According to CNN, 2011 is going to be the year that American businesses start hiring again:
After three years of economic pain, a growing number of economists think 2011 will finally bring what everyone's been hoping for: More jobs and a self-sustaining recovery.... [E]conomists forecast between 2.5 million and 3 million jobs being added to U.S. payrolls in 2011, about triple the gains likely to be recorded in 2010 and what would be the best one-year jump since the white hot labor market of 1999.
If your business is planning to contribute to these 3 million new jobs, here are some issues for you to think about as you locate and hire the best available candidates to rebuild your workforce:
Are you going to hire anew from the outside, or rehire former employees?
Where are you recruiting from and what is your applicant pool?
When is the last time you read, and revised, your employment application?
Should you conduct reference or background checks, and how will you do so non-discriminatorily?
If you are going to check backgrounds, will you use online tools like Facebook and Google?
Are you asking lawful and non-discriminatory interview questions?
Will you conduct any applicant testing, such as personality tests, and if so, are they legally timed?
Do you require medical exams or drug/alcohol tests, and if so, are they legally timed and administered?
What are the terms and conditions of employment? Offer letters? Non-competition agreements? Confidentiality agreements?
- When is the last time you reviewed and retooled your employee handbook?
There is no magic wand that you can wave to hire the most qualified and productive workforce. How you answer these questions, however, will help ensure that the process you use in restocking your workforce exposes you to the least amount of legal risk.
Presented by Kohrman Jackson & Krantz, with offices in Cleveland and Columbus. For more information, contact Jon Hyman, a partner in our Labor & Employment group, at (216) 736-7226 or jth@kjk.com.