Hiring Practices

Employees are often an organization’s most costly and valuable resource.  It is imperative that employers select their employees with all the care and consideration that goes into making each and every business decision.  EPG can assist organizations in understanding both the positive and negative impact that their hiring policies and practices can have on the success of the organization.

When a job vacancy occurs in an organization, employers want to fill that position as quickly as possible with the most qualified candidate.  Some employers may advertise for the position and others may rely on word of mouth.  Some employers will request that candidates complete job applications, and others may just review resumes that are on hand.  To facilitate the process, some employers may lower their standards and qualifications if they cannot find the perfect candidate.  They may fail to conduct a thorough and deliberate investigation of an applicant’s qualifications in an effort to save time and expense in the hiring process.  Employers may also – directly or indirectly -- ask questions about an employee’s protected characteristics in their quest to find the “best fit.”  Such actions and omissions can prove costly, and are often the springboard for protracted legal action.

So why does your organization need EPG’s training on Hiring?

Negligent hiring and retention claims are common in the court system.  Consider the recent headlines in Boston when one of Boston’s teaching hospital’s custodians raped a co-worker in the facility’s bathroom.  The rapist had recently been released from a ten-year prison sentence for a serious crime -- rape.  Why was he hired?  Why did he have access to patients’ rooms and other areas of the hospital where he could endanger other workers, patients or visitors?  Carelessness, perhaps.  An employer’s carelessness – or negligence -- can harm other employees, clients, customers, residents and others who may come into contact with the hired employee.  Legal liability often follows.  EPG can work with your organization to put in place and implement the proper policies and procedures to minimize the risk of liability arising from hiring practices.

Training Objectives for EPG’s Hiring Training Module

Employment Practices Group will train your management employees or human resources personnel on the current law and best practices regarding hiring.   EPG will assess your organization’s practices and policies regarding hiring to ensure that they are effective and legally-sound.  We recommend combining this training module with EPG’s Termination Training Module.  EPG will tailor the training module to your organization’s needs so that it reflects the organization’s size, industry, and current hiring policies and procedures.  Attendees who participate in the Hiring Training Module will:    

• Identify the organization’s policies and procedures regarding hiring.
• Understand the elements of a legally-sound job.
• Learn how to conduct interviews in a legally sound manner. 
• Explore the proper use of background and reference checks.
• Identify organizational practices that limit at-will employment.
• Learn to legally and effectively conduct reference checks.
• Understand the limitations that the Fair Credit Reporting Act places on investigations conduced by outside agencies.
• Develop and use offer letters and employment agreements in a manner consistent with best practices.
• Understand the use of restrictive covenants, including non-competition agreements, in the hiring process.
• Understand limitations on at-will employment, including: offer letters, employment agreements, handbooks and public policy. 
• Understand the implications of fair employment practices laws on advertising positions and the interview process.
• Identify lawful reasons for not hiring.
• Understand the legal pitfalls in hiring.
• Identify best practices concerning personnel file documentation.