Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas
The biggest mistake I see managers making is failure to document, says attorney Molly DiBianca, member of the Employers Counsel Network (BLR/M. Lee Smith’s network of attorneys from all 50 states). And the number two mistake is casual background checks on social media.
DiBianca’s remarks came at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, held November 17-18 in Las Vegas.
Documentation Failures Doom Defense
“The mistake I often see is failure to document or failure to document well,” says DiBianca, who is with Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor LLP in Wilmington, Delaware. “Your defense falls apart if you don’t have documentation to back it up.”
“The problem is that managers just don’t do it,” she says. “You have to train them and you have to keep after them.”
Step … away … from the keyboard! Your job descriptions are already written. Click here to see why thousands of managers have a permanent place in their offices for BLR’s classic Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.
Casual Online Reference Checking
Another mistake that DiBianca sees is casual background checks on social media. If you are going to do them, consider the following to reduce liability, she says:
1. Decide beforehand what you will be looking for (e.g., illegal activity), make a list, and clear the list with your attorney. Keep the list to five items.
2. Limit your search to final candidates.
3. Make sure the searcher and decision maker are different people (as James said, the best defense is that the hiring manager didn’t know about whatever impermissible information was uncovered).
4. Document your search, what you searched for, and where you searched.
Prewritten job descriptions in the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia now come with pay grades already attached. Click here to try the program at no cost.
5. Let the candidate know that you are doing the search.
6. Share the results with the candidate if you are making a negative determination based on it, and especially if you have reason to doubt the validity of the information.
7 .Control hiring managers. One casual survey found that only 10 percent of HR departments were doing social media background checks but 100% of hiring managers were doing them!
In tomorrow’s Advisor, more mistakes managers make, plus an introduction to our popular collection of pre-written job descriptions
Since this background checks is limited to the final candidates, it would make no sense to inform these candidates because background investigations are done anyway. You can document your search if you wish, but when extending a job offer to any individual, it will be based on factors that rule people out until you are satisfied you have the proper individual to extend that job offer.
Employers also do not need to mention why a person is turned down from employment whether the competition has 50 candidates, or 1 candidate. It is to the employers advantage and to the candidate’s advantage if the employer indicates a problem to the candidate for the reason of non-selection.
Background checks are fine, but they are not everything. I consider using these checks in the most appropriate area if, say, if the candidate was applying for a position that requires the handling of money, would you hire a bank robber? Background checks should be used as an advisory tool, not a major tool.
Again, since these checks are casual, there is nothing to report.