Connecticut Employment Law Blog Insight on Labor & Employment Developments for Connecticut Businesses

Tag Archives: hiring

New Book Published: Think Before You Click

Posted in Highlight, Manager & HR Pro’s Resource Center, Social Media

Despite authoring this blog, I must confess that I always thought it would be neat if I could author a book. I’m pleased to announce that I can check one thing off my bucket list, at least in part. I can now announce the publication (finally) of ” Think Before You Click: Strategies for Managing… Continue Reading

Five Questions with… Regan MacBain Traub, Founder, The Human Resource Consortium

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Manager & HR Pro’s Resource Center

Today brings another installment of an occasional feature of “Five Questions”, in which we ask five questions of a noteworthy person in the employment law and human resources areas.  I’m pleased that Regan MacBain Traub, CPC, SPHR, founder and managing principal of The Human Resource Consortium, was able to take some time to respond to… Continue Reading

General Assembly Approves Ban on Use Of Credit Reports by Employers

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Legislative Developments

In the last flurry of action, the Connecticut House last night approved Senate Bill 361, which bans the use of credit reports in hiring and promotions, in certain situations by certain employers.  The bill had previously been approved by the state Senate. I recapped the bill in detail a few days ago.  There are a… Continue Reading

Senate Passes Bill Banning Use of Credit Reports by Employers With Exceptions

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Legislative Developments

UPDATED June 9, 2011 – The House approved the measure late last night, June 8th. For additional details, see this updated post. In the closing hours of the General Assembly’s term, the Connecticut Senate has passed a bill yesterday that would ban the use of credit reports by employers in many situations. Senate Bill 361… Continue Reading

Legislative Update: CHRO & Affirmative Action; Gender Identity Discrimination; Paid Sick Days; Credit Reports; Workplace Bullying

Posted in Legislative Developments

The Connecticut General Assembly is heating up and a number of employment-related bills are still alive this legislative session. The Labor & Public Employee Committee has voted a number of bills out, meaning that they’re up for consideration by either the House or Senate, or another committee.  These include: HB 5460 (which would prohibit so-called… Continue Reading

Of Credit Histories, Ricci’s Impact & The Gender Wage Gap

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

Been a busy week so there’s time only for a few things to some recent and upcoming publications, podcasts and radio shows that I’m involved with.  My thanks to the respective producers or reporters for the opportunity. First, the Daily Labor Reports and U.S. Law Week each did a lengthy piece this week on the… Continue Reading

LinkedIn Recommendations – A Hot Topic Among HR Professionals, But Should It Be?

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

In my presentation last week to the HRA of Greater New Haven (which i discussed yesterday), the hottest topic that people wanted to discuss was LinkedIn Recommendations. People had several questions: Should a company bar its employees from doing such recommendations? Should a HR department "police" LinkedIn to ensure compliance? What is the risk of… Continue Reading

U.S. Supreme Court To Decide Soon Whether to Take Church Homes (Avery Heights) v. NLRB Case

Posted in Labor Law & NRLB, Litigation

Back in June, I talked about an important case arising out of Connecticut, that dates all the way back to a long and notable strike by employees in 1999 against the Avery Heights facility in Hartford, Connecticut.  You can read the full post about Church Homes (d/b/a Avery Heights) v. NLRB here.  As I said… Continue Reading

Quick Hits: EEOC’s ADEA Lawsuit; FLSA Collective Actions & Releases; Severance Pay & Taxes;; EEOC Compliance Manual Update

Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Class Actions, Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations, Litigation, Social Media, Wage & Hour

With the dog days of summer in full force here in Connecticut ("it’s the heat AND the humidity"), it seemed an appropriate time to roll out another installment of the "Quick Hits" feature to touch on a few items you might have missed over the last week or so: One of the biggest stories that you’ll… Continue Reading

Federal Court Denies Summary Judgment to Background Check Company Based on Alleged Violations of FCRA

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

In a case that should send shivers through background check companies, particularly in Connecticut, a federal district court judge recently ruled that a job applicant could proceed to trial with her claims that two background check companies violated in the Fair Credit Reporting Act when they reported that she had been convicted of a crime… Continue Reading

Subjective Belief That You Are “More Qualified” Than Other Caucasian Applicants Not Enough to Support Race Discrimination Claim, Court Rules

Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Litigation

While some matters get all the headlines, the work of the state and federal courts move on.  One such case came out earlier this week and I highlight it because it touches on a point that employers sometimes lose sight of — the ability to still make subjective decisions and have that decision supported by… Continue Reading

Conversation About Length of Time Employee Expected to Manage Store Does Not Create Contract, Court Says

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation, Wage & Hour

Suppose you, as a hiring manager, have a discussion with one of your current employees about a job opening within the company at another location. In the course of that discussion, you indicate that you would expect that employee to work in that position for two years before moving on to other possible opportunities.  After that conversation, you put… Continue Reading

New I-9 and FMLA Forms Now Available – Use the New Year to Update Your Paperwork

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

File this under "mundane" but necessary. Two sets of new forms (and a poster) have been released by the U.S. Government for use by HR professionals and companies in two very different circumstances. First, the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) has issued a new rule with that revises Form I-9 and the list of documents… Continue Reading

BeenVerified.Com Shakes Up Background Check Market; Allows Job Applicants to Control Information

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

A new New York-based company, BeenVerified.com launched yesterday and hopes to shake up the background check market with an innovative approach.  If the buzz the company is receiving continues, it will be well on its way. (Full disclosure: BeenVerified.com is a client but, other than authorizing me to write about them, has had no input… Continue Reading

Using Social Networking Sites for Employment Screening; Is there a Right Answer?

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

Over the last couple of days, an interesting debate has emerged about whether employers should use social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace to "screen" potential employees. One corner, supported by the Delaware Employment Law Blog, argues that there are some real and tangible benefits to using the sites, as long as they are used… Continue Reading

Poor Supervision Even Exists at the Department of Justice

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

A few weeks ago, a report came out blasting the hiring procedures that existed at the Department of Justice in prior years.  Because this is not a political blog, I left it for others to comment on it, such as The Word on Employment Law.  But the basic gist of the report was that there… Continue Reading

OFCCP Releases Guidelines on How To Be a “G-FIVE” Employer of Veterans

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations

Although employment laws and regulations are typically seen as telling employers what NOT to do, there are some laws and initiatives by government agencies that give employers of ideas of what TO do, whether in terms of hiring practices or other programs. One new directive by the The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs late last month is… Continue Reading

Further Updates on E-Verify and the Executive Order to Implement It for All Federal Contractors

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations

Since my original post on the subject of Executive Order 12989 yesterday (and the sweeping effects it will have for all federal contractors), others have also added their comments to the subject. Among some of the notable posts: The brand-new Florida Employment Law Blog (run by my former colleague Richard Tuschman — congrats, Richard!) predicts negative… Continue Reading

Quick Hits: GINA, Background Checks, Work-Life Studies, Telecommuting with High Gas Prices

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

Lots of interesting posts and articles and so little time.  So just quick hits today on some new and interesting developments. The Genetic Discrimination Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) became law on Wednesday.  I highlighted the bill a few weeks ago and opined that it’s not going to have a big impact on Connecticut in light of… Continue Reading

USCIS Issues New I-9 Form, Applicable for All New Hires, for Connecticut Employers

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations

When a new employee starts, there’s normally enough paperwork to fill a room.  One of those forms is the I-9 form issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), formerly INS.  What does the I-9 form check? It checks the new hire’s employment eligibility — in other words, is the person legally allowed… Continue Reading

Background Checks and the Hiring Process

Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

George Lenard, who runs the popular "Employment Blawg", has an interesting post this week about how current job seekers will have to undergo different scrutiny than perhaps the last time that they engaged in a job search.  As George notes, the biggest change is the prevalent use of background checks by employers.  George provides some useful… Continue Reading

Court Oks “Firing” a Not Yet Hired “Employee”

Posted in Litigation

"You’re hired. No wait, you’re fired." That’s essentially what happened in the case of Petitte v. DSL.net, a decision recently handed down by the Connecticut Appellate Court.  The Appeals Court rejected Mr. Petitte’s claims that the company should be estopped from firing him. The background is fairly straight-forward: Mr. Petitte applied for a position as… Continue Reading