to handle similar situations. While intended to provide useful information on the topics covered, HR Quiz should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion.
Planning for diversity
Tips for recruiting veterans with service-connected disabilities [March 10, 2008]
Issue: Your company would like to help our nation’s returning veterans-especially those who have been injured in combat. What steps can you take to recruit and hire veterans with service-connected disabilities?
Answer: Each year, thousands of military personnel stationed around the world leave active duty and seek to return to the workforce. According to government statistics, between October 2001 and February 2008, more than 30,000 veterans returned home with service-connected disabilities, such as amputations and burns.
There are a number of steps employers can take to recruit and hire veterans with service-connected disabilities. Here are some tips offered by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission:
State on a job advertisement or vacancy announcement that your company is an equal opportunity employer and that individuals with disabilities, including disabled veterans or veterans with service-connected disabilities, are encouraged to apply.
Ensure that on-line job announcements, recruiting information and application processes are accessible to individuals with disabilities, including applicants who have service-connected disabilities.
Make written recruiting materials, such as application forms and brochures, available in alternate formats (e.g., Braille, large print, etc.), or assist veterans with disabilities in completing application materials when necessary.
Send vacancy announcements to, and ask for referrals from, government, community, military organizations and One Stop Career Centers that train and/or support veterans with service-connected disabilities.
Post advertisements and vacancy announcements in publications for veterans.
Attend job fairs and use online resume databases that connect job-seeking veterans with civilian employers.
Survey other employers to learn about their successful outreach efforts.
Source:Veterans with Service-Connected Disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): A Guide for Employers, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1801 L Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20507; telephone: 202-663-4900.
Tips for interacting with people with disabilities [April 9, 2007]
Issue: Your company will be expanding its diversity efforts by recruiting more workers with disabilities. You want to make sure hiring managers interact appropriately during the interview process and in workplace communications. What are some tips?
Answer: Whether in interviews or in day-to-day workplace communications, the key is to focus on the subject matter and not on disability-related issues. Treat the individual with the same respect and courtesy that you extend to all job candidates and employees.
Here are some specific tips for effective communications:
When speaking with a person with a disability, talk directly to the person, not his or her companion. This applies whether the person has a mobility impairment, a speech impairment, a cognitive impairment, or is blind or deaf and uses an interpreter.
Extend common courtesies to people with disabilities. Extend your hand to shake hands or hand over business cards. If the individual cannot shake your hand or grasp the card, he or she will tell you, and direct where you may place the card.
If the person has a speech impairment and you are having difficulty understanding what he or she is saying, ask the individual to repeat, rather than pretending to understand. Listen carefully, and repeat back what you think you heard to ensure effective communication.
If you believe that an individual with a disability needs assistance, go ahead and offer the assistance-but wait for your offer to be accepted before you try to help.
If you are interviewing a job candidate with a disability, listen to what the individual has to offer. Do not make assumptions about what that person can or cannot do.
If you are speaking to a person who is blind, be sure to identify yourself at the beginning of the conversation and announce when you are leaving. Don’t be afraid to use common expressions that refer to sight, such as, See you later.
If you wish to get the attention of a person who is deaf, tap the person gently on the shoulder or arm. Look directly at the person, and speak clearly in a normal tone of voice. Keep your hands away from your face, and use short, simple sentences. If the person uses a sign language interpreter, speak directly to the person, not to the interpreter.
If you encounter an individual with a service animal, such as a dog, please do not touch or distract the animal. Service animals are working, and it breaks their training to interact with others when they are on duty. When the animal is not working, some owners may allow interaction.
If you are having a conversation with a person who uses a wheelchair, if at all possible put yourself at the person’s eye level. Never lean on or touch a person’s wheelchair or any other assistive device. A person’s assistive device is part of the person’s personal space, and it is jarring or disturbing for anyone to have his or personal space invaded.
If you are speaking with an individual with a cognitive disability, you may need to repeat or rephrase what you say. If you are giving instructions on how to perform a task, you may also need to give the instructions in writing.
Source:Effective Interaction: Communicating With and About People with Disabilities in the Workplace, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy.
Need help recruiting employees with disabilities? [April 4, 2005]
Issue: You would like to provide more job opportunities to individuals with disabilities, but you and your staff are finding it difficult to recruit such applicants. Where can you turn?
Answer: The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), in cooperation with the Department of Defense, is offering employers a complementary database of job seekers with disabilities. Through the database, which is available on CD-ROM, employers can search from a pool of pre-screened applicants who have skills in disciplines ranging from computer sciences and business to communications, engineering, office administration and more.
Searches generate candidate profiles, academic and demographic data, and contact information for students from more than 200 colleges and universities in over 45 states and territories.
To request a copy of the CD-ROM, send your name, company name, address and phone number to wrp@dol.gov or call ODEP at 202-693-7880.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor Press Release, March 16, 2005.
Workforce reduction
How to reengage “layoff survivors” [December 29, 2008]
Issue: Your organization had to lay off several hundred workers last month. Understandably, the morale among your remaining workforce has plummeted. What can you do to reengage layoff survivors?
Answer: In a time when high performance is critical, employers that conduct layoffs may find that layoff survivors are disenchanted, de-motivated and disengaged-characteristics that can drag down the fiscal health of the entire company. In a study conducted by the Kenexa Research Institute, four key themes emerged as drivers of engagement for survivors:
Build confidence in the organization and its leaders;
Instill optimism for the future;
Care for employees (e.g., manage stress and work/life balance, ensure safety, offer adequate pay, support the community); and
Train survivors to keep the business running and serving customers.
The results of this analysis provide companies that are undergoing-or planning to undergo-layoffs invaluable insight into how to keep survivor employees engaged,
according to Jack Wiley, executive director at Kenexa. After the chaos of downsizing, it is imperative that leaders work hard to re-instill confidence in the viability of the organization, as well as set up support systems for work stress. The aftermath of layoffs is messy, but unwavering leadership can heal their organization more quickly by equipping employees to do more with less in their attempts to meet and exceed customer needs.
Source:The Kenexa Research Institute Identifies Priority Number One in the Aftermath of Layoffs: Reengaging Employees, released December 9, 2008; Kenexa Research Institute, 650 East Swedesford Road, 2nd Floor, Wayne, PA 19087; telephone: 877-971-9171.
Downsizing during family and medical leave [August 8, 2005]
Issue: XYZ Corp. is a computer services company whose business is heavily dependent on a handful of key clients, one of whom has chosen not to renew its contract with XYZ. The resultant lack of work means that XYZ will have to downsize by three positions. Traditionally, employees are let go strictly on the basis of seniority. But one of the three employees with the least seniority is out on family and medical leave. Must XYZ skip over the employee on leave and downsize the employee with the next least seniority?
Answer: No. The Family and Medical Leave Act does not grant any right, benefit, or position of employment other than any right, benefit, or position to which the employee would have been entitled had the employee not taken the leave.
Because the employee would have been laid off during the leave period if the employee had been working, the employee may be laid off during the course of taking FMLA leave. XYZ Corp. would not have a responsibility to continue FMLA leave, maintain group health plan benefits or restore the employee to the same or an equivalent position after the layoff unless there were other continuing obligations such as under a collective bargaining agreement.
Cite: 29 CFR Section 825.216(a).
Recruiting
Act now to secure your H-1B visa slots [March 19, 2007]
Issue: You’re in charge of recruiting for a pharmaceutical company that has a large research and development division. Despite offering a competitive compensation package and being the employer of choice
in your geographic area, you can never find enough qualified workers. How can you bring in foreign workers?
Answer: Consider an H-1B visa program.
An employee who leaves might find that the very act of leaving has helped define all the options: now the employee wants to return, and this time to stay. An employee who has been trained and then returns may also constitute a low-cost hire.
The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa for workers in specialty occupations such as architecture, engineering, mathematics, the physical sciences, the social sciences, medicine and health, business specialties, accounting, law, theology, and the arts. The maximum continuous period that a foreign worker can be in H-1B status is generally six years, but thanks to the concept of dual intent
an H-1B visa holder can be the beneficiary of an immigrant visa petition, apply for adjustment of status, or take other steps toward Lawful Permanent Resident status without affecting H-1B status.
Specialty occupations require a body of highly specialized knowledge and usually require at least a U.S. bachelor’s degree or the foreign equivalent. The degree requirement cannot be arbitrary; it must be the standard for the industry in similar positions. Sponsoring employers must file a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, with the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS).
The H-1B specialty occupations visa is the workhorse of the temporary work visas, yet only a limited number of them are issued. For FY 2008, 65,000 new H-1B visas will be available plus an additional 20,000 for graduates of U.S. universities or colleges who have earned a master's or higher degree. And they go fast: in 2007, the H-1B visas were spoken for in less than two months.
USCIS will begin accepting applications for FY 2008’s H-1B visas on April 1, 2007, for employment beginning October 1, 2007. For more information on the H-1B visa application process, visit the USCIS’s website at http://www.uscis.gov .
Should you recruit former employees? [June 5, 2006]
Issue: Ammu decided to be a stay-at-home mom after she had her baby. Thomas went to work for a competitor after more than two decades with your organization. You’ve heard through the grapevine that both Ammu and Thomas are looking for jobs again. Both were valuable employees before they left. You are thinking about contacting them but your organization has no policy on re-recruiting
former employees. When should you re-hire an employee who voluntarily left to work somewhere else, or who stopped working entirely for a while?
Answer: While the loyalty that is demonstrated by many consecutive years of employment should be rewarded, people who choose to leave for one reason or another should not necessarily be looked on unfavorably.
An employee who leaves might find that the very act of leaving has helped define all the options: now the employee wants to return, and this time to stay. An employee who has been trained and then returns may also constitute a low-cost hire.
Re-recruiting is similar to employee referral programs, which are becoming known as one of the most effective recruitment sources. In employee referral programs, your best people refer your best people. When re-recruiting, you’re pulling from your pool of talent in a different way.
Overcoming obstacles to re-recruiting. A common fear voiced by HR managers is that a re-recruiting program rewards employees who leave. But a targeted program seeks out only those former employees who have been pre-screened via their previous performance with your organization. As a general rule, previously successful employees who have left your organization will have then gone on to acquire a new skill set at their new jobs. If that’s the case, you are in effect outsourcing some of your training and development if you rehire these employees.
What should you do if returning employees demand raises? If they have acquired valuable new skills, there may be a good reason to increase pay. If not, treat them as you would any other similarly qualified hires. Keep in mind that returning employees are cheap to recruit, given that they’re a targeted audience. Also, because they know the business, they are immediately productive when they return. Think of them as a reserve army
of talent and treat them with respect.
Beware of restrictive covenants. Before wooing back a former employee, make sure that he or she has not signed any restrictive agreements with the new employer. If your organization is considered a competitor of the new employer, the employee might not legally be able to come back and work for you for a certain period of time.
Source: CCH HR How-to: Employee Retention.
Video Relay Service may not be used as a substitute for an “in-person” interpreter [January 23, 2006]
Issue: A candidate for an open accounting position has sailed through two telephone interviews and has been scheduled for an in-person meeting with the hiring manager. The candidate has a severe hearing disability and uses American Sign Language (ASL) as his primary language. The telephone interviews were conducted using Video Relay Service (VRS), which is a free service for consumers with hearing disabilities. Can VRS be used for the in-person interview?
Answer: No. Employers are required under the Americans with Disabilities Act to provide persons with hearing disabilities with a reasonable accommodation, and such an accommodation may entail the use of a sign language interpreter. However, VRS cannot be used as a substitute for using an in-person interpreter or Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) in situations that would not, absent one of the parties’ hearing disability, entail the use of the telephone.
VRS, as a form of telecommunications relay service (TRS), is a means of giving persons with hearing disabilities access to the telephone system. VRS allows people with hearing disabilities whose primary language is ASL to use the Internet or another broadband connection to contact via video equipment a Communications Assistant who makes an outbound telephone call to a hearing person and relays the call between the two parties.
By contrast, sign language interpreters facilitate communication between individuals who use sign language to communicate and those who do not. An interpreter may be used in many situations when the parties are together at the same location. Generally, interpreters are contracted and paid for on a fee-for service basis. VRI is a service that is used when an interpreter cannot be physically present to interpret for two or more persons who are together at the same location. This service uses a video connection to provide access to an interpreter who is at a remote location. As with in-person
interpreters, VRI services are generally contracted and paid for on a fee-for-service basis.
VRS is to be used only when a person with a hearing disability, who absent such disability would make a voice telephone call, desires to make a call through the telephone system (or when, in the reverse situation, the hearing person desires to make such a call to a person with a hearing disability). VRS may not be used as a substitute for an in-person
interpreter or a VRI service.
Information about job accommodations is available on the Job Accommodation Network’s website at http://www.jan.wvu.edu or by calling JAN at 800-526-7234.
Source: FCC Public Notice DA 05-2417, September 7, 2005, http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-2417A1.doc
Internet applicants [October 17, 2005]
Issue: Because of your recruiting responsibilities, you have become adept at navigating the Internet in search of qualified job candidates, from your company’s internal Web site where job seekers submit electronic resumes to job boards across the Web. But what has remained elusive, besides the perfect candidate, is what kinds of records you must keep about these electronic job seekers-specifically, at what stage in the process do you have to track someone as an applicant?
Answer: Employers that are federal contractors and subcontractors must collect gender, race and ethnicity information on each applicant
for employment. On October 7, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued its long-awaited definition of Internet Applicant.
Use of the Internet and similar technologies has created new burdens on employers, given the potential number of resumes that can be accessed. Also, employers that are federal contractors are required to conduct an adverse impact analysis using race/gender data on all applicants
who apply for a specific position. Accordingly, the later in the hiring process that a person is deemed to be an applicant,
the less potential burden on the employer.
This new applicant rule applies to jobs for which the contractor accepts expressions of interest
via the Internet and related technologies, such as e-mail, commercial and internal resume databanks, and employer Web sites. (For positions for which the contractor does not use the Internet or accept any electronic responses, existing recordkeeping standards apply.)
Internet applicant defined. An Internet Applicant
is an individual who:
submits an expression of interest in employment through the Internet or related electronic data technologies;
the contractor considers for employment in a particular position;
whose expression of interest indicates the individual possesses the basic qualifications for the position; and
prior to receiving an offer of employment from the contractor, at no point removes himself or herself from further consideration or otherwise indicates that he or she is no longer interested in the position.
Recordkeeping requirements. The rule also requires contractors to retain all expressions of interest by individuals considered and specifies records to be maintained about searches of internal and external databases. There is a difference between whether someone counts as an Internet Applicant
and what records the contractor is required to maintain. For Internet Applicants,
the contractor must not only keep records but also attempt to collect race, gender, and ethnicity information and run an adverse impact analysis. However, the new regulations also provide that contractors must maintain any and all expressions of interest through the Internet or related electronic data technologies when the contractor considered the individual for a particular position, such as on-line resumes or internal resume databases and records identifying job seekers contacted regarding their interest in a particular position.
In addition, regardless of whether the individual qualifies as an Internet Applicant, contractors are required, for internal resume databases, to maintain a record of each resume added to the database, a record of the date each resume was added to the database, the position for which each search of the database was made, and corresponding to each search, the substantive search criteria used and the date of the search. Also, for external databases, the contractor must maintain a record of the position for which each search of the database was made, and corresponding to each search, the substantive search criteria used, the date of the search, and the resumes of any job seekers who met the basic qualifications for the particular position who are considered by the contractor.
The effective date for the final rule is February 6, 2006.
Preemployment inquiries
Should you check out potential employees on social networking websites? [March 9, 2009]
Issue: As a result of the soaring unemployment rate, you’re swamped with an ever-growing swell of job applicants-and a larger pool of qualified candidates vying for those few open positions. You’re tempted to turn to some of the more popular social networking sites on the Internet to learn more about these job applicants. Is there any reason you should avoid this type of informal background check?
Answer: With the proliferation of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, employers are becoming more aware of the information obtainable via the Internet about their employees and job applicants. Any indiscretions are made permanent in cyberspace for all to see, including prospective employers,
said Ron Brand, a partner with the law firm of Fisher & Phillips. However, in looking up information on the Internet, employers need to be aware of potential claims against them, such as federal and state discrimination and invasion-of-privacy claims.
Fisher & Phillips attorneys Ron Brand and Todd Scherwin point out the following potential areas of concern for employers:
Is it legal to search social networking sites on the Internet as part of a background check? No law actually prohibits employers from searching social networking websites to conduct their own background checks of current employees or job applicants. However, employers need to be aware of potential federal and state discrimination claims and invasion-of-privacy claims. For example, if an employer finds information on a site like MySpace that identifies an applicant's disability or medical condition, the employer could be slapped with a discrimination lawsuit if the employer bases its decision not to hire him/her on that information.
Can employers terminate an employee or refuse to hire a job applicant based on information found on the Internet? Yes, as long as the employer does not use the information learned from the Internet in a discriminatory manner or in a way otherwise prohibited by law. Employers should keep in mind that much of the information found on the Internet is not accurate or reliable. In addition, they should consider what effect terminating employees based on Internet searches may have on the morale of the rest of their employees.
Should employers use background screening firms to conduct background checks on ALL potential job candidates? In general, it's a good idea to do at least a criminal background check on all viable job applicants. Background screening firms will work with employers to comply with federal and state background check laws, and make recommendations as to the types of background checks employers should have done based upon the job's requirements and duties.
Source: Fisher & Phillips; http://www.LaborLawyers.com .
Should you disclose possible arrest when giving references? [July 17, 2006]
Issue: You receive a call from a hiring manager for another company in your city asking about a former employee. Steven has just applied for a traveling sales representative position at that company and the hiring manager is performing a routine reference check. She asks for your assistance in verifying Steven’s employment history at your company.
You remember Steven all too well. He resigned from your organization just a couple of days after it was rumored that he had been arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol after leaving a customer location. Because the arrest allegedly occurred while he was on the job, you were especially concerned.
You willingly verify Steven’s length of employment and his salary, as well as the fact that his departure was a voluntary separation. However, the hiring manager then asks whether you have any additional information that she should consider in hiring Steven as a sales representative. Should you disclose the apparent arrest? If you do, are you opening up your company to liability for privacy or defamation claims? What if you don’t?
Answer: If you had documentation showing for a fact that Steven was arrested for a DUI, and that the arrest occurred while he was performing job-related duties, it may be best for you to disclose the information. If Steven were actually convicted, and the hiring manager told you that he was being considered for a position that required driving to customer locations, it would be even more compelling that you disclose this information.
However, the scenario is not so clear cut. Because you don’t know for a fact that Steven was actually arrested, and you certainly don’t know whatever became of the arrest if it did indeed occur, you probably are under no obligation to disclose the rumor. But you could get yourself into trouble by misleading the hiring manager with a statement to the effect that to your knowledge Steven had a perfect driving record or even if you comment on his performance in general.
Job reference policy guidance. To avoid potential problems in disclosing information about former employees, it is a good idea to implement a policy on giving references, outlining the type of information that can be disclosed. Here’s what HR can do:
Develop a written policy that addresses what information will be provided and how.
Specify how the policy will be reviewed, enforced and documented.
In your policy, specifically address employer reference requests and letters of recommendation.
Consider restricting the information that you will provide or verify to name, social security number, dates of employment, last title, last salary, and reason for leaving employment.
Consider reviewing employment reference procedures and training frequently with counsel.
If the organization’s policy is to not release certain information, tell employers who request information what the policy is so that the employer does not assume that failure to provide the information means that the information is being withheld because it is negative.
Design a form that captures all pertinent information concerning a prospective employer’s request for information on a former employee so that all information relayed is documented. Have the individual who had the conversation as well as his or her manager sign the form.
Source: CCH HR How-to: Workplace Privacy
Collecting criminal background information from more than one state [June 10, 2002]
Issue: Your organization has just purchased a number of nursing homes. In your state, all nursing home employees that have direct contact with patients must undergo a criminal history background check. You have heard from colleagues that the process of having employees' backgrounds checked is costly and time consuming. You worry about the process for gathering this information from other states. Is there any reciprocity between states?
Answer: If you are located in a state that has adopted the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, your job in getting criminal background checks just became a bit easier.
The National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact organizes an electronic information sharing system among the federal government and the states to exchange criminal history records for noncriminal justice purposes, such as background checks for governmental licensing and employment. Under the compact, the FBI and the party states agree to maintain detailed databases of their respective criminal history records and to make them available to the federal government and to party states for authorized purposes.
The compact requires the FBI to permit use of the national identification index and the national fingerprint file by each party state and to provide, in a timely fashion, federal and state criminal history records to requesting states. It also requires party states to provide information and records for the national identification index and the national fingerprint file and to provide criminal history records, in a timely fashion, to criminal history record repositories of other states and the federal government for noncriminal justice purposes.
As a result, if you are in one of the 16 states that has adopted the compact, when you apply for a criminal history background check, you will get information from all participating states with that one application. You will not have to apply to participating states separately or risk missing information that one of those states may have about your potential employee. The 16 states that have adopted the compact are:
Alaska
Arkansas
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Michigan
Minnesota
Montana
Nevada
New Jersey
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Cite: The National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact is found at 42 USCS §14616
<p>In its popular HR Quiz, CCH's Human Resources Management experts highlight critical areas that can lead to costly people management missteps.</p>