In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Allison West offered tips for avoiding defamation and fraud lawsuits. Today, her tips on recruiting, plus an introduction to a unique, web-based, turnkey employee training system.
West, principal of Employment Practices Specialists in Pacifica, CA, gave her advice at SHRM’s Employment Law and Legislative Conference, held recently in Washington, DC. Here are West’s tips for avoiding hiring lawsuits:
- Insist that applicants fill out application forms and then be sure to read the completed application, looking for gaps in employment and missing information
- Check references and authenticate credentials. Reference checking can be difficult, West says, but you have to make your best effort. Consider criminal background checks appropriate to the position being sought, e.g., positions dealing with children or the public. Be sure to comply with FCRA!
- Train your interviewers about your policies and practices. policies, background checks. Insist that they document all steps taken even if they were unsuccessful in obtaining information
- Create and follow an interview checklist
Fraudulent Promises
When employers make promises and then renege, it could bring a charge of fraud, West says. The standard would be that the employer intentionally deceived the employee concerning a material fact and that the employee reasonably relied on the false representation and was damaged.
Unlimited employee HR training—one low cost—no setup, no software to install. Find out why the Software & Information Industry Association just voted the BLR Employee Training Center the “Best Workforce Training Solution.” Go here for more information or to sign up.
West’s basic rule is simple: Be truthful. When you are “selling” a prospective employee, be sure to avoid overselling, West says. Avoid statements that might be considered as promises about job security, the stability of the company, careers or compensation like these:
- “You’ll have a permanent job”
- “You’ll make a bundle on our stock option plan”
- “Everyone gets promoted in their first year with us,”
- “I guarantee the following personal development actions.”
- "We have the most competitive salaries”
How can you be sure your managers and supervisors say and do the tight thing? You can’t watch over them 24/7, so there’s only one way—train, train, train.
Unfortunately, up until now, training has been a real challenge—there’s such a load of extraneous planning, preparing, and tracking involved. But we’ve got good news—BLR’s editors have developed a unique new program that’s done all that work for you.
It’s called the Employee Training Center. This turnkey service requires no setup, no course development time, no software installation, and no new hardware. Your employees can self-register, and training can be taken anytime (24/7), anywhere there is a PC and an Internet connection. Courses take only about 30 minutes to complete.
No time to prepare or deliver training? With the BLR® Employee Training Center, your employees can start taking essential training courses the same day you sign up. Workers (and supervisors) train at their convenience, 24/7. We track, and you save with this turnkey solution. Yes, it really can be this simple. Learn more.
The Employee Training Center automatically documents training. As trainees sign on, their identifications are automatically registered. When the program is completed, the trainee’s score is entered. So, when you want to see who has been trained on any subject, or look at the across-the-board activity of any one employee, it’s all there, instantly available to you, your boss, an inspector—even a plaintiff’s attorney.
Course certificates can be automatically generated from within the training center and are automatically retained for recordkeeping purposes.
Unlimited Training That Won’t Bust the Budget
Best of all, in these budget-crunching times, the BLR Employee Training Center costs only a fraction of what you would pay for a learning management system (LMS). You always know exactly what training will cost, no matter how many programs you use, or how many times you use them. There’s just one low annual fee—for unlimited training—calculated by the size of your workforce. Budget once and you’re done!
These are all motivational, actionable courses—for both employees and supervisors—in such key areas as sexual harassment, FMLA, diversity, communication, USERRA, recruiting, and many more. The courses are kept up to date to reflect federal and state regulatory changes, and what’s more, BLR adds new programs continually.
The BLR Employee Training Center also includes a selection of safety courses—you decide whether you want just the HR courses, the safety courses, or both HR and safety.
If it sounds as if we’re excited about this new service, well, we are—and so is the Software & Information Industry Association, which just voted the BLR Employee Training Center the "Best Workforce Training Solution." Find out what all the buzz is about—sign up for a no-obligation trial to Employee Training Center.