Using social media sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook can be an effective way to find new employees. Social media is an especially effective tool for hiring when you are looking for tech and internet-savvy employees. However, be aware that the candidate pool becomes limited when using social media and some of the best candidates may not be on the social media site your company is using to recruit. In addition tot his, depending too much on social media sites can leave your company or organization vulnerable to race and age discrimination lawsuites.
Hiring through social media is a great way to find qualified applications through either personal referrals, or just by posting a job opportunity on a site such as LinkedIn. The biggest issue with hiring through social media is the potential to unknowingly discriminate against older and non-white individuals. According to a study by Quantcast Corp, only 2% of LinkedIn users are Hispanic and 5% are black. This means that if your company is using LinkedIn for all of their hiring, the candidate pool could be heavily skewed towards young, white individuals. In addition to this, screening applications via social media can also create legal issues. Visiting an applicant’s social media site may make you privy to all sorts of private details about the individual such as religion, age, sexual orientation, and more, that they are not required to reveal on job applications due to federal laws.
Here are some suggestions for how to deal with hiring through social media from The HR Specialist:
“Draft a policy for social media recruiting and screening.
Periodically analyze applicant pools resulting from social networking sites to ensure they aren’t too homogeneous.
Keep records of social media recruitment efforts to avoid ending up with a lack of documentation if a discrimination lawsuit strikes.”
Potential job seekers also may want to be aware of what they post on their social media sites, and know that potential employers may be screening applicants through social media.
HR Made Simple Users can log in to access more information on Equal Opportunity Employment, as well as Best-Practices for hiring.
Individuals who lose their jobs after June 1,2010, will no longer be eligible for the 65% federal subsidy to cover the cost of their COBRA health insurance premium. The House Democrats opted to not extend the subsidy further in order to bring down the cost a jobs and tax bill currently going through Congress.
If the subsidy had continued through December 31,2010, it would have cost $7.8 billion to fund. The loss of the 15-month financial support leaves hundreds of thousands of newly unemployed Americans to take on the cost of health insurance coverage on their own. This will be hitting many unemployed American’s particularly hard. According to Families USA, a consumer advocacy group, on average the monthly premium for health insurance will take up approximately 84% of an individual’s unemployment check.
Fore more information visit CNN, or if you are an HR Made Simple user log in and search COBRA for additional information and documents.
Free Webinar: Join us on June 10th, 2010 at 2pm for the “Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)- Overtime Rules and Regulations” webinar, presented by Brenda JM Sabin, CHP HRSentry’s Director of Operations and Site Administration. Do you ever struggle with how to calculate overtime when the situation is not straightforward? What if an employee earns a bonus? What if an employee is given a gift certificate or a gift card for a job well done, could it count toward overtime? These questions and more will be answered during our free webinar. Join us for an overview of the FLSA and learn how to calculate some uncommon overtime situations.
Most companies are aware of the benefits that offering an internship can provide to both them, and the intern. Internships are a great way for employers to get cheap, or possibly free, workers, well at the same time it’s an excellent opportunity for a student to gain relevant experience in their field. As internships have grown in popularity in the past few years, questions have arisen about what exactly an internship is. If you choose to not pay your intern, it is important to make sure that the internship meets the guidelines of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released a six factor test that employers can easily use to determine if their interns should be paid.
The Test:
The internship is more about education than contributing to company operations
The primary benefit of the internship is derived by the intern
The intern does not displace employees
The employer derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern
There is no guarantee of a job when the internship is over
All parties understand there will be no compensation for the internship
If the internship your company is considering offering meets these six guidelines, then offering an un-paid internship is acceptable. If the internship does not meet these guidelines, the intern must be considered an employee and be paid at least minimum wage. As a company that offers internships, we find that we have a better quality of applicants when we offer a paid internship.
If you are an HR Made Simple User, refer to the Internships-Definition and Criteria document for more information.
As summer quickly comes upon us, so do new liabilities in the work place. The potential for liability issues increases as the temperature heats up outside, and employers can find themselves facing a whole new range of issues. From teenagers looking for a summer job to skimpy summer styles and increased vacation requests, employers can find themselves facing a greater chance of sexual harrasment claims and without a full staff. Here are some tips to make sure that the heat of the summer doesn’t heat up your workplace.
Prevent harrassment: As the temperature increases outside, the length of skirts decrease inside. Many employers have a more relaxed summer dress code, which can improve employee morale, but at the same time it can be a breeding ground for sexual harrassment. To prevent this, employers should remind their employess of antiharassment and other employee conduct rules throughout the summer.
“Regardless of a company’s appearnace standards, it is imperative to have a solid written policy that is consistently enforced, especially during the summer months when causual dress could lead to a sexual harrasment lawsuit”Christopher Boman, Fisher & Phillips LLP.
Schedule vacation requests in advance: The summer may bring more vacation requests than average, so it is important to be prepared for this so as not to be left short staffed. Employers should ensure that the employee handbook has a section outlining their vacation policy, and make sure to include that vacation requests must be made in advance, approved by management, and that they can be denied if the request would “create a hardship for the company.”
Know child labor issues: As school wraps up for students, many of them will begin looking for summer jobs to make some extra money and gain experience. Hiring employees under the age of 18 means that specific labor laws must be followed, such as limitations on the number of hours an individual may work within a set period of time. Be sure to be aware of your state’s child labor laws in order to avoid potential legal troubles.
Be aware of the “Summer Flu:” With warm weather and sunshine comes the opportunity for a day out of the office and a day at the beach. Be aware that employees may seem to get “sick” on the perfect summer day. To prevent this, employers may want to consider enforcing a policy that requires a doctor’s note for an unexpected illness. Employers should make sure that all employees are aware of their sick day policy, and be sure to enforce the policy consistently.
If you are an HR Made Simple user, check out these articles as a useful resource:
