Hear Facebook’sGlobal Head of HR Solutions discuss their response to COVID-19, how to cultivate a sense of belonging while remote, and steps they’re taking to successfully make long-term work-from-home productive.
Dive into every aspect of revising your existing HR plan to include core priorities and employee expectations as you continue to respond to economic conditions and new social guidelines.
The Facebook team and Max Muller provide insights to help you manage the challenges that come with employees not being physically together and guide you through the logistics and key considerations to execute your post-COVID plan effectively.
Track the effectiveness of your revised HR plan by measuring employee connectedness and culture. Get set up with the right tools, including surveys and bots, that measure employee engagement and help simplify your HR tasks regarding a distributed workforce.
Keeping yourself and your team educated and informed during times of uncertainty is important. To help, we’ve compiled the need-to-know resources regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) – how to keep yourself and your team safe, managing remote employees, and more.
Join Max Muller, an attorney, businessman and professional trainer with more than 40 years experience, for this information-rich 75-minute webinar to discover what’s required now under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. After this event, you’ll be able to update your payroll procedures, plus revise FMLA policies and modify your benefits programs to comply with the FFCRA.
Join Dr. Jim Castagnera, labor and employment attorney of 36 years experience, as he explains what employee-related actions the ADA, FMLA, and other relevant federal regulations permit employers to take before, during, and in the aftermath of an outbreak.
Join internationally-recognized business consultant Michelle Coussens to get tools and information to help your organization make the leap from having employees work in the office to working remotely from home – while minimizing downtime and anxiety and maximizing productivity.
Join Max Muller, an attorney, businessman and professional trainer with more than 40 years experience, for this information-rich 75-minute webinar where he addresses preventing, mitigating and dealing with the business impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Broadly speaking, labor laws are exactly that: laws
regulating employment actions in the U.S.
These laws are generated at the federal, state and local
levels, and they pretty much cover everything from soup to nuts.
At the federal level, for example, there are laws banning
discrimination based on a number of identified protected categories, like race
and age.
Other federal laws set certain requirements related to
wages; create rules regarding the use by employers of lie detector tests; establish
an entitlement to family and medical leave; and set requirements relating to
job safety and job rights of military members.
State and local laws can give employees more protection –
but not less – than the protections that are provided by federal law. Think of
federal law as establishing a floor of protection that states and localities
may go above but not below.
For example, some states give employees paid family leave,
even though federal law does not.
What Are Labor Law Posters?
Many of the laws that create rules regarding employment include a requirement that notices about employees’ legal rights under those laws be posted in the workplace.
For this reason, employers have to carefully navigate their
way through the applicable posting requirements and make sure they stay
compliant with all applicable federal, state and local laws.
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation. Employers have to
do their due diligence. Exactly what notices must be posted depends on a number
of factors, including the size of the employer and what kind of business it is
engaged in.
And when a law gets updated or otherwise changed, that
probably means a new poster is needed.
So how do employers know exactly what to post?
Because federal law applies in all states, learning the
federal posting requirements a good starting point.
Here are some of the federal laws that include notice
requirements for employers to whom the statute applies.
The Fair Labor Standards Act, which establishes minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and youth employment standards for covered employers.
The Family and Medical Leave Act, which gives eligible employees the right to take unpaid but job-protected leave for a number of specified reasons.
The Employee Polygraph Protection Act, which generally bans most private employers from using lie detector tests for pre-employment screening and during employment.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act, which broadly regulates workplace safety.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which protects the civilian employment rights of military service members and veterans.
The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, which protects migrant and seasonal agricultural workers by setting standards in a number of areas, including wages, houses, transportation, disclosures and recordkeeping.
The Walsh/Healey Public Contracts Act and McNamara-O-Hara Service Contract Act, which require some federal contractors and subcontractors to pay employees fair wages.
The Immigration and Nationality Act, which governs immigration law.
The Davis-Bacon and Related Act, which set requirements relating to certain federal contractors and subcontractors.
Not all of these laws apply to all employers – and figuring out exactly which ones apply involves maneuvering through a complicated maze that takes a number of specific factors into account. That means the answer to the question of exactly which notices must be posted varies depending on the employer.
Not every single employer is covered. For example, employers who use only bona fide volunteers – meaning volunteers who donate their time for public service, religious or humanitarian objectives — need not comply with posting requirements set for the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Another quick note about the Fair Labor Standards Act notice
requirement: The fact that the notice prominently features the federal hourly minimum wage does not mean covered employers can skip
posting the notice because all their employees work on a commission basis.
Instead, the notice must still be provided.
Figuring out which notices to post under federal law is a
good start, but it doesn’t finish the job.
That’s because individual states and localities sometimes
add their own specific requirements regarding what notices must be posted in
the workplace.
If a state law gives employees more protection than federal
law, that doesn’t necessarily mean posting of the less favorable federal
requirement is excused.
For example, let’s say your state’s minimum hourly wage is higher than the federal minimum. Let’s further suppose that your state requires you to post a notice about the state’s minimum wage requirements.
In this example, employers covered by the federal law and
the state law must post notices regarding both, even though the state law
provides for a higher minimum wage to employees. It can’t skip the federal
notice, even though the federal minimum wage is lower than the state notice.
This example illustrates how dangerous it can be to make assumptions about what’s required and what’s not – even when those assumptions seem to make pretty good sense.
Labor Law Frequently Asked Questions
Are labor law posters required?
There are many federal, state and local laws that require
employers to post notices to their employees regarding a number of different
employee protections. Most employers are required to post notices regarding at
least one of these laws. The requirements vary depending on many factors,
including the size of the employer, its location, and whether it is a federal
contractor.
Where do labor law posters need to be posted?
Notices should be prominently and conspicuously placed in a
readily accessible area so that employees can observe them easily. A lunch room
or break room is usually a good place to post notices. Depending on the
configuration of the workplace, it may be best to post them in a kitchen or
near a time clock. Think of it this way: Where can I post these notices so that
employees will see them?
Here is more detailed information on where and how to place notices
regarding federal law requirement, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Labor.
The following material regarding proper posting locations is excerpted directly
from the DOL’s website.
The specific location
requirements for each federal workplace poster are:
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Poster (Minimum Wage Poster) must be displayed/posted by employers in a conspicuous place in all of their establishments so as to permit employees to readily read it.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Poster must be displayed in a conspicuous place where employees and applicants for employment can see it. If an employer is covered by the FMLA, a poster must be displayed at all locations, even those where there are no FMLA eligible employees.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) Poster: Job Safety & Health Protection Poster must be displayed in a conspicuous place where employees can see it.
The Davis-Bacon Act Poster must be posted at the site of the work in a prominent and accessible place where it may be easily seen by employees.
The Employee Rights for Workers with Disabilities/Special Minimum Wage Poster (Fair Labor Standards Act, McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act and Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act) shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the employer’s premises where employees and the parents or guardians of workers with disabilities can readily see it.
The Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Poster (“Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law”) must be posted in conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for employment.
The Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) Poster must be posted in a prominent and conspicuous place in every establishment of the employer where it can readily be observed by employees and applicants for employment.
The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) Poster must be posted at the place of employment in a conspicuous place readily accessible to the workers.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) Notice/Poster (PDF) (“Your Rights under USERRA”) is to be posted where notices to employees are customarily placed. However, employers are free to provide the notice in other ways that will minimize costs while ensuring that the full text of the notice is provided, e.g., by distributing the notice to employees by direct handling, mailing, or via electronic mail.
The Executive Order 13496: Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws poster must be posted by covered Federal contractors and subcontractors conspicuously in plants and offices where private sector employees perform contract-related activity, including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted both physically and electronically. This requires widespread posting that is prominent and readily observable throughout the contractor’s plants and offices. Among these locations is placement where other employee notices are posted, which is not limited to Federally mandated legal notices, but also includes notices to employees regarding the terms and conditions of their employment. A contractor or subcontractor that customarily posts notices to employees electronically must display prominently a link to the poster on any website that it maintains and customarily uses for notices to employees about terms and conditions of employment. The text for the link must read: “Important Notice about Employee Rights to Organize and Bargain Collectively with Their Employers” and it must link to the Employee Rights Poster.
The Service Contract Act/Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (Employee Rights on Government Contracts Poster) must be posted in a prominent and accessible place where it may be easily seen by employees.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Poster (Employee Rights Under the H-2A Program Poster) must be posted at the place of employment in a conspicuous location where employees can readily see it.
What notices are employers required to post?
There are many federal, state and local laws that require
employers to post notices to their employees regarding a number of different
employee protections. Most employers are required to post notices regarding at
least one of these laws. The requirements vary depending on many factors,
including the size of the employer, its location, and whether it is a federal
contractor.
Do I have to post labor law posters if I have no
employees?
Having no employees does not let employers completely off
the hook when it comes to posting notices.
That’s because some laws require the posting of notices for
the benefit of applicants.
For example, covered employers must post notices regarding
the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Employee Polygraph Protection Act
where they can be seen by applicants.
In addition, an Equal Employment Opportunity poster must be visible
to job applicants.
A separate posting requirement for applicant exists for certain
federal contractors and subcontractors who are covered by Executive Order
11246, which bars discrimination and requires affirmative action.
Can I get labor law posters for free?
The federal Department of Labor makes posters available for
free, but those posters will not necessarily meet the requirements of any
corresponding state and local laws that might also apply.
Whether states and localities offer free posters depends on
location. You can also check with your specific state and locality to make sure
you have everything you need.
Many employers find it worthwhile to pay for a poster that conveniently incorporates all required notices into a single document. Many private services offer this benefit for a fee.
Can we use electronic labor law posters to meet
posting requirements?
It depends on which posting requirement is at issue, but the
answer is usually no.
Most posting requirements generated by federal law require
physical posting. Exceptions include posting requirements of the Family and
Medical Leave Act and notice requirements applicable to employers who
participate in the H-1B visa program.
As a practical matter, it makes little sense to avoid
physically posting notice requirements even when electronic posting is
permitted. Employers covered by any posting requirement at all should
physically post notice regarding all statutes that cover them – even if
electronic posting is OK.
Why? Because if you are already putting up an all-in-one poster (that is, a poster that covers all the laws that require the physical posting of notice), it’s a simple and efficient move to add notices that can also be posted electronically.
HR professionals say overwhelmingly that recruiting top talent is their single most pressing business/HR challenge.
At least that’s what 2,300 said in a recent Society of Human Resources Management survey.
You probably agree.
If so, then you’ve learned that whether you need to fill just a handful of slots, or dozens, chances are you’ve experienced a seismic uptick in recruiting pressure.
Everyone has.
The ability to recruit the best people for your
organizational needs is itself a highly sought-after skill. To recruit well is
remarkable. And good companies need strong and consistent recruitment strategies
to acquire good talent.
What is Recruiting?
A good recruitment process is an ongoing strategy to identify,
find and acquire specialists, leaders, or future A-players for your
company.
It’s all made more difficult by the fact that recruiting
performance pressure has increased just as talent acquisition has grown more
complex.
Your approach to hiring is influenced by the size of your organization,
the resources available to you, and the priority that your organization gives
to hiring.
Recruiting Trends
Recruiting success is influenced by many
factors, including the economy, the attractiveness of your company to new
employees and the limited or unlimited availability of the skillsets you are
seeking.
In spite of all the pressures associated with the recruitment process, you may be surprised to learn how many employers still make fundamental errors – common, preventable mistakes that drive away good candidates.
A Monster.com survey of more than 200 executives and managers found that half of them decided not to accept an offer from a because of something that happened during the recruiting process.
These negative experiences included simple missteps like perceived rude treatment, long waits, shallow follow-up talks, an overly long hiring process and interviews that felt disjointed and unprofessional.
While no one would deliberately create a toxic hiring environment, it always pays to heed the little things that leave lasting bad impressions.
That’s especially important considering today’s growing recruitment challenges are set against a backdrop of ever-changing, more sophisticated and more costly recruiting trends.
Recruitment Process
A successful recruitment process would
include these six steps:
Step One: Be clear on what you want.
Job candidates are
getting as sophisticated as the recruitment process itself, especially in how
they present themselves. So, with more and more candidates that “look good on
paper,” it’s probably time to reconsider which qualities actually make someone
a great employee.
Step Two: Create a powerful, accurate job description.
“It all starts with the job description.” First, be careful to choose a title that is search engine friendly. Optimize the job title and use keywords throughout the description to boost visibility in search engine results and job boards. And of course, stay true to the description to be sure it accurately reflects the position.
Step Three: What will it take for the candidate to be successful?
Having the right skills and experience is the obvious answer
to the first half of this equation. But how about the “right fit” part? Are you
looking for a team player? Someone who believes in collaboration? Or is your
organization more in the startup stages, where making payroll trumps “process?”
Step Four: Create the best job ad.
This is different than the job description. This is how you
sell it. And where, and to whom. Many posting sites have a standard template
you simply fill out. But don’t be “standardized” when you use it. Top talent
knows a great ad when they see it and will be attracted by it.
Step Five: Promote the position.
Each promotional avenue you use might be different, based on
the position you are trying to fill or the type of hire you’re trying to
attract, or how well it performed the last few times you used it. That’s why
it’s important to have a full understanding of the benefits of each promotional
avenue and how each works.
Step Six: Create the right screening questions.
Screening questions can run the gamut, from “Where are you in your job search?” and “When can you start working for us?” to “What attracted you to us?” and “What do you know about our products/services?” Step Six offers a clear, in-depth look at which questions matter most, and why.
As these six steps show, there are many approaches you can
take in your recruitment process. The biggest differences are whether you’re
seeking a candidate for an open slot who is already employed by you, or someone
from the outside.
Internal Recruitment
Could the best candidates already be in your organization?
Filling rolls internally cuts the costs and time of advertising for external
candidates. Also, an employee is already familiar with how your business works,
as well as its values and mission. And this person will get up to speed more
quickly than an outsider.
Bonus: Promoting in-house boosts morale and productivity, while protecting institutional knowledge that’s lost when employees leave.
Job candidates are becoming as sophisticated as the
recruitment process itself.
So, as more candidates “look good on paper,” an important
first step for your recruiting team is to consider – and agree upon – which
qualities make someone a good employee at your organization.
In most occupations the technical skills needed to be
successful can be taught and learned, and then improved over time through
hands-on experience. That’s not meant to downplay technical job skills. But
these are the kinds of skills that are very clear on paper. The job candidate
either has the required educational degree, and X years of experience, or they
don’t.
Recruitment Strategies
It’s important to establish what type of person you are
looking for. You can’t teach enthusiasm and reliability, or commitment and
honesty. Those are the kinds of highly sought qualities that people carry with
them throughout their lives and bring with them into the working relationship.
The same is true for qualities like “work ethic” and
“self-motivation.” Smart and
intellectually curious are also a good pair. It’s hard to go wrong when you hire
people with those qualities. Maturity and passion work nicely.
Thankfully, there are a lot of good personality traits to
choose from.
As any Scout can tell you, you can start with trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent, then go from there.
First, be careful to choose a title that is search engine
friendly. Optimize the job title and use keywords throughout the description to
boost visibility in search engine results and job boards. And of course, stay
true to the description to be sure it accurately reflects the position.
Many job descriptions are so generic that they are not
helpful for the employer or the job candidate.
Here’s one example from a real-life recruiting ad:
“Growing progressive
company seeks dynamic individual with excellent presentation skills and work
ethic for customer contact position.”
Are they looking for a sales manager, a retail clerk or a
customer service rep in a call center? There’s no way to tell.
Alternately, the job description asks for so much that even
a nationally recognized authority would have a hard time qualifying for the
job.
A well-crafted job description can serve multiple uses:
It lets the company narrow the field of applicants to only qualified candidates
It lets the candidate clearly understand whether he or she should aspire to the position
It spells out where the position fits in the hierarchy (managerial, supervisory or line job), and
It can be used to gauge future performance in annual or periodic reviews.
Here’s a template for writing a job description that can perform those multiple functions:
1.) Job Title
Be as specific as possible.
“Operator” doesn’t mean much. What is the person
supposed to operate?
It is also a mistake to give the role more importance that
it really has or ever will have.
Ambitious candidates will see through the bait-and-switch and will soon leave, causing yet another turnover problem.
2.) Job Responsibilities
A list of duties and responsibilities will vary in length,
but it’s a good idea to keep it as short as possible, as long as it still
conveys a good idea just what the person will be required to do.
If there are various tasks, a rough estimate of time
involved in each will give the candidate a good idea whether he or she can
stand it.
For example, a copywriter may be told his colleagues spend
30% of the time on the phone with customers, 30% writing and 30% researching.
Phone work may not be their favorite task, but if it were
70%, the job would be less appealing.
3.) Skills Required
For a sales position, you may require candidates to be able
to show that they can independently put together a sales presentation and
tailor it to a specific customer in a particular industry.
Many employers place more emphasis on so-called “soft
skills,” such as communication skills and leadership potential, which are
harder to gauge.
If those soft skills are required, you may ask candidates to
be able to show specific examples how they used and applied those skills on
previous projects.
Testing companies may also help in these areas to gauge
candidates’ natural aptitudes.
4.) Reporting Relationships
Spell out specifically who the position will report to.
And if there will be any direct reports to the candidates,
lay out in detail how many people and what kind of workers will need to be
supervised.
Everyone wants to know who his or her boss will be, and if
they’ll be able to get along with the boss.
The relationship with the direct supervisor is the most
important job satisfaction factor, even more than pay and benefits.
Good bosses retain people; bad bosses create constant
turnover.
5.) Experience Level
Many companies, especially those without labor unions, do
not give salary levels up front. They do not want to be locked in, and do not
want to make others who have been working at the company for some time jealous
of new salary levels being offered.
Nevertheless, you will want to indicate whether you’re
looking for an entry-level customer service rep or a department head with many
years’ experience.
Required experience levels will give candidates some idea
whether they fit the job description, are overqualified, or have no hope of
being considered.
6.) A Sanity Check
As a final sanity check, you may want to give your job
description to a trusted person inside the company, such as a person who is
doing a similar job now or the person vacating the position if he or she is
leaving on good terms.
Ask them:
Is this what you do (did)?
Is there anything that’s not accurate?
Is anything important left out?
If you were on the outside, would you apply for this job? Why or why not?
What would make it sound more attractive to you?
Social Media Recruiting
Social media is a fantastic recruiting tool. Social recruiting allows you to share job posting with your entire network and encourages a two-way conversation.
LinkedIn is the largest professional network in the world, and gives organizations a variety of choices. It’s a great start, but it’s only one place to start looking.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other popular sites are a must when recruiting socially. Remember that social recruiting takes practice. Here are some tips to put into practice:
Host a live Q&A to attract candidates. You
can do this on apps like Periscope.
Optimize your firm’s LinkedIn page
Encourage employees to share your culture online
Monitor social media for opportunities
Create your own branding and recruiting videos
to post
Use Facebook and Instagram to draw people in
Consider using proprietary social media software,
like Jobvite or Recruiterbox. There are dozens of affordable options.
Some best practices are to:
Network and engage with your audience – If you respond to a potential candidate, be personable and start an engaging conversation. You will need to earn their trust and respect, especially if they’re a passive job seeker.
Highlight your company culture – Showcase your company at its best by sharing employer branding content, celebratory events, milestones reached, and charitable activities in the community. You’ll want to give candidates an idea of what it would be like to work for you.
Share the right mix of posts – If you talk about your company all the time, you might come off as superior or boring. Mix it up by sharing job openings in the form of humorous posts, local news, industry trends, and topics that your audience may be interested in.
Get your staff involved – Ask your employees to share job posts and other content on their social media networks.
Use the appropriate social media platforms – You’ll need to understand your candidate persona to determine the best platforms on which to post your job openings. Spend some time on unfamiliar platforms to gauge if they fit in with your culture.
Here are key essential steps to the application process.
Create a job description
Identify the position, including a list of job requirements,
special qualifications, characteristics, and experience wanted from a
candidate.
While job requirements form the basis for the job
description, be sure to include essential functions to be performed in the role
and the advantages of working for the company.
Recruiting
Seek out candidates via published job advertisements, social
media, and industry events.
Applicant screening
As job applications arrive by email or via an applicant tracking system (ATS), the hiring staff reviews résumés/CVs and cover letters based on the criteria established in the planning step. Unqualified candidates’ applications are withdrawn from the applicant pool. Qualified candidates are informed of next steps beginning with a screening interview.
Screening interview
Initial interviews with applicants are typically phone calls
with HR representatives. These interviews determine if applicants have the
qualifications needed to do the job and serve to further narrow the pool of
candidates. HR may also explain the interviewing process during this step.
Interviews
Depending on the size of the selection committee, several
interviews are scheduled for each candidate.
Early interviews are typically in-person, one-on-one interviews with applicants and the hiring manager and focus on applicants’ experience, skills, work history, and availability.
Additional meetings with management, staff, executives, and
other members of the organization can be one-on-one or panel interviews, formal
or relaxed, on-site, off-site, or online (Skype, Google Hangouts). These
interviews are more in-depth; in some organizations, each interviewer focuses
on a specific subject or aspect of the job being filled to avoid overlap
between interviews and to discover more about the applicants.
Final interviews might be conducted by the company’s senior
leadership or an interviewer from a previous round of interviews. These
latter-stage interviews are generally extended to a very small pool of top
candidates.
Applicant talent assessment
Before, during, or after interviews, hiring staff often assign applicants one or more standardized tests to assess personality type, talent (also called pre-employment tests), physical suitability for the job, cognition (reasoning, memory, perceptual speed and accuracy, math, and reading comprehension), and/or emotional intelligence. Some organizations also require applicants to take tests or complete assignments to demonstrate professional skills applicable to the open position.
Background check
One of the final steps prior to making a job offer is
conducting background checks to review candidates’ criminal record, to verify
employment history and eligibility, and to run credit checks. Some
organizations also check social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to
make sure potential employees are likely to represent the company in a
professional manner. Drug testing may also be warranted, depending on the
nature of the job.
Decision
The hiring staff confers and evaluates applicants based on
the interviews, job experience, skills and talent assessments, and all other
relevant information (recommendations, e.g.). A top choice should be identified
and agreed on. A backup candidate selection should be made, as well. If no
candidates meet the hiring criteria, the hiring process should start over.
Reference checks
Once a candidate has been selected for the position, his or her professional references should be contacted. Reference checks can verify candidates’ employment details including job performance, strengths, and weaknesses. A typical question to ask references is “Would you rehire this person?”
Job offer
Offering the job includes providing an offer letter stating
the position’s salary, start date, and other terms and conditions of employment
that are based on the agreement between the company and the candidate. It
should be clear that the candidate understands the terms of the offer. The
candidate may agree and sign, initiate negotiations (typically focusing on
salary), or turn down the offer.
Recruitment Tracking & Analytics
Keeping track of candidates can get confusing. Relying on spreadsheets
or old email exchanges can leave you in the lurch.
Instead, consider using an applicant tracking system (ATS)
that will help you to:
Find and solve hiring bottlenecks, especially the long line
of unqualified candidates.
Discover which hiring managers need help, which managers are
behind on their hiring duties and which ones need additional resources to
ensure the position gets filled.
Track your hiring team’s efficiency and effectiveness as
well as track how new hires feel about their jobs and the organization overall.
Determine your best sources for hires. For example, if top candidates are coming from social media.
You’ll want to devote more attention to those platforms.
It’s also important to have an export function so you can
use that data outside of the ATS solution
Another helpful function is a universal search, so you can search for certain biographical data and use that information to sort applicants as well. Most importantly, any solution you pick should come with a robust support team. Software is only when it works, and you want to have a range of options if something goes wrong.
Use these HRMorning resources to make your performance
reviews valuable and actionable. They will help you understand what makes for
an effective performance review and why it is so important.
Using these tools, which include process tips, key phrases and examples of written reviews for employees at various career stages, you’ll be ready to nail the review process, write superior performance reviews and get the best work out of your team.
Performance reviews are, at their core, a communication
channel between employees and their supervisors. While primarily focused on
evaluating employee performance and setting ongoing expectations, performance
reviews should also give employees a chance to share their impressions of, and
expectations for, their work situation.
Ideally, that communication increases cooperation and
understanding between supervisors and employees, thus enhancing both work
performance and the work environment. Those enhancements are reflected in better
customer service, more engaged employees and improved organizational
performance.
What is the Purpose of a Performance Review?
Whether conducted as an annual formal evaluation or a weekly
check-in, performance reviews give employers and employees periodic opportunities
to assess how well the employee’s efforts match with near- and long-term goals.
They also are a chance to adjust goals to ensure they
continue to align with any changes in the organization’s strategic priorities.
In addition, performance reviews guide the development of
training plans to maximize the employee’s strengths and address any skill or
knowledge gaps that might hold them back.
Finally, while most organizations have now separated
performance and compensation discussions,
the performance review should correlate with merit pay and targeted bonuses
based on performance and with promotions.
Performance Review Process
The traditional annual review is on its way out at more and
more organizations, with increasing focus on continuous feedback and performance
management.
Organizations are also refining the metrics they track and
the frequency of and style of communication between supervisors and employees.
And jobs, schedules and training are all getting more
personalized.
Despite those very significant changes, performance
evaluation remains a process that follows specific steps, beginning with careful
preparation on the part of supervisors.
Preparing for the performance review
Here are some of the key steps every supervisor should
follow in planning a performance review. Many apply more directly to annual or
semi-annual reviews, but you should keep them in mind as a framework for assessing
performance in any setting.
Review and update the employee’s job description. You should do a detailed review at least once a year, and any time an employee’s duties change. As part of a formal review, you should have the employee look at the description to assess whether it is accurate. You can’t provide a fair evaluation or usable feedback unless everyone understands and agrees about the employee’s responsibilities. If responsibilities have changed since the last performance review, revise the description and share the revisions with the employee before you provide any feedback.
Take time to assess whether job functions are still aligned with organizational needs. It’s important to regularly ask the tough question, “Do the reasons we created this position still exist?” Do the tasks involved contribute meaningfully to achieving our short- and long-term strategic goals? Or were they put in place to accomplish things that’re no longer needed or even slow us down? What should we eliminate? Add? Re-emphasize?
Revisit how specific performance is measured. Performance should be evaluated according to established and agreed-upon expectations – the list of specific outcomes that the employee knows they know you expect them to accomplish. Where appropriate, each of those outcomes should have a completion timeframe and, in most cases, that timeframe shouldn’t be more than 12 months. Many organizations call these Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).
Assesstraining and development needs. Employee goals should be fair but challenging. Achieving some of them will often require new or improved skills. If existing goals included training, check the employee’s progress towards completing the training and achieving expected competencies. If setting or resetting future goals, be prepared to discuss what training will be needed, and deadlines and required achievements and how the employee can access needed training resources. And keep in mind that there is only so much time in each day/week/month/year. Employees will have to accomplish training goals while also achieving all their performance goals.
Remind yourself that you need to be objective and fair. You are assessing actual performance, not anticipated or potential work performance. And it is critical that you don’t let any personal likes and dislikes get in the way of measuring actual performance. It isn’t easy for any of us to always recognize personal prejudices, bias, or favoritism that might color an assessment. But remember: this is about more than just being fair. You also have an obligation to avoid getting your organization into serious legal trouble.
Make notes. Even if you’re just doing a quick check in, you should have at least a short list of items to discuss with the employee.
Set a time. Whether it’s texting “Have a minute this afternoon to review the week?” or scheduling two weeks in advance for their annual review, make sure the employee knows that you’ll be discussing performance and has a chance to prepare.
Focus. As much as possible, focus on just one or two factors in regular feedback sessions. For more formal reviews, be sure you analyze the employee’s performance against each factor listed on the performance evaluation form.
Conducting the Review
The less formal check-in and feedback sessions typical of
continuous performance management can happen nearly anywhere, whether at the
employee’s workstation, in the cafeteria or on a walk around the building.
Still, even though the location and discussion might be more
casual, you need to keep some basics in mind.
Most importantly, any substantive performance discussion is
a private interaction between you and the employee. Watch your volume and be
aware of anyone who’s within earshot.
Avoid interruptions. Whether the discussion takes 5 minutes
or 20, avoid answering your phone or responding to a text unless it is truly
urgent. If you must break away, be clear that you want to continue as soon as
possible and make sure that it happens soon.
If the discussion turns to more sensitive topics or just
needs more time, stop and reset. That may just mean saying, “Let’s move this to
the conference room” or require scheduling a longer meeting as soon as
possible.
When a performance evaluation requires a more detailed
discussion, whether that’s to go into more detail on something that came up in
a check-in or a formal annual review following these guidelines will help you
and the employee get the most value from the process.
Choose a quiet place where you can both focus just on the evaluation. If possible, choose a neutral location.
Always meet privately and avoid all interruptions, including telephone calls. Making a point of turning off your own phone will tell the employee the review is your most important task right now.
Allow plenty of time. The employee should never feel like this process has been rushed.
Talk about the employee’s strengths as well as any challenges or areas of weakness. If an employee is worth keeping, you want a performance evaluation to keep them positive and engaged. That means acknowledging and encouraging high-quality work along with an honest assessment of where they need to improve performance.
When discussing weaknesses, be specific about what needs improvement when those improvements must be made. Be very clear about the consequences for not making those improvements. Make suggestions for how to address those areas and ask the employee to propose steps they think will help them achieve required performance. While it may not happen at this meeting, the evaluation is not complete until you and the employee agree on timelines and specific actions to be taken to address performance issues.
Ask for the employee’s input on setting new goals and KPIs/OKRs as well. The more involved they are in “designing” their jobs, the more committed they will be to achieving results. Again, the review isn’t complete until you and the employee agree on new and continuing goals and how you’ll measure progress.
Guide the conversation but don’t dominate it. Remember, a major goal of performance reviews is to open an effective channel of communication between you and the employee. Let them do most of the talking; don’t interrupt or cross-examine and be willing to listen to and learn from the employee. Repeat what they tell you back to them to be sure you understood what they said.
And it is worth repeating. Part of a supervisor’s
responsibility in conducting performance reviews is protecting your
organization from serious legal problems. How a performance review is conducted
and documented can win or lose a lawsuit if an employee sues for discrimination
or wrongful termination.
Employment lawyers Squire Patton Boggs warn of common
mistakes supervisors make during reviews:
Failing to follow established review procedures
and timelines
Not thoroughly documenting performance reviews
Failing to have written performance ratings sync
up with verbal comments made during the review
Giving inflated ratings to avoid difficult
conversations or hurting workers’ feelings or
Basing ratings on factors not included in a job
description and performance plans, and
Not giving specifics about what an employee did
well or still need to improve on.
In short, be prepared, be objective, be honest, be detailed,
be firm, and be clear.
Post-Review Development Plan
Whether addressing a problem area or
preparing the employee to take on additional responsibilities, formal
development plans are critical to increasing an employee’s value to the
organization and the organizations ability to achieve strategic goals.
That’s why identifying an employee’s training and
development needs is among the most important dividends of a well-designed
performance review process.
Often organizations think about employee development primarily in the context of a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) focused on addressing job- or behavior-related performance deficiencies.
Here, however, we focus on development
plans’ value as tool to encourage and enable good performers to improve on the
high-quality work they’ve been doing and to take on new responsibilities.
They are also a key to retaining your best workers. Surveys
show that employees see career development as one of the most important reasons
to keep working – and working hard – for any organization.
And, when they don’t see a commitment to helping them gain
skills needed to advance their careers, your employees are open to offers from
competitors who are investing in learning and development.
Whether it comes out of a continuous performance management
process or a traditional annual assessment, a development plan has specific
objectives:
Setting short-term (1 – 5 years) goals and
career steps that will help achieve long-term goals
Agreeing on specific steps (classwork, cross
training, project assignments, etc.) which will help achieve short-term goals
Prioritizing those steps
Setting firm target dates for completion of each
action step.
Defining specific tasks and schedules to
accomplish each step.
Many of those goals, steps and tasks will be shared across
teams, of course, but most need to be laser-focused on the individual employee.
Development Personalization
Personalization is moving out of the realm of
business-to-consumer commerce and into almost every arena of human activity.
For HR, this trend means empowering employees to find the best path to
mastering skills needed to do their jobs.
That translates into a need for customized training that
focuses on the specific requirements of a job and individual employees’
specific skills and skill gaps.
That can be tough for small HR departments. The good news is
that there are a growing number of technology solutions that can help even the
smallest HR team develop and implement flexible, personalized programs.
When those are tied closely to continuous evaluation and
feedback, training plans can adapt more quickly to changing job requirements —
and become more relevant to employees.
How to Write a Performance Review
Written performance reviews should always include a few
paragraphs explaining the manager’s general assessment of how the employee is
doing.
It works best when managers take some latitude as to the
content of this part. The assessment requires a general judgment on performance
during the past year and a call to action for the future.
The written review should lay out a clear career path and
let people know that their work is appreciated by their colleagues, their
manager(s) and the organization.
Managers may want to use some of these exact words (when they
are true) to make employees feel good about themselves, their work and their
employer.
It’s good to characterize the review by opening the
conversation saying something like, “This is a mostly positive review …” or
“You’ve had a very good year ….”
Remember: Be careful with superlatives – since managers want
people to have an even better year next year.
For instance, it can never be “the best ever …” since
that’s always yet to come.
A good way to do this is to build on what they already said
in the review about liking the job and the people they work with.
To be able to do this and insert the appropriate phrases in
the written review, it is helpful during the verbal review to ask the employee
what he or she likes best about the job and then repeat that language.
If there is substantial doubt about the desirability of the
employee’s continued service, a Performance Improvement Plan should be
implemented.
Performance Review Questions
Like a good interview, performance review questions should never
ask for Yes or No responses. Similarly, don’t lead the employee by indicating
that you are looking for a particular response.
Questions need to be straightforward and focused on getting
the employee to describe their responsibilities, challenges, and performance in
their own words.
In addition to asking about performance, the questions
should explore what skills the employee thinks they need to improve, either to
do their current job satisfactorily or to prepare for additional
responsibility.
Here’s an example of a written questionnaire you can use to
determine how an employee understands their responsibilities and how well, or
poorly, they think they are fulfilling those responsibilities.
For annual reviews, especially, the answers to these
questions provide a framework for the conversation between supervisor and
employee.
Sample performance review questionnaire
[Name of Organization] Performance Evaluation Questions
From time to time, it is our practice to hold performance
reviews.
These reviews are not intended as “report cards” – rather,
they are a chance for us to evaluate together where you have been, how you are
doing and where you are going.
Part of what makes these reviews valuable is your
preparation. The more thought you put into the process, the more you get out of
it.
Please evaluate the following questions.
What are your job responsibilities, as you
understand them?
Rate and evaluate how you are doing in each
area.
What aspect of your performance are you most
pleased with?
What aspect of your performance do you think you
need to work hardest on in the coming months?
What skills do you want to improve most on and
how do you plan to do it? What help do you need?
What is the one thing you are happiest about in
your current work environment?
What is the one thing you are unhappiest about
and would like to change?
How are we doing in satisfying your needs?
Optional additional question:
Are
there any specific professional aspirations, hopes or ambitions that I should
be aware of as your supervisor?
Performance Review Phrases
Once you’ve reviewed the employee’s self-evaluation and had
a meeting to discuss their performance, it’s time to sit down and document your
evaluation.
On the written review form, the phrasing needs to be a
little more formal and should be consistent across all employees’ reviews.
Here are a few helpful examples of performance review phrase
you might use, broken out into general categories:
Attendance/Punctuality
Consistently arrives on time for work, meetings
and training and development sessions
Improved attendance at non-mandatory training and
meetings
Meets deadlines or provides sufficient notice
when is unable to meet them
Productivity
Consistently exceeds production targets
Has demonstrated significant improvement in
achieving production targets since last review
Consistently lags team in meeting targets
Communication Skills
Effectively communicates with project teams
Escalates issues in a timely manner
Displays improved listening and comprehension
when receiving and executing instructions
Needs to be clearer when communicating
expectations to direct reports and peers
Cooperation
Collaborates effectively with team members to complete
projects on time and at high quality
Has improved in seeking help when needed to
complete projects on time
Actively works to share knowledge and solicit
input from other team members
Needs to better support team members who ask for
help or explanations in completing assignments
Needs to be more proactive in monitoring direct
reports’ progress on assignments and providing resources in a timely manner
when required
Problem-Solving
Needs to work on suggesting solutions rather
than only complaining about perceived problems
Has demonstrated ability to understand and solve
problems but needs to take more initiative rather than waiting for instruction
Shows creativity and initiative when tackling
complicated problems
Tends to make excuses and blame others for
problems instead of seeking solutions
Encourages and empowers direct reports to find
solutions on their own and as part of the team
Flexibility
Seeks new approaches when established processes
and procedures are no longer effective
Adapts willingly and effectively to changing
requirements
Tends to resist new approaches and argue against
needed changes in the face of declining results
Accepts and implements constructive criticism
and guidance to improve performance
Drive
Actively Seeks increased responsibility and
takes on new challenges with enthusiasm
Looks for creative ways to improve team results
and delight customers
Works consistently to improve skills and learn
new skills
Does not take initiative in pursuing training
and development
Avoids taking on additional responsibility and
new assignments
Leadership
Leads by example, demonstrating consistent
strong effort and ethical professional behavior
Makes certain that employees have a clear
understanding of their responsibilities
Needs to improve communication style to avoid
condescending to direct reports and peers
Creates an environment of trust where team
members feel comfortable sharing ideas and opinions
Performance Review Examples
Of course, a performance review can’t just be a series of bulleted phrases. Here are three examples of written evaluations of employees at different stages in their careers.
Example #1: Review of a very promising junior employee
(Given at six months, this review is designed to push an employee to stretch)
To: [Employee Name]
From: [Name of Supervisor]
RE: Performance review
Date: [Date of Review]
Here’s a summary of what we discussed at the performance
review last XXXXX after your first six months here:
You are well on the way to meeting and in some areas
exceeding the expectations we had of you as to where you would be after one
full year with us. We have every reason to believe that after your first year,
you will be able to function as reliable employee in an important position,
producing quality results with as little supervision as possible. There are
other things connected with being a valuable employee: liaison with the
marketing department, public speaking skills to enthuse others, etc. (Be
specific.)
But if you dedicate yourself to a solid learning process,
your long-term goal of eventually becoming a manager and training others in our
way of producing business results also seems achievable at this point. You will
realize that you still have much to learn on principles of management,
leadership skills, the big-picture business executive outlook, principles of
marketing, etc.
You’d do well to concentrate for the moment on becoming the
best at what you currently do. That will give you the confidence that will
serve as the building block for future success in all other areas.
We’ll do everything we can to help you achieve it
Example #2: Review of a strong employee seeking a promotion
To: [Name of Employee]
From: [Name of Supervisor]
RE: Performance review
Date: [Date of Review]
To memorialize last week’s performance review, here’s a
summary of what we discussed:
Strong points:
Sense of ownership of your work
Self-starter mentality, initiative for coming up
with ideas
Developmental activities, both in formal and
informal settings with selected employees
Keen awareness of and adherence to
processes/procedures
Strong core-area skills (Be specific.)
Emerging skills you
need to build on:
Keeping pace with technological advances
You have mastered execution of most specific aspects of your
work, but yours is a field that is always changing and updating itself. It’s
incumbent on successful employees to stay abreast of these changes to keep
themselves updated and ahead of the technological curve.
Making yourself results-driven
You take to heart the task of making your work the best it can be, but I don’t yet get a keen sense you have etched in your mind it’s all for a business purpose – (put specifics here). Make those numbers your personal goal and link your tasks more closely to business results.
Building and maintaining good relationships
Good relationships are the heart and soul of future business arrangements. These strategic relationships need to be developed and maintained on a regular basis.
Areas that still need
some more work:
Meeting
deadlines
Deadlines have turned out to be your biggest challenge. You should be able to
organize customer needs and deliver service consistently, not just now and
again. Find ways to maintain that momentum!
Action
steps:
Become better at thinking ahead instead of just instinctively acting.
Activate the left “analytical” part of brain, not just right creative side.
Read and emulate success stories of others.
Knowledge of and feel for general management and business principles
You have started to read business and management books, but a sophisticated level of understanding of business principles does not yet consistently show in your work.
Action
steps:
Continue reading management and business books.
Discuss what you’ve learned, show it in “upward
communication” reports.
Example #3: Tough feedback to a newer employee
To: [Employee Name]
From: [Supervisor Name]
RE: Performance review
Date: [Date of Review]
Here’s a summary of what we discussed:
Strengths:
Organizational skills and time management
Attitude and work ethic
Initiative – you’re anxious to take on more than
what’s required and expected
Clear communicator.
Areas to work on:
Flexibility.
You’re strong-willed and you believe in yourself. Strong convictions have given
you a confidence base that served you well in learning a difficult field and
making the progress to date, which is considerable. There is a flip side to
strong convictions, however. If they aren’t tempered by flexibility, it can
result in rigidity. There is no room for rigidity in our culture. We’re a
flexible company with few rules – the only rule is to try to serve our
customers the best possible way. You’ve exhibited something bordering on
rigidity in several ways. On a fairly minor point, you’re sometimes hesitant to
start over when that’s exactly what is needed. We don’t believe ironclad rules
on who does what make sense from the point of view of serving customers.
We also admire your ambition to be named a Group Leader in
short order, but it worries us that you apparently think that you’re just about
there. You have already told us that we will have to agree to disagree on this
point, but we still urge you to try to understand – and at least respect –
management’s point of view. As long as the managerial hand-holding must
continue to get your projects into market shape, you have to realize that any
promotion is premature. Your focus at present should be on continuing to learn
your field, or, in terms of a sports analogy, continuing to chart plays from
the bench, understanding why something worked and why something else didn’t,
instead of tugging at the sleeves of the coach saying, “Put me in coach, I can
do it.” We hold no one back unfairly. We have a crying need for good people.
When you’re ready for more responsibility, we won’t hesitate one moment to
confer it.
Developing expertise.
You learned a lot about your products this past year, but you have still more
to learn. You may now understand the market needs, but you don’t always find
the best ways to fill them.
Be relentless in your efforts to find out what any piece of
info really means to our customers, make the extra telephone call to
regulators, consultants or other sources. Learn how business works in general
and how business principles apply to your field. Ask in-house experts. Set up a
site visit. Go to conferences to rub shoulders with our people. Above all,
seize every opportunity to talk to customers on the phone. We’ll help you in
every way we can to scale the learning curve faster.
General assessment:
You came to us with little practical experience. We hired
you mainly on the raw desire and determination we saw in you. In view of that,
you have exceeded our expectations during your first year here. Your eagerness
to learn a difficult area has pleasantly surprised us. You’ve made outstanding
progress and you’ve shown yourself to be reliable. That’s made you an important
part of the team that has shown improvements in the business results. You can
be proud of what you have achieved in your first year, but that pride should be
tempered by a healthy dose of humility, the realization we all have about how
much more there is to learn.
This is a generally positive review that hopefully provides
the road map for your journey to scale the next level at our company. Your
intermediate goal is to (be specific here). Following this road map can get you
there.
Over the next few months, we think it’s a good idea to open
up another avenue of learning for you in an unrelated market area, so you’ll be
progressing on more than one track simultaneously. That’s so you will be able
to take advantage of the first realistic opportunity for substantial
advancement that arises. We trust you’ll tackle any new assignment with the
same dedication you’ve shown so far.
Performance Review Tips
First, another reminder that performance reviews can create or contribute to legal problems for your organization. It’s easy to overlook key parts and end up in a legal mess with employees. To help avoid that, check your review process against this checklist:
Performance appraisals serve 6 functions:
Evaluate an employee’s status
Encourage or change behavior
Set goals
Serve as a basis for rewards or corrective
action
Serve as a basis for training and development
plans
Create a detailed record of job requirements and
performance
Effective and legal reviews all share these key components:
Gaps between what the employee thinks and what
the supervisor thinks
A successful performance appraisal is finished when:
Employee has been rated using clear and fair
standards
Accomplishments and improvement needs have been
acknowledged by both parties
Goals have been set
How the goals will be reached has been
established
Key points have been documented by supervisor
and signed by both parties
And remember, a performance review is about feedback. It is
a conversation about how much meaning and purpose a manager can create with an
employee.
No performance review can be successful unless the manager
has already given good feedback and direction regularly throughout the year,
making assessments and adjustments along the way, and building rapport and
confidence with the employee.
Here are six tips that will help get the most out of
informal check ins and formal performance reviews.
1. Hold periodic
informal feedback sessions.
Your best bet for accomplishing this is to mark your
calendar with dates and notes such as “Hold a ‘how ya doing’ talk with Hank” to
remind you periodically throughout the year to sit down with employees to
discuss their performance – outside the formal appraisal setup.
That promotes a “no surprises” environment when you do the
actual face-to-face appraisal later on. These informal talks create “check-up”
points along the way, and help keep the manager and the employee focused on the
worker’s development.
2. Keep a record of
the informal sessions.
Nothing fancy, but try to keep notes of what was said, what
was agreed upon and when you talked. Notes like that can help resolve disputes
that might come up later during the formal review.
This kind of documentation will let you respond with specific
comments like, “When we talked in August, you said …”
3. Standardize your
evaluation criteria as much as possible.
If you have two or more employees doing similar jobs, you’ll
want to make sure you’re using the same standards to judge their performance –
whether it’s straight productivity numbers, quality levels, revenue generation
or other measurable criteria.
The reasons for standardizing are threefold:
It’ll make your life easier, in that you won’t
have to reinvent the wheel for every review. You’ll have a predetermined set of
standards that you can use each time.
It’ll make more sense to your employees. They’ll
have a clear understanding what’s required and what they’re being judged on.
It’ll help avoid lawsuits and charges of
favoritism or discrimination. The main cause of complaints is fuzzy
measurement. If Employee A thinks he’s being held to a different set of
standards than Employee B, expect Employee A to complain – to a lawyer, in some
instances.
4. Study the
employee’s previous performance review.
Were goals laid out? Were promises made? Did subsequent
events change any of the employee’s circumstances since the last review?
It’s important to familiarize yourself with all the
components of the previous review, especially if the review was done by another
manager. You don’t want to be caught off-guard or appear to be unaware of major
agreement or problems.
5. Ask the employee
to do a write-up of accomplishments.
Some people may expect you to remember everything. Fact is
you can’t. No one can. That’s where the employee’s write-up, or “self-evaluation,”
comes in handy.
You’ll (a) get a reminder of what the employee has
accomplished since the last review and (b) have a basis and for comparing your
evaluation and resolving differences. The last thing you want is to walk into a
review and get surprised by the idea that the two of you have totally different
views on what happened since the last review.
6. Talk to customers,
relevant co-workers and other points of contact for the employee.
Just about every employee does tasks that go unnoticed by a
supervisor. It’s unavoidable, and no supervisor can be expected to know and see
everything.
A supervisor is, however, expected to do a little legwork to
learn as much as possible about the employee. Did she, without being asked or
recognized, help another employee with a difficult project? Did she go the
extra mile for an important customer?
As a responsible supervisor, you’ll want to find out about
those instances. And the more you can find about, the better. Multiple sources
will give you a better-balanced view, rather than relying on one source who
says the employee is great — or terrible.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, more commonly
referred to as the EEOC, is a federal agency that is authorized to enforce and
interpret certain federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination against
federally protected classes. The EEOC’s authority expands across the entire
spectrum of the employment relationship. It covers situations involving hiring
all the way through to issues involving separation from employment.
Promotions, workplace harassment, wages, training and
benefits and retaliation are just some of the specific areas the EEOC has the
authority to address.
The EEOC doesn’t always have the last word on specific
employment issues; in fact, courts are free to reject EEOC guidance and
interpretations. But that’s not what usually happens. Instead, courts tend to
defer to the agency as sort of a subject-matter expert with respect to how
federal anti-discrimination employment laws should be interpreted and applied.
A key takeaway from this fact: Knowing the EEOC’s position
on a particular issue, as expressed through its guidance or enforcement
activities, is a very important step covered employers should take to remain
EEOC compliant.
Speaking of covered employers, most employers with at least
15 employees have to comply with the federal laws that the EEOC handles. (An
exception applies with respect to the federal law banning age discrimination,
which bumps the minimum number up to 20.)
In most instances, employment agencies and labor unions are
also covered.
Employees who believe they have been discriminated against
in violation of a law enforced by the EEOC can file an administrative charge of
discrimination with the agency. The EEOC proceeds by investigating the charge
and trying to resolve it without going to court.
If its investigation results in a finding that there has
been unlawful discrimination, it tries to negotiate a settlement with the
offending employer. If that doesn’t work, it can go ahead and file a lawsuit on
the complaining employee’s behalf. But the agency’s resources are limited, and
that happens in only a very small percentage of cases.
If the agency’s investigation results in a finding that the
employer did nothing wrong, the complaining party can still choose to go to
court without the EEOC’s help, subject to certain prescribed time limitations.
For an example of how this works in practice, click here.
The EEOC does much more than just investigate discrimination
charges. It also tries to prevent employment discrimination via a number of outreach,
technical assistance and education programs.
In addition, it helps federal agencies comply with equal
employment opportunity requirements, and it periodically issues detailed
guidance concerning specific discrimination-related employment law issues.
It also issues regulations regarding the laws it is
authorized to enforce.
The agency has its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and it
operates 53 offices nationwide.
EEOC Laws
The EEOC is authorized to interpret and enforce only certain
specific federal laws. Essentially, employment discrimination is its domain.
Here are the specific federal laws it enforces and what those laws say.
Title VII
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, more commonly
referred to simply as Title VII, is a federal law banning employment
discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin or sex. Remember
that this law covers the entire employment process, from application through
separation from employment.
Importantly, it also bans retaliation. More specifically, it
prohibits covered employers from retaliating against a person because the
person has filed a discrimination charge, complained about discrimination, or
participated in an investigation or lawsuit.
Under Title VII, covered employers must accommodate the
sincerely held religious beliefs of applicants and employees unless doing so would
impose an undue hardship on the employer’s operations.
Title VII’s ban on sex discrimination encompasses a ban on
sexual harassment in the workplace. In other words, under Title VII sexual
harassment is a form of prohibited sex discrimination.
Physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature is unlawful
under Title VII when it negatively affects the victim’s employment, interferes
unreasonably with work performance, or creates a hostile working environment.
Under Title VII, the harasser can be a man or a woman, and the victim and the
harasser can be of the same sex.
Here’s a fact that may come as a surprise: The victim does
not have to be the direct target of the harassment. Instead, it can also be
another employee who is also negatively affected by the harassing behavior.
For some important and enlightening EEOC stats about harassment in the workplace, click here.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
The Pregnancy Discrimination was passed in 1978. It amended
Title VII to specifically ban discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.
Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, covered employers
cannot discriminate against women based on pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical
condition that is related to either.
Like Title VII, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits
employers from engaging in unlawful retaliation. Employers cannot retaliate
against a person because the person complained of pregnancy discrimination,
filed a discrimination charge, or participated in an investigation or lawsuit.
Equal Pay Act
The Equal Pay Act, or EPA, requires covered employers to
provide equal pay to men and women who perform equal work in the same
workplace.
The jobs don’t have to be identical; instead, the question
is whether they are substantially equal. If they are, equal pay is required.
The law doesn’t address salary only. It covers all forms of
pay, including things like overtime, bonuses, stock options and profit-sharing.
The EPA bans retaliation against those who have complained
of discrimination, filed a discrimination charge, or participated in a
discrimination lawsuit or investigation.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, or ADEA, prohibits
covered employers from discriminating against individuals who are 40 years of
age or older. The law applies to applicants as well as employees.
What if a covered employer favors an older employee over a
younger one, and both employees are over the age of 40? This doesn’t violate
the ADEA, according to the EEOC.
The person who discriminates does not have to be younger
than 40 to trigger the ADEA’s protections, the agency adds. In other words, for
example, an over-40 supervisor can violate the ADEA by discriminating against
an over-40 employee.
The statute bars discrimination with respect to all terms
and conditions of employment.
It also prohibits age-based harassment. Although isolated
offhand comments relating to age probably won’t be enough to violate the law, employers
may be on the hook if the harassment either creates a hostile or offensive work
environment or leads to an adverse job action such as a demotion or termination
from employment.
File this one under the “you may be surprised to learn”
category: The harasser doesn’t have to be someone who works for the employer.
Instead, it can be a client or customer.
Example: A 60-year-old salesman complains to his manager that
a customer keeps telling him that he’s too old for the job and that he should
retire. The manager tells the salesman that the company can’t afford to lose
the account and that there’s nothing he can do. In this example, the employer
may be liable under the ADEA for the harassment.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, more
commonly referred to as the ADA, prohibits covered employers from
discriminating against qualified applicants and employees on the basis of
disability.
A “disability” is a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits at least one major life activity, such as breathing,
seeing, sleeping and walking. It also includes a record or past history or such
an impairment as well as being regarded as having such an impairment.
The law applies to all aspects of the employment
relationship, including hiring, firing, compensation, benefits, and all other
terms and conditions of employment.
To win an ADA claim, an individual has to do more than show
he has a disability; he must also show that he is qualified for the position
that he seeks or holds.
A fundamental concept of Title I is that employers are
required to make “reasonable accommodations” to help qualified individuals with
disabilities do their jobs, subject to the limitation that employers need not
make accommodations that would result in what the law calls an “undue hardship”
for the employer.
Employers have to understand that the ADA thus goes far
beyond merely requiring evenhanded treatment of people with disabilities. Instead,
they must take affirmative steps to do things for people with disabilities that
they need not do for people without disabilities, such as providing a
sign-language interpreter for a deaf applicant during a job interview or
providing regularly scheduled breaks to an employee with diabetes so that he
can monitor his blood sugar and insulin levels. This is an absolutely critical
point for employers to keep in mind.
Another good example of a form of reasonable accommodation is a leave of absence. When does leave become unreasonable? Click here to find out.
The ADA has some rules about medical examinations and
inquiries. Think of it this way: One rule applies to applicants who have not
been offered a position; a second rule applies to people who have been offered
a position but have not yet started working; and a third applies to current
employees.
Here’s how it shakes out.
Job applicants cannot be asked about the existence, nature
or severity of a disability, although they can be asked whether they can
perform job functions.
Once an offer is made, the offer can be made contingent on
the results of a medical exam – as long as an exam is required for all new
employees in similar jobs.
Finally, medical exams can be required for existing workers
only if the exams are related to the job and are consistent with the employer’s
legitimate business needs.
The ADA doesn’t protect people who use drugs illegally. This
includes use of illegal drugs, such as crack cocaine, and illegal use of
otherwise legal drugs, such as prescription pain medications.
A final word on the ADA’s employment requirements: Employers
may not retaliate against an individual for opposing discriminatory employment
practices or for filing a discrimination charge or participating in an
investigation, lawsuit or other proceeding relating to the ADA.
Federally Protected Classes
The laws that the EEOC enforces apply to what are known as
“protected classes” of individuals. Employers need to keep in mind that every
single applicant and employee is a member of at least one of these protected
classes. The classes correspond to the laws that create the protections.
Of course, the fact that an applicant or employee is
“protected” does not mean that no adverse action can ever be taken against him.
But employers can’t take adverse action against an employee based solely on the
fact that he is a member of protected class.
Here are the protected classes created by federal laws
barring employment discrimination.
Title VII created the protected classes of race, color,
religion, national origin and sex.
These may sound pretty straightforward, but a couple of them
are a bit more involved than they may seem to be.
Discrimination based on national origin, for example,
includes bias based on the fact that someone is from a particular part of the
world or country; because of ethnicity or an accent; or because they look like
they are from a certain ethnic background.
Color definitely overlaps with race, but they aren’t the same
thing. That means color discrimination can happen between two people of the
same race. The EEOC defines “color” discrimination quite literally: The agency
says it refers to skin pigmentation, complexion, or skin tone or shade.
It’s a mistake to assume that the protected class of religion
encompasses only those who are part of traditional organized religions. The
EEOC’s view is that the class also includes others who have “sincerely held
religious, ethical or moral beliefs.”
Exactly what is meant by “sex” discrimination has been a
hotly debated issue. Some say the class is meant to refer to one’s physical sex
at birth as determined by sexual organs. But the EEOC says it’s much broader
than that. The agency’s position is that unlawful sex discrimination under
Title VII includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender
identity.
Under the ADEA, the answer of who is protected is much clearer:
People who are at least 40 years old are members of the protected class.
The ADA creates the federally protected class of people with
disabilities. Under the statute, a “disability” is a physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits at least one major life activity, such as
breathing, seeing, sleeping and walking. It also includes a record or past
history or such an impairment as well as being regarded as having such an
impairment.
The term “substantially limits” is construed broadly. Except
for ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses, the determination of whether a
person is substantially limited in a major life activity is to be made without
reference to the ameliorative effects of mitigating measures like medication.
Pregnancy is another protected class. Under the Pregnancy
Discrimination Act, covered employers cannot discriminate against women based
on pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition that is related to either.
Record-Keeping Requirements
The EEOC has issued regulations that require covered employers
to hold on to personnel or employment records for a period of one year. When a
worker is let go, his records are to be kept for a year from the termination date.
The ADEA requires employers to keep payroll records for a
period of three years. Employee benefit plans as well as written seniority or
merit systems are to be kept while the plan or system is in effect and for at
least a year after termination.
Records that explain why different wages are paid to
employees of opposite sexes in the same establishment are to be kept for at
least two years.
EEO-1 Form
The EEOC collects information about employer workforces from
employers that have 100 or more employees. Lower thresholds are applicable to
federal contractors. Employers report this information annually using the EEO-1
Form.
Information relating to race/ethnicity, gender and job
category is used to create a compliance survey.
The provision of the data by covered employers is not
voluntary. Instead, the data must be provided.
The agency uses the information that is collected in the
reports for a variety of purposes, including enforcement and research.
Here’s some information about the filing requirements for 2019.
Handling Discrimination Complaints
When an employee presents an employer with an internal
complaint of discrimination or harassment, responding promptly and effectively
is essential to avoiding legal liability. Here’s a general roadmap that employers
should follow to stay EEOC compliant.
It should go without saying that the employer must take the
complaint seriously and not jump to conclusions about whether it has merit.
Employers need to keep an open mind about what happened and quickly proceed to
conduct an objective, prompt and thorough investigation into whether any EEOC
laws have been violated.
Promptness and thoroughness with respect to the
investigation are key.
Employers should make sure to show empathy for the accuser,
especially in cases involving alleged harassment on the basis of sex or some other
protected characteristic, such as disability or age. Showing respect and
compassion can greatly assist in achieving a swift and smooth resolution.
In harassment cases, it’s best for employers to speak
directly to the accuser first. Then they should talk separately to the accused
before following up with direct talks with any witnesses to the alleged
harassment.
Employers should make sure to document, document, and then
document some more. Every part of the investigation, from beginning to end,
should be carefully documented in writing. It’s a good idea for the internal
investigator to take notes contemporaneously during face-to-face interviews.
Details regarding the complaint should be kept confidential.
This keeps the rumor mill from getting started, and it helps to avoid the
polarization that can take place when word gets around that a complaint has
been filed.
If there are established internal procedures in place for
handling discrimination and harassment complaints, such as those set forth in
an employee handbook, employers must ensure that those procedures are followed
to a T.
In harassment cases, prompt and appropriate remedial action
must be taken if the complaint is substantiated. This is an absolute key to
avoiding legal liability. If the investigation stalls or fails to result in
appropriate remedial measures when harassment is proven, the employer will
likely find itself in big trouble. The appropriate disciplinary response will
depend on the nature and severity of the violation.
Employers cannot retaliate against employees because they
complained about alleged discrimination or harassment.
Some employees may choose to bypass the internal complaint
procedure and go straight to the EEOC with an allegation of unlawful
discrimination or harassment.
Employers that get hit with such a charge should begin by
carefully reviewing the charge notice that the EEOC will send to them. This
“Notice of a Charge of Discrimination” tells the employer that a complaint of
discrimination has been filed against it. It’s important to note that this is
merely a notice that a charge has been filed and that at this early stage of
the case the agency has not yet determined whether the charge has any merit.
The notice typically will ask the employer to provide a response to the charge, also known as a “position statement.” This is essentially the vehicle by which the employer gets to tell its side of the story.
Even if the charge appears to the employer to be meritless,
it’s imperative that the employer fully cooperate with the EEOC through the
conclusion of the investigation, such as by complying with requests from the
agency for additional information.
The EEOC typically offers mediation as a way to resolve the
charge confidentially and swiftly. This can be a cost-efficient way to resolve
the matter.
Here is more specific information on steps employers can take in the event they get hit with an EEOC charge.
EEOC Retaliation Guidance
The EEOC places a lot of emphasis on making sure employees
feel free to complain about what they see as discrimination or harassment
without fear of being punished by their employer for filing a complaint. That’s
why the laws enforced by the agency ban retaliation.
Employees can’t be punished for complaining of
discrimination or harassment, cooperating in an investigation or other
proceeding, or filing a charge of discrimination or harassment.
Employers should remember that retaliation is a separate
offense. In other words, an employer can be liable for unlawful retaliation
even if the employee’s underlying complaint turns out to be meritless.
Example: Joe says co-worker Denise has been constantly
subjecting him to unwanted sexual advances. Joe’s boss immediately demotes Joe
before an internal investigation conclusively shows that Denise did nothing
wrong. Joe does not have a valid harassment claim, but his odds of winning a
retaliation claim against the employer are high.
To prove unlawful retaliation, an employee has to show that he
participated in a protected activity; that he was subjected to a materially
adverse job action, such as termination or demotion; and that there is a pretty
clear causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse action.
In plain English: The employee must show he was punished for
complaining or participating in a proceeding.
There are many things employers can do to reduce the chances
that unlawful retaliation will occur in the workplace.
A simple and obvious step for employers to take is to have a
clearly written, plain-language policy that specifically prohibits workplace
retaliation. The EEOC recommends that employers include the following in the
policy:
Examples of prohibited acts of retaliation,
Steps to take to avoid retaliation, such as guidance
about supervisor and managers should deal with employees who have presented
claims of discrimination
A reporting mechanism, which simply means a way for
employees to present allegations of retaliation, and
A clear explanation that employees who retaliate
can be disciplined.
Another tip from the EEOC: Get rid of any policies that
might discourage employees from engaging in protected activities.
For example, a policy that imposes adverse actions on
employees who discuss wages might constitute unlawful retaliation, the agency
advises.
In addition to having a clear written anti-retaliation
provision that is communicated to all employees, employers should keep in mind
the crucial role that proper training can play in avoiding unlawful retaliation
in the workplace.
Here are a few ideas for employers in that regard, courtesy
of the EEOC:
Provide anti-retaliation training, including
refresher training, to all managers, supervisors and employees. Top management
should make it clear that retaliation isn’t an option.
Make sure employees know what is meant by
“protected activity,” and give examples of how to avoid specific problem
situations that might come up.
If there has been an issue in the past regarding
alleged retaliation, talk about how the situation might have been better
handled.
Let managers know that feelings of revenge or
retribution may arise when an employee presents an allegation of discrimination
– and that they cannot act on those feelings.
Train managers and HR staffers on how to be both
proactive and responsive when employees raise concerns about possible
violations.
Don’t limit training to office workers only.
Instead, include all those working in a range of settings, such as manual
laborers and farm workers.
Generally encourage a respectful workplace.
Here’s another tip: If an employee files a complaint of
discrimination, a built-in part of the employer’s response should be to tell
all parties involved about the employer’s policy against retaliation.
It’s also a good idea for higher-ups to check in with
involved parties, including supervisors and managers, while a discrimination
investigation is pending to provide guidance and prevent unlawful retaliatory
responses.
Finally, the EEOC advises employers to have someone review
any proposed disciplinary measures to make sure they are not retaliatory in
nature. The designated individual can be a management official or in-house
counsel, the agency says.
Want to take the best path to preventing harassment in your
workplace? Here are five core principles the EEOC says employers should keep in
mind:
Have engaged and committed leadership.
Ensure accountability.
Maintain strong and complete harassment policies.
Make sure you have effective complaint procedures in place.
Provide regular training that is tailored specifically to your
organization.
Senior leaders must make the message loud and clear: Harassment at
our workplace is not tolerated.
How do employers demonstrate this commitment?
One is for senior leaders to clearly and repeatedly make it known
that harassment is prohibited.
Employers also need to make sure there are enough resources in
place to enable the adoption and implementation of effective strategies that
prevent harassment.
Assessment of risk factors is another important step toward
preventing harassment, the EEOC says. Of course, when risks are identified
steps should be taken to minimize or eliminate them.
A harassment policy should be comprehensive and easy to understand,
and there should be a complaint system in place that all employees can readily
access. Regular training is important, as are prompt and appropriate remedial
disciplinary measures when they are warranted.
The first few days and weeks when new employees come
to work for your organization can be a make-or-break time for them.
A positive welcoming experience puts them at ease: It
reinforces the feeling that joining your company was a great decision.
That good feeling can carry over for years to come as good people develop an appreciation for their work and the organization they work for. That breeds loyalty – a key component of a stronger workforce, and an essential characteristic of what keeps organizations going strong.
Onboarding is the process of integrating employees into the work environment and providing them with good reasons to feel comfortable about the job. It should be a key part of every organization’s talent management plan.
A Successful Onboarding Process:
Establishes
a strong employer welcome.
Affirms
the employee made the right job choice.
Allows
the employee to see how she or he fits in with the organization.
Sets
the stage for long-term relationship building, which improves retention.
Onboarding is often called the last stage of the
recruitment process – and the first step toward retention.
Done well, companies benefit from employee onboarding and sound new hire orientation by creating a stronger workforce and valuable long-term relationships, which makes for a more productive and profitable company.
Onboarding best practices
really do matter. It’s
been shown that if an employee stays with an organization for 18 months, the
chances that person will remain with that same company well into the future
skyrocket.
The most crucial part of these 18 months is the first
few days for the new hire. This is the time when they decide whether the
organizations feels like a good fit or if they should keep sending out resumes
to other potential employers.
The cost of bringing on a new employee keeps climbing,
too.
Depending on the position and how long it takes to
find a qualified candidate, companies can easily expect the cost of turnover to
be 150% of an employee’s annual salary.
That means a worker who makes $50,000 a year could
cost you $75,000 to replace.
And that figure doesn’t even include the impact on
morale of other employees who are observing the turnover.
With so much money on the line, getting the right
candidate to stay with your company takes on more importance than many
employers give it credit for. The financial incentives for keeping them on
alone make onboarding an important process.
The Onboarding Process
A lot of the nitty-gritty of the onboarding process
will be the work of HR professionals. They’ll handle setting up an employee
with the right paperwork and policies.
But the most important work to be done – that which
has a direct impact on a person getting acclimated to a new environment – is
the responsibility of frontline managers and supervisors.
These are the people who prepare the workplace for the
employee – and prepare the employee for the workplace.
This report provides guidelines for what you should do
– and when – in order to make new employees feel welcome and valued, and to
make sure they can start being productive parts of your workplace sooner than
you thought possible.
To get the relationship off on the right foot, it all
starts with putting in work ahead of time.
Make an Onboarding Checklist
It’s easy to forget a minor detail here and there –
there’s a lot that goes into welcoming new employees.
That’s why it might be a good idea to make a
checklist. Include all the things you’ll be discussing with them, need them to
sign and want them to do.
It helps to have a recently hired employee look over
the list to see if there’s anything missing, since it’ll be most fresh in the
mind of someone recently hired.
New Hire Orientation
The first day for new hire orientation should be
highly energized and positive.
You’ve already picked them! There was something about
this person that made your organization say they were the one you wanted.
And they’ve picked you, as well. Something made them
accept your invitation to an interview. And it got them to accept the position
when it was offered.
The interview process is a good place to start when
welcoming new candidates aboard. Think back: What were some of the things that
stood out?
Draw on these to make their first day more
comfortable.
For instance, did you talk about a favorite sports
team? If so, take the liberty of putting their name tag on the team’s emblem.
Did they mention their family? Put a picture frame on their desk that they can
use for a family photo.
By the time new hires start, they may have forgotten
some of the good vibes they had from the interview. Bringing their memories
back to the hiring process shows you still remember them.
And it reassures candidates they’ve made a great
impression in your mind.
Job Orientation
Imagine stepping off a plane in a new city. From the
minute you walk out of the airport things feel … different.
You’re surrounded by unfamiliar sights. You don’t know
anyone. Things seem to be moving at a slightly different speed.
This is what the first few minutes of a new hire’s
first day on the job are like.
Sure, they’ve been places like this before, but they
haven’t been here.
And they’re going to need some time to get used to it.
This isn’t the time to launch right into department
introductions and a building tour. Give them the time to get acclimated to
their surroundings.
And most importantly, give them something to do.
Provide a sheet of paper that walks them through logging onto your email and
recording a personal voicemail.
No matter how simple it is, keeping their mind on a task gives new hires a chance to acclimate themselves and start the process of feeling comfortable with their new surroundings.
So the employee has been brought into the building,
shown their desk and set up with something to do.
But what happens if they have a question? Or 17
questions?
Whether it’s you or a fellow co-worker, you’ll want to
have someone on call for your employee to talk with.
In some cases, this could be a mentor – a seasoned
employee who knows all the ins and outs of the company.
Other times, you may want to assign an orientation
fellow – a recently hired employee or one with a similar professional
background.
An orientation fellow should be someone who remembers
what it’s like to be starting a new position and has had a positive experience
with the job.
When recruiting the contact for the company, make sure
you have a good fit. Select someone who genuinely wants to help a new employee
and has the time to do so. Don’t make it just another task on an already
overburdened employee’s to-do list.
Touring the Building
The typical next step for welcoming an employee on
board is the building tour. “Here’s the printer, here’s the
bathroom,” etc.
OK, that’s good information to have. But is it really
going to stick out in an employee’s mind?
A better bet is to give them the “insider’s
tour.” Which areas of the building have spotty Wi-Fi coverage? Where can
they grab a coffee mug if they forgot theirs at home? What’s a quiet place to
get some work done if office conversations get a little too loud? Which fridge
should they put their lunches in? What do they do if they lose their security
card or key?
Little tidbits like this go a long way toward making
an employee feel like they are part of the place. You’re not just showing them
the way, you’re showing them how things get done.
And you’re giving them the kinds of info they’d want
to know, but that would take a long time to get on their own.
Showing you’re an ally and a resource of information
is the real key. Doing so sets you up not just as a supervisor or manager, but
as a trusted and helpful one.
Introduction to the Workplace
Introductions should be inclusive, but not
overbearing. Obviously, it would be nice if employees got to know everyone in
the company right off the bat.
But expecting someone to get to know and remember the
names of so many people in the span of one morning isn’t realistic.
Try this: Don’t introduce people based on their title.
Introduce them based on their working relationship with the employee.
For instance, instead of, “Meet Bill. He’s our
payroll clerk,” say, “Meet Bill. He’ll collect your time sheet every
week and he’s the person to see if you have any questions about your
paycheck.”
You may even want to include this blurb on a list of
names for everyone the employee will meet. Check off the name as the employee
meets the person, and include the person’s phone extension and email address to
save the new hire the time it would take to look it up otherwise.
After you’re done with the scheduled introductions,
send an email to the office. Let them know the new hire has officially come on
board and give a little information about them and where they’ll be sitting.
Then invite everyone who hasn’t met the employee yet
to drop by and say hello when they get the chance.
Send this invite a few hours after scheduled
introductions finish. A second wave of people coming and introducing themselves
immediately after they’ve just finished scheduled introductions may wind up
with the employee feeling a bit overwhelmed by new names and faces.
Onboarding Checklist
There are plenty of documents and papers employees
will need to do their jobs.
Here are some examples of what to include:
The mission/purpose statement. If your company has a mission or purpose statement already, this comes first. Put it on the first page of the binder so employees know what’s expected. If you don’t have an official statement, just have a brief message.
Here is a can’t-miss statement if you don’t already have a mission statement: “We’re a company that respects all our employees – from new hires to established vets – and are really looking forward to having you contribute in a meaningful way! Welcome!”
A building map. Try to include the names and phone extensions of other employees on the map where they work. That way, new hires can see where to go to pick up that document someone has ready for them.
Phone extension/email list. If you can prioritize this list by listing the employee’s department first, so much the better. That way, they don’t have to hunt for the name they need (or worry about forgetting which “Jim” mans the help desk and which one is the CFO!).
A company “facebook.” Well before the popular social network of the same name, these books were made for incoming freshman in college to put a name to the face for their classmates. Why not do the same with pictures of company VIPs (and other key contacts)?
Daily schedules. You should have the employee’s first day (or first few days) planned for him or her. Include the schedule so they know what’s coming next.
Long-term schedules. When can they start taking vacation or enrolling in the company’s 401(k)? When will their first formal/informal review be? When can new workers start accumulating sick days? Having these key milestones on a timeline helps employees see what’s next for them, and gets them thinking about their long-term future with the company.
HR documents. Employees will need to receive policies and procedures, benefits enrollment forms, etc. Include these in the folder, but be sure to have someone from HR go over them with the new hire in-person as well – in case there are questions.
Other Onboarding Best
Practices
In addition to these standard items, try including
some of the following sections as well:
“What I learned … “ Collect anecdotes from employees on the most important thing they picked up in their jobs. What was the moment that made them say “A-ha!”? It doesn’t have to be anything ground- breaking, just a musing on what people have learned about the workplace along the way. Include a list of one-sentence-or-so anecdotes to make new employees feel welcome (and maybe chuckle a little.)
Success stories. Chances are someone in your company has recently come up with a new way of doing things that’s really saved time or reduced frustration. Or maybe they’ve achieved a milestone (1,000th sale, 35 years with the company, etc.). Maybe they’ve even had a personal accomplishment such as running a race or organizing a charity fundraiser.
When you hear stories like these, share them. Write a short paragraph about it, then include it in a “News & Notes” or “Success Stories” section of the onboarding material. This way, new employees will feel as if they’re getting to know their co-workers right off the bat.
The “Lingo Board.” Managers and supervisors will often find themselves casually dropping an acronym or industry-specific term with a new hire and being greeted with a slack jaw or confused stare.
Each workplace has its own set of terms and lingo that
is specific to the company. It’s not a bad thing, these shortcuts are real
time-savers when people know their meanings. But until workers are up to speed
on the office language, provide a list of terms and definitions. Put it in
plain English so they can see what they should be looking for when you ask for
“a DBC report.”
Of course, all the documents in this packet should be
available on the company intranet as well, but having a one-stop resource for
employees on- hand will be a good way to keep them in the loop from the very
start.
At the end of the worker’s first day, you’ll want to
close out strong. Have a brief one-on-one with the employee to review what they
did and whom they spoke with.
This shouldn’t be an in-depth meeting: Just take five
minutes or so to see if they have any more questions and touch on what they’ve
learned. Keep it light. (Throwing in light-hearted comments like, “Don’t
worry, John’s not as intimidating as he seems!” goes a long way toward
acknowledging their stress and comfort levels might be put to the test.)
Then, let the new hire go home.
You may have noticed not much work has gotten done on
the first day: and that’s by design. Throw them into the fire too soon, and new
employees’ minds will be racing.
First days are for first impressions. There will be
time for getting to the real work.
For now, leave them feeling good about their
experiences and ready to start in earnest the next day.
Easing workers into the job is the name of the game.
The first week is the time to start giving them real responsibilities, however.
While you’ll want to turn workers loose sooner rather
than later, doing so too soon can create problems. That’s why many workplaces
have found mentoring or other programs to be beneficial.
Bringing In a Mentor
No one should have to go it alone.
Having some sort of mentor relationship can be
beneficial to new hires.
But there are many routes you can take for the
designated contact within the department. Choosing the one that’s right will
require getting to know the employee’s personality type and matching him or her
with someone who has similar attitudes.
Peer mentors. Some people will be naturally comfortable working with and talking to an employee who’s around the same age and experience level. For instance, a recent college grad might be more at ease if their contact is a younger employee who had started working for your company recently as well. Likewise, someone who has been working in the field for a while but is new to your organization might appreciate being paired with someone who is also more experienced.
Veteran mentors. If you feel like a new employee could use an expert to consult with and get guidance from, a veteran mentor could be a better fit. Find someone who is knowledgeable about the industry and your company, has a solid track record and is willing to spend some time giving guidance.
Shadows. If you don’t think an employee needs a formal mentor, a shadow may be the next best bet. Have new employees follow and observe someone while they do their job. Then have the shadow turn around and help observe the new employee, as well, once he or she’s ready to start doing work solo. Shadow employees should be ones who are patient, sticklers for following procedures and who have proven track records.
Independent mentors. Sometimes, it can be uncomfortable for new employees to be paired with someone they’ll be working closely with.
Consider having a veteran employee who isn’t
necessarily on the same line or in the same department check in with the employee
once a day about 15 minutes before quitting time.
This mentor can be a trusted, confidential person to
talk to about any concerns a new hire might have. It’ll also boost the new
employee’s confidence by giving him or her someone to ask questions to without
fear of looking “dumb” or confused. It’s also a good way to get
questions answered that aren’t so crucial they need to be asked immediately.
Getting Started Again
You’ll want to greet the new employee on their second
day just like you did on the first. Then get them started on a simple
assignment right off the bat.
For instance, if they’ll be working with customers,
have them call up a few current customers and give them a quality survey to
complete over the phone. If they’re going to be working on the floor, have them
observe the goings on and answer questions about what they observed after the
shift ends.
These smaller assignments will help new employees get
a feel for your company and a taste of the kinds of things they’ll be doing
when they’re starting in full.
Note: Your company may have specific safety, privacy
or other training that needs to be completed before work is to begin.
Obviously, these should be completed before work begins.
Start With the Hardest Parts
Some employers are reluctant to give difficult
projects to newer hires. But the truth is, experience is a great teacher.
Within the first few days, new employees should be trying to tackle more
difficult tasks.
After the initial assignment, get them to work right
away on something bigger and more complicated.
Why? For one thing, it’s why they were brought on. If
you spend too long getting them up to speed with busy work or smaller
assignments, you’re not getting the most out of an employee. This isn’t a
summer intern: It’s someone you’ll be trusting to propel your organization to
greatness.
Besides, it’s what good employees want. Believe it or
not, a big reason many people leave their jobs is that they don’t find them
challenging enough. If they feel the job is going to be nothing but simple
introductory tasks, workers will be unlikely to think it’s on their level of
expertise.
On the other hand, compare that to telling a new
worker: “We’re about to give you a big project. We know you can do it, and
we’ll give you the tools and help you need to be a success.”
This puts trust in the worker, inspiring him or her to
rise to a challenge. It’s much more rewarding to hear you’re trusted than to
feel as if you need to earn the right to be trusted.
Group Projects or Individual Assignments?
There are two schools of thought on the best kinds of
assignments for new employees.
The first is that it’s best to start them with a group project. This will help them get to know their co-workers, contribute to the team and start working on a big assignment right out of the gate.
The other is that individual assignments are best. These are an opportunity to see what workers can do when they’re given individual responsibilities. It’s a good way to find out what they’re capable of.
Which method is best? It depends on the worker. But
both methods should be given a shot, if possible.
It’s a good way to evaluate a new hire’s strengths and
weaknesses – and to find the best fit for him or her within the company.
Getting Them Involved
In addition to the first work assignments they’re
given, this is an ideal time to get employees involved in the company’s
culture.
Make sure fresh employees are educated and recruited
to some of the opportunities not directly related to their jobs.
Do you have a company softball or bowling team? Does
your organization support volunteering or charity opportunities? Is there a
safety or party- planning committee?
These are the kinds of things that get employees to
stick around. If they started shopping around for a new job or decided to
leave, they wouldn’t just be leaving a company – they’d also be leaving
responsibilities and fun events behind.
Even better, these little bonuses get employees to
want to stay with a company. When you’re on a committee or a team, you build bonds
with co-workers that can be difficult to form just by chatting on coffee breaks
or between tasks.
Some companies will make joining extracurriculars
mandatory. But coercing someone into volunteering their time won’t win you much
goodwill.
A better approach is to sell them on the benefits.
Many new workers are naturally a little shy at first, but getting employees to
sign up for a program doesn’t have to be a tough sell.
Let them know it’s not only a good way to get to know
their co-workers and the company, it’s also a good opportunity to show they’re
team players and take a real interest in the organization.
It never hurts to point out that if nothing else, it’s
a good way to get in some face time with higher-ups.
Onboarding Review Process
Chances are your employees will think they’re done
with onboarding before they actually are. Studies show that employees think
they’re fully on- board after three and a half weeks.
But most managers say new employees aren’t fully
onboard until three months after their first day.
That makes this the perfect time for a brief
performance review. In addition to your semi-regular chats and check-ins with
employees, you should have this sit-down review session to discuss their
progress and give valuable feedback.
These sessions should cover three main areas of
interest:
Discussing
how far the employee has come
Outlining
what areas can be improved upon and should be targeted in the coming months,
and
Evaluating
how the employee’s role may need to change.
Unlike informal check-ins, this meeting should be
well-documented and planned. Be sure to have the employee mention any concerns
he or she might have about the job and work with him or her to set goals for
the remainder of the year.
Also, speak with the employee’s co-workers and other
supervisors to find out how he or she is progressing. Look for both strong
suits and areas for improvement so you can provide concrete examples of what
needs work.
Unofficially, this should mark the transition where
the new employee has earned his or her wings and fills a role that’s almost
indistinguishable from most others.
Bringing New Employees Together
A good way to complete onboarding for new employees is
to have them meet together in a group.
Try having a “Traditions” course. This
course would be held as needed and required for all new hires.
Employees would meet each other (if they haven’t
already) and learn a little more about the company. Some sessions to consider:
Breakfast and Q&A with the CEO. Have new hires meet and talk with the leader of the organization. This is a good way to get them acquainted with the highest level in the company (and to let leaders get to know the newest additions to their workplace).
Your history. Devote a session to explaining the history of your organization, how it’s grown and changed over the years and what’s next for it. This lets employees find out a little more about their employer and gives them some historical perspective of the company.
Who’s who. Have departmental leaders and supervisors give brief rundowns of what they do and how it fits into the big picture of the organization. Let employees fire off questions to these workers so they can make the connections personal.
Book club. Have new employees prepare for the session by reading the same article or section of a business book you find particularly helpful. Then have them discuss what they learned from it and how they can carry its message into their professional lives.
Team-building exercises. There are any number to choose from, but the best ones will be those that tie into your organization. For instance, you could have employees work in teams to come up with a possible improvement your company could make. Then have them take their idea to the department leaders they’ve met and find out whether or not it could benefit their department.
The Final Step
So how did your onboarding plan go? Was it everything
your employee needed? Too much? Too little?
These are questions that can best be answered by the
employees who have most recently been hired and gone through the process.
Solicit feedback from your employees after they’ve
completed an onboarding process (sometime around their one-year anniversary
with the company would be best).
Find out whether it met their needs and if it helped
them to understand:
The
organization’s history
The
most critical information about the office
Key
stakeholders and their respective roles
Whom
to go to with questions or problems
Information
on benefits, policies, etc., and
The
company’s culture and values.
Use the feedback and answers newly hired employees
give you to evaluate, redesign or tweak your onboarding tactics. A good
onboarding program isn’t static: It should grow and change, just as a company
and its employees do.
You may also want to ask employees who are leaving
your organization – whether it’s years after their start date or a few short
weeks – their opinions of the onboarding process matter.
If it stuck with them over a long period of time, then
those opinions are likely meaningful.
Here’s a statistic you want to be aware of: 46% of new hires are fired or quit in the first 18 months.
Why? It’s not because new hires are unskilled.
Most new employees have enough skills to get the job done, because that’s what managers focus on during the interview and hiring process – and therein lies the problem.
Managers spend too much time focusing on skill sets, when the real key to separating the stars from the duds involves focusing on a whole host of areas most supervisors never touch on.
This article will take you through the interviewing and hiring process step by step and help your organization make the best hiring decisions possible.
You’ve identified a skills gap or a chance to expand your operations, defined the requirements applicants will need to succeed in those positions and now you need to find the best people for those jobs.
So, you advertise the position, gather and screen applicant resumes to find a group of applicants that match what you need, at least on the surface.
The interview process takes you from that mountain of resumes, many of which don’t begin to match your requirements, through a series of phone and in-person conversations that narrows down to just a few viable candidates, and the final decision that leads to a job offer.
There are six basic steps in the interview process. You may add to these depending on specific organization or industry needs.
Initial resume screening
Telephone screening (this may be done by an outside recruiter)
Telephone interview(s)
Face-to-face interview(s)
Review
Reference checks
There’s a large selection of recruiting software packages on the market that can do the first screen, reviewing resumes and organizing them from best to worst fit for the position based on your job description.
Then it is up to HR and hiring managers to carefully review resumes that made it through the screening process. That narrows the pool of applicants to just those worth interviewing.
Of course, you’ll want to check out the candidates who look like perfect fits, but make sure you to include some of the applicants who fall in the middle of your rankings.
Resumes don’t tell the whole story (and software is nowhere near perfect) and you may find your next star performer among that group.
Before scheduling a formal telephone interview, initial screening calls will winnow out the applicants who don’t really have the required skills, aren’t serious about joining your organization, have unrealistic salary expectations, or just won’t fit in with your team and organizational culture.
Don’t spend too much time with each candidate at this stage, since your list is likely still pretty long.
If they (and you) remain interested in the position at the end of that call, schedule a formal telephone interview.
For those who make the cut after the phone interview, it’s time to invite them in for a face-to-face interview with one or more hiring managers (we discuss some great interviewing tips later on).
Once one or two candidates make it through initial and follow up interviews, it’s time to check references and do any other research (web searches, social media reviews) you feel is appropriate. Note this is not the time to do formal background checks. Those need to wait til you’ve made the job offer.
The interview process is now over.
It’s time to compare notes with everyone whose participated in the interview process, make your choice and extend a formal offer.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the steps in the interview process.
How to Critically Read Applicant’s Resumes
Even in this tight labor market, any company with an open job is hit with a flood of resumes – but more resumes doesn’t necessarily mean more quality candidates. How can you spot the future stars your organization needs to succeed over the long term?
It all starts with that pile of resumes.
Here are steps to follow for a more effective resume screening process:
Look for Specifics
When candidates list their accomplishments, keep your eyes peeled for specific details.
For example, you’d rather see something like, “Managed a staff of 10 accounting employees,” instead of, “Managed the entire accounting staff.”
Find Signs of Initiative
To separate average workers from star employees, look for signs that candidates possess initiative and did more than the minimum in their previous jobs than just what was expected of them.
Some key words to highlight: “led,” “created,” and “designed.
Use the Resume to Prepare for an Effective Phone Interview.
Highlight remarks that need clarification or further probing.
That way you’ll know exactly what you need to find out in the phone screen, and you’ll have an efficient way to decide who moves on to the next round.
Resume Warning Signs
Some candidates go to great lengths to stand out.
They may even lie to you.
Watch out for these resume tweaks, which applicants may try to sneak by you:
Employment Gaps
Many candidates worry about explaining periods when they were out of work.
The solution for some: Claim they were volunteering – it’s harder to verify than previous work history.
Ask probing questions about volunteering and check references at the organization.
Also watch out for “functional resumes,” which list applicants’ experience and accomplishments grouped by type, followed by a list of previous employers, rather than a chronological list of past positions.
Phony Responsibilities
If you suspect a candidate has exaggerated responsibilities with a previous employer, ask detailed questions and don’t give up if you get vague answers.
Or bring in someone who’s already doing a job similar to the one the person’s applying for.
Dishonest applicants will try to fake their way through an interview using buzz words and generalities but break down when someone who’s skilled in the field asks for details.
Dumbed-Down Credentials
Some out-of-work employees are looking for stopgap jobs by “dumbing down” their credentials so they don’t appear overqualified.
The best way to spot this type of dishonesty is the same way managers catch other applicants’ lies – by asking probing questions during the interview and thoroughly checking references.
Conducting Effective Phone Interviews
Before scheduling face-to-face time with all the candidates under consideration, conduct telephone interviews and refine the final list.
Remember to treat phone interviews as seriously as any other conversation with an applicant. Make sure you are prepared with specific questions.
Set expectations for the length of the interview, but leave yourself a reasonable amount of slack in case you want to go longer.
Telephone screening will help recruiting managers determine if a candidate has what it takes to move to the next level in the hiring process and save valuable time interviewing unqualified candidates.
Effective screening will also reduce the time spent in the overall hiring process and spare the inconvenience of travel for those who do not qualify.
There are a number of effective screening procedures, including a long line of vendors that supply personality and aptitude tests.
Despite all of the advanced assessment tools, interviews by your recruiting team remain the most effective way to weed out the bad fits and identify superstars.
Beyond ensuring a candidate has the right skills to do the job, you also face the difficult task of gauging how a candidate might fit in with the company’s culture.
If you don’t, you may end up hiring a skilled, qualified employee – but one who’ll be unsatisfied, won’t get along with co-workers and, most importantly, won’t stay in the job very long.
The first and most obvious tip for conducting effective interviews? Be prepared. Know exactly what the job requires and how it fits into your organizational goals. Anticipate what that applicant will want to know and have meaningful answers ready.
Take the time to make the applicant comfortable. Even highly confident applicants find interviews stressful. You want to see them at their best, so do what you can to help them relax.
Don’t surprise applicants. Make sure they know ahead of time if they’ll be taking any sort of test. If you conduct group interviews, let them know they’ll be talking to more than one person.
If you schedule multiple interviews, make sure everyone asks a core set of questions so they can compare notes on how a candidate’s responses changed — or if they seem overly rehearsed.
On the flip side, ask each candidate the same questions. You need to be able to compare their responses fairly.
Ask one question at a time and spend at least five minutes on each question.
Don’t hesitate to probe —get as much detail as possible.
After you ask a question, stay quiet to force the candidate to keep talking. This is especially important during phone interviews.
Interviews are conversations. Ask about hobbies and other interests (read on about Illegal interview questions for some cautions).
Make the candidate want to know more. If you give a candidate reasons to be curious about your organization, they’ll be more engaged and likely will ask you better questions.
Finally, follow up!
Too many interviewers forget the importance of basic courtesy once an interview is over. Just as you want to know the candidate remains interested while you are making your decision, they want to know if they are still in the running.
When you are preparing questions for an interview, the best place to start is with a job description, either a formal one or an informal one that you put together to give you a handle on what you expect from anyone who gets hired.
Developing questions off the job description helps in two ways:
It keeps you focused on what’s important – the ability to do the job.
It ensures you’ll ask what we call “job appropriate” questions – those which hone in on the candidate’s ability and avoid topics that could be interpreted as inquiries about race, marital status, religion or any other subject that’s ripe for complaints and lawsuits.
As discussed earlier, it is very important to be consistent in the questions you ask every applicant for a given job. But that doesn’t mean you have to be a robot.
The way to tailor your questions for each applicant is mainly in the follow-up questions you use. You can still use the same core questions for each applicant, but you can develop follow-up questions that feed off the applicant’s initial responses.
Consider a situation where the same core question gets opposite answers, and calls for different follow-up.
Let’s say you ask each applicant, “What do you like least about your job?”
The first applicant may say, “I don’t like doing paperwork.”
You then can ask a follow-up that gets into the “why” of the problem: “Why don’t you like doing it? Do you feel it takes away time from more important tasks?”
The next applicant may respond to the same question with, “Oh, I like just about everything in my job.” Then you may have to change course a little and ask, “If you had to rank all your tasks, what would be at the top and what would be at the bottom?”
It’s a good idea to put together a separate set of questions for phone and in-person interviews. Any questions that are intended to gauge a candidate’s honesty or real expertise should be asked in person.
Phone Interview Questions
Here’s a selection of phone interview questions that will help identify the applicants you want to bring in for the next step in the interview process.
Tell me a little about yourself.
Why are you job hunting now?
Are you interviewing elsewhere?
Why are you applying for this position?
What do you know about the job you’d be doing here?
Describe your work experience as it relates to the job.
Why do you want this job?
Why do you want to work for our organization?
What are you passionate about in your professional life? In your personal life?
Tell me more about ___ (a specific item on their resume).
What type of management style do you work best with? Respond poorly to?
What are your salary expectations?
If hired, when can you start?
Do you have any questions?
There’s a reason these questions are staples of the interview process – they get to the bottom of candidates’ technical skills as workers.
But you need to delve deeper to determine if candidates are right for your organization – which is why asking questions that address specific situations in applicants’ previous work history can separate the wheat from the chaff in the applicant pool.
In-Person Interviews
Of course, there’s more than one way to conduct an effective, legal interview.
Structured Interviews
All interviews should have some level of planning, but the structured interview takes the most planning. Essentially, you create a list of questions for the candidate based on what’s required for the job and what you know about the candidate based on information in a resume, cover letter or other documents.
Unstructured Interviews
An unstructured interview is more free-flowing and conversational, so it can go in different directions. To capture the details of this kind of interview, you’ll take a lot of notes, and as you know, some can be troublesome.
STAR Method
The STAR method is one effective way to get for more insight into how well an applicant will fit in the job and at your organization.
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Results. You want applicants to go beyond yes or no answers and tell you a story that describes how they addressed a challenge in a previous job.
You’ll want them to describe a specific situation, the task or tasks they were responsible for in that instance, the actions they took to accomplish those tasks, and what results they achieved.
And remind them you need their answers to go beyond descriptions of day-to-day work processes.
Here’s four examples of questions that can give insight into a candidate’s potential:
Think of a time when you were unfairly criticized. How did you handle it?
When was the last time you had to act without the guidance of a formal policy or procedure? Tell me what you did.
Give an example of a time when you had to deliver bad news. How did you go about it?
Tell me about two times when you had good ideas, but co-workers or supervisors shot them down. How exactly did you handle that?
These questions require candidates to think on their feet and tell you about a specific success or failure in their past – which can help you get a better handle on how they’d react to similar situations in your work environment.
Be Prepared to Answer Applicant’s Questions
You wouldn’t hire applicants who were stumped by your questions. And applicants are less likely accept a job offer from a manager who can’t answer theirs.
Good questions from interviewees cover a lot of topics, including details about the job, questions about company financial health and growth strategy and insight into the candidate’s potential boss.
Applicants expect honest, thoughtful answers to their questions, and you need to be prepared to answer them.
Here are a few of the tougher questions you should expect from applicants:
What do you see as the biggest challenges for someone in this job?
How does the company define success in this position?
What are some things about this job that previous employees have disliked?
What brought you to this company? What has kept you here?
How has the company changed since you joined?
What are the company’s three most important goals?
If you could change some things about the company, what would they be?
A final note on interviews of all kinds: make no promises.
Don’t exaggerate anything about the job. Even false statements about non-monetary things – for example, possibilities of promotion – could potentially lead to the company’s getting sued for making false promises.
Interviewing job candidates is a major task that carries with it two key responsibilities: (1) Getting the information needed to make a sound hiring decision. (2) Doing so in a way that doesn’t leave you or the company open to lawsuits from candidates.
Most lawsuits that come out of hiring interviews happen because the hiring manager or other interviewers aren’t familiar with the laws that cover discrimination in employment or don’t understand how the questions they ask might run afoul of those laws.
There are three main laws that protect applicants’ rights in the hiring process:
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, race, religion or national origin
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) makes it illegal to base decisions on an applicant’s age
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) makes it illegal to base decisions on a person’s physical or mental disability
Title VII
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that you can’t reject an applicant based on race, sex, color, national origin or religion – what are referred to as “protected classes.”
These days, almost no one is ever going to outright reject a candidate because of membership in a protected class. The problem is usually a lot more subtle than that.
For instance, you might be interviewing a woman who’ll have to supervise an all-male team or crew. An interviewer naturally might want to know the woman’s background for filling the job. That calls for a question.
There are at least two ways to ask the question.
Here’s a way of asking that could get you into trouble: “Have you ever supervised men before?” That indicates you perceive a problem because the candidate is a woman – a protected class. Plus, it’s an ineffective question because it can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.
Here’s a legal way of asking, and one that’s likely to get better results: “Describe your supervisory experience. What did you like and dislike about it? What are your strengths and weaknesses in that area?”
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination in the hiring and employment of the disabled. The ban on disability discrimination covers what’s said and done during the interviewing process.
Consider the types of questions and comments you’ll want to use and avoid when interviewing a candidate who’s obviously disabled or who mentions a “hidden” disability, such as chronic depression.
First and foremost, questions about the disability are off-limits.
That means you cannot ask, for instance, “How did it happen?” or “How does it limit your activities.”
When trying to decide what you can ask, remember this rule: Anything you’d reasonably ask a non-disabled candidate is OK to ask of a disabled candidate, including questions about ability to do the job.
Here’s an example of what you can ask: You have a job that requires the candidate to lift 30-pound boxes. It’s reasonable to ask a disabled or non-disabled person, “The job requires that you lift 30-pound boxes. Are you able to do that?”
Here’s an example of what you cannot ask: “The job requires that you lift 30-pound boxes. Will your disability interfere with that?” To ensure you stay on the right side of the law, remember the rule:
And remember, it isn’t just the questions your do ask that can get you in legal trouble. You also need to think about how missing a key question can be just as bad.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits using age as a reason to reject an applicant. Just about everyone understands that, so why is there a problem and why should you be concerned about it?
Most lawsuits grow out of the applicant’s perception of the interviewer’s decisions, even when there’s no intent to discriminate. And that perception gets formed by the interviewer’s questions and comments.
Think about these examples of comments and questions that are perceived as age-related and possibly illegal:
“I see you went to Springfield High School. So did I. What year did you graduate?”
If the answer could be used to determine the candidate’s age, there’s a chance it’ll be perceived as playing a part in the hiring decision.
“In your resume, you mention experience with the Xdelete software. That hasn’t been around for years. When did you work with it?”
The answer could be used to determine a career timeline and illegally serve as a basis for rejecting the candidate.
To avoid creating a perception of age-related bias, consider asking the trainees to provide alternative, legal questions that cover the same ground – education and experience.
Here are two examples:
“What high school/college did you go to? Did you graduate?”
“What software do you have experience with?”
It is important to remember that these rules apply during any informal conversation with the candidate at any point in the interview process.
What if the Applicant Volunteers the Information?
While you have control over your part of the interviewing process, you can’t stop an applicant from volunteering information.
You can cut off a dangerous conversation by breaking in and saying something like, “Thank you, but I’d really like to know more about your experience as it directly relates to the job.”
Legally questionable information that’s volunteered by an applicant generally can’t be used against an interviewer as long as there’s no proof the information was used in the hiring decision.
So, should you immediately make a note that the applicant volunteered potentially problematic information during the interview?
Notes and Documentation
Unfortunately, like the rest of the interview process, that isn’t as simple as it sounds.
Notes and other documentation follow the same guides as conversation: keep them business-related and away from topics covered under Title VII, ADEA and ADA.
And, if an applicant files a lawsuit and a lawyer asks for all documentation regarding the interview, you’re legally bound to hand over any notes you have.
If you don’t, you are leaving your organization open to a charge of concealing evidence.
Think about your interview notes the same way you do about email. They can be obtained and read – and used against you or to legally support your decision.
Still, there’s no reason to fear writing down your observations as long as the notes strictly pertain to the applicant’s ability and skills to do the job. In other words, notes that mention personal traits or any of the “protected” classes in the Civil Rights Act can be a problem.
And never take notes directly on any document that you are required to keep or that will go into an employee file if they are hired. A single word scribbled on an applicant’s resume could be that little thing that lands you in court or costs your organization a large settlement.
Interviewing Forms
Here are some forms to help you during the interviewing process:
If the interview goes well and you want to continue the process with a candidate, there are a few steps you need to take before your next conversation.
Social Networking Profiles
If possible, check applicants’ social networking profiles – but remember you can only use info that pertains specifically to predicting someone’s job performance.
Forty-five percent of managers have said they use social networking sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn to research applicants – and not all for bad.
While 35% of managers said they’ve turned down an applicant because of an online screen, 18% said they’ve made a positive decision based on an online profile.
So, what should you be looking out for when searching applicants’ profiles? Everyone has the right to restrict access to their pages (including both written and photographic material) via privacy settings.
Employers attempting to access users’ profiles are bound by the sites’ terms of use, and using false pretenses to gain access (e.g., creating a false account) is not only unethical, it’s very risky.
Even if you do gain access without a problem, the site can reveal all sorts of things that could compromise compliance with existing employment laws – the applicant may have shared details about themselves that reveals medical conditions, past benefits claim disputes, religious beliefs and other protected info.
Regardless of how you obtain that information — even if a candidate shares it voluntarily — if a rejected applicant takes you to court, you will likely have to prove that you didn’t base your decision on that information, which is very difficult to do.
On the flip side, information an applicant posts on a website can also reveal red flags that clearly pertain to hiring decisions, such as bragging about sick-time abuse or padding a resume.
Bottom line: Combing through social media posts may reveal too much about an applicant, so only use info that pertains specifically to predicting job performance.
Checking References
Candidates sometimes exaggerate skills and experience in an effort to stand out.
The most powerful tool you have in separating what’s true from what’s not is a well-conducted reference check.
When you contact former employers to check candidates’ references, pay close attention to any details you can glean about their previous work environment and find out as much as you can about previous supervisors’ management styles.
Here are four key parts of the process you shouldn’t overlook:
Find out how well the reference knows that candidate’s work. Ask, “What were the candidate’s responsibilities?” to ensure that the reference directly supervised the applicant and knows the person’s work well. If the reference can only vaguely describe what the candidate did, you may not want to put that much stock in the rest of the job interview.
Ask about management style and work environment. A candidate’s reference should be viewed in light of the former supervisor’s management style. A manager could give a glowing review, but could have a completely different style than you.
Learn other details of the company culture to help judge the candidate’s fit. Excelling in one environment doesn’t guarantee success in another.
Pay attention to neutral statements. Some references choose to say nothing – or remain neutral – about a candidate. That can mean there’s a problem — or could just reflect company policies that limit what anyone can discuss about an ex-employee. If that’s the case, check to see if they’ll provide more detail if they have the candidate’s express permission. When you are able to speak directly to a former supervisor, however, a good candidate will get a positive review, not a neutral one.
How to Answer “Why Wasn’t I Hired?”
It’s inevitable that some rejected applicants will want to know why they weren’t hired for a position. How you respond could very well get the company in legal trouble.
If you come away from the interview convinced the applicant isn’t the right fit for any of those reasons, let them know as soon as you can after making the decision. In this age of social media, a reputation for treating applicants disrespectfully is almost certain to hurt your brand as an employer.
And be very careful about the comments you make if unsuccessful candidates ask you why they didn’t get hired.
In recent court cases, managers have said things along the lines of “We wanted someone who’d help our diversity,” or “You didn’t have the right look” – and ended up costing their companies big.
When unsuccessful applicants ask you why they weren’t hired, stick with an all-purpose statement: “We filled the position with a more qualified candidate.”
Conculsion
As we mentioned at the beginning, 46% of new hires fail within their first 18 months on the job.
Your goal during the interviewing and hiring process is to find a candidate who is technically proficient, fits in with company culture, works hard and will stick with your company long-term.
The right candidate will be the one with the best combination of the traits we’ve detailed:
Technical skills
Relevant experience
Interpersonal skills
Work style
Cultural fit
Don’t underestimate the value of soft skills. In most cases, technical skills can be taught, especially to quick learners.
Here are a few final important interviewing tips and reminders:
Ask for clarification. Never be afraid to probe deeply and ask candidates to explain statements that aren’t clear. Too often, candidates are let off the hook when they make statements that don’t make sense or don’t actually answer the question.
Don’t be afraid to drill. Always look for concrete, specific examples to back up candidates’ statements. The goal of most questions is to drill down to specific actions that candidates took.
Information about a candidate’s protected class, such as race, sex, religion and disabilities, is off limits when it comes to interview questions, interview notes, and social media research.
Be especially careful with note-taking. You never know if the notes you take during an interview may end up in the hands of a rejected applicant’s lawyer.
When checking references, pay attention to lukewarm reference responses. Few references will make overtly negative statements about a former employee, but a neutral answer might be a red flag.
If you get the opportunity, ask former supervisors probing questions about the specific traits that are most important to success at your organization.
And finally, make no promises. Don’t exaggerate anything about the job. Even false statements about non-monetary things – for example, possibilities of promotion – could potentially lead to the company’s getting sued for making false promises.
The Family and Medical Leave Act, more commonly referred to as the FMLA, is a federal law that gives eligible employees the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year under specific circumstances related to medical and family issues.
Some people might think the statute deals just with maternity leave, but that’s far from accurate.
There are many FMLA requirements.
Most fundamentally, the FMLA gives employees 12 weeks of job-protected leave for:
The birth of a child.
The placement of a son or daughter with the employee for foster care.
A serious health condition that prevents the employee from doing his job.
The need to care for a spouse, son, daughter or parent who has a serious health condition.
Certain qualifying exigencies relating to a spouse, son, daughter or parent in the military.
In addition, eligible employees who are the next of kin of a service member with a serious injury or illness can take up to 26 weeks during a single 12-month period to care for the service member.
During the period of leave, the employee’s job is protected. Employers must maintain the health benefits of employees who take FMLA leave and give them back their job (or an equivalent one) when they come back.
That’s it in a nutshell. But inside that shell are a lot of nuances and details.
What exactly is a “serious health condition”? What’s a “qualifying exigency”?
Does the FMLA cover paternity leave? How can employers prevent FMLA abuse?
There’s a lot of ground to cover. And we have it all covered right here. Click to jump ahead.
For FMLA eligibility to be triggered, two conditions must be met. First, employers must be covered by the law. Second, employees must meet specific eligibility requirements.
Let’s start by talking about which employers are covered.
In the private sector, employers must follow the FMLA’s rules if they have employed at least 50 workers in 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar year. The workweeks don’t have to be consecutive, and “workweek” really means any part of a week.
Say an employer has 50 workers on its payroll, but half of them come in only once or twice a week. If the 20-week requirement is met, the employer must comply with the FMLA.
Here’s another important point regarding which employers are covered: Once an employer hits that 50/20 threshold, reducing the number of workers to fewer than 50 doesn’t make coverage go away. The threshold applies to the current or previous calendar year. That means that if they met the 50/20 threshold in the previous calendar year, they’re still subject to the law.
Any employee who works in the U.S. or any of its territories or possessions gets counted. Part-timers? Count them. Ditto for seasonal, temporary and (of course) full-time employees.
What if they’re on your payroll records but didn’t get paid that week? Count them. Also count them if they’re on leave, even for disciplinary reasons.
Not everyone gets counted. Don’t count unpaid volunteers, former employees who have left, or employees working outside the U.S. and its territories.
Note: Public agencies and local educational agencies must meet FMLA requirements regardless of how many people they employ.
Just two more quick points about which employers are covered by the statute.
First, be aware of the concept of an “integrated employer.” This means separate businesses can be considered a single employer under the FMLA. How do you know if you’re an integrated employer – or working for one? Nothing is black and white here, but applicable factors in making that call include whether there is common management; the specific nature of the relationship between the separate businesses; whether there is centralized control of labor operations; and whether there is common financial control or ownership.
Second, you need to know about the concept of “joint employer.” Under the FMLA, a joint employer is one that exercises a significant degree of control over employees together with another employer.
Let’s say an employee is placed at a temporary factory job by an employment agency. If both exercise significant control over working conditions and work performed in general, they’re probably joint employers under the FMLA. This means they both must count the employee for purposes of deciding whether they have enough workers to be covered by the FMLA.
Which employees are eligible? As we mentioned in our discussion of covered employers, full-time, part-time, seasonal and temp workers are all potentially eligible, while unpaid volunteers aren’t.
While employers trying to figure out whether they must meet FMLA requirements need to know the 50/20 threshold discussed above, employees (and employers too) should be aware of additional numerical thresholds that determine whether employees are eligible for FMLA leave.
First, the employee must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months as of the start of FMLA leave. The 12 months don’t have to be consecutive, although employers generally don’t have to count time worked if there’s been a break of seven years or more. Exceptions include a long break that’s caused by military service and collective bargaining agreements that say the employer intends to rehire the employee after the break.
Second, the employee must have worked at least 1,250 hours for the employer during the 12 months right before the leave begins. Only time that is actually worked is counted toward the total. This means any hours counted as paid time off, like vacation or holiday time, don’t get employees any closer to that magic number of 1,250.
If you don’t keep accurate time records as an employer, look out. If that’s the case, you have the burden of proving the employee didn’t meet the hours requirement.
Third, the employee must work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles of the worksite at the time that the employee asks for leave. The 50 number is determined by the number of people on the payroll, including part-timers, temporary help and seasonal workers. When there’s no fixed worksite (think landscapers or truckers, for example), the relevant location is where they report, the place from which work is assigned, or their home base.
FMLA Guidelines for Employers
There are several important applicable notice requirements when it comes to the FMLA.
First, employers must give employees a general notice of their rights under the statute. They must post or display a general notice, and this is usually done in the form of a poster. If they have any employees eligible for FMLA leave, they must also provide employees with separate written notice about their FMLA rights. This is generally done in employee handbooks.
Employees have notice requirements too. Specifically, they need to tell their employer that they need to take FMLA leave. Employers can generally require employees to follow their regular policy for requesting a leave of absence. Notice can be provided orally or in writing.
How early does the employee have to give notice of a need for FMLA leave? The general rule is 30 days, but that’s assuming the need for the leave is foreseeable and it’s pretty easy to give that much notice.
Sometimes the need for leave is unexpected, and the FMLA doesn’t shut employees out when that’s the case. Instead, when a need for leave arises suddenly, the employee has to provide the employer with notice of a need for FMLA leave as soon as it’s practical to do so. This is a gray area, and whether the notice was given soon enough will depend on each case’s unique facts.
Once an employee asks for FMLA leave, the employer has five days to give the employee an eligibility notice that says whether the employee is eligible for the leave. The notice can be provided orally or in writing.
Within those five days, the employer also must give the employee written notice that includes all of the following:
A statement that the leave can be counted against the employee’s annual FMLA entitlement.
The period the employer uses to track FMLA leave.
A statement about whether certification will be needed.
Information about the right to use paid leave, whether paid leave must be substituted, conditions regarding substitution, and notice of the right to take unpaid leave if paid leave is not available.
If the employee is a “key employee” (a salaried worker who is among the highest paid 10% of all employees), a statement saying restoration may be denied. Denial is allowed if returning the worker to the job would cause the employer to suffer substantial economic injury.
The right to job restoration as well as the right to maintain benefits during the leave.
Information about whether the employee will need to pay health benefits premiums and the employee’s possible liability for payments made by the employer if the employee never comes back.
A notice of the consequences of the employee not meeting FMLA duties.
The birth of a child is one of the main reasons people take FMLA leave. The act covers leave for the birth of a child as well as leave used to bond with the newborn during the first year after the child is born.
Otherwise eligible employees can take FMLA leave in connection with the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, and to bond with a newly placed child within one year of the placement. Again, don’t forget that this right applies equally to males and females.
Important tip: Leave taken in connection with a pending placement for foster care or adoption can count as FMLA leave. In other words, employees can take FMLA leave in cases of foster care or adoption even before the placement is made or the adoption is complete.
FMLA for Serious Health Condition
The other major reason employees take FMLA leave is due to a “serious health condition.”
A serious health condition comes in a few different forms.
An overnight stay in a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility qualifies.
What if an employee stays overnight for an elective procedure? That qualifies.
If a period of incapacity lasts more than three straight calendar days, it’s a serious health condition if it required at least two in-person visits with a healthcare provider within 30 days of the first day of incapacity. The first visit must take place within seven days of the first day of incapacity.
It’s also a serious health condition if there’s a period of incapacity lasting more than three days and there is 1) at least one in-person visit with seven days, and 2) the visit results in a regimen of continuing treatment.
Chronic conditions can be serious health conditions. These are covered as serious health conditions as long as they require at least two in-person visits a year. Important point here: Episodic conditions can qualify as covered chronic conditions.
Any period of incapacity that is caused by pregnancy or for prenatal care is covered here too.
Permanent or long-term conditions qualify here as well. In addition, the definition of chronic health condition also covers restorative surgery that follows an injury as well as a condition that would probably lead to a period of incapacity of more than three days if treatment was not provided.
An employee can take FMLA due to his or her own serious health condition or due to the serious health condition of a spouse, parent, son or daughter. Son or daughter generally means someone under the age of 18. But keep in mind that a parent can take FMLA leave for a son or daughter who is 18 or older if the son or daughter has a disability and is in need of care due to a serious health condition.
Certification
In some cases, employers can require employees to submit certification in support of a request for leave under the FMLA. The certification is designed to verify the existence of a qualifying condition and to help the employer better understand the need for the leave.
If the employee doesn’t provide the certification, the employer can deny the request for FMLA leave.
The employer must give the employee notice that a certification is required, and this should be done via the notice the employer gives the employee within five days after learning of a need for FMLA leave.
The employee generally then has 15 days to provide the requested certification.
What must a certification include? For starters, it should provide information about the condition, such as when it began and how long it is expected to last. It should also have contact information for the treating medical provider.
If the employee is the one with the serious medical condition, the certification should say whether he can work and how long any inability to work is likely to last.
If it’s a family member who has the serious health condition, then the certification should estimate the duration and frequency of the leave that will be needed.
The certification should also say whether the leave needed will be continuous or intermittent.
If the employee gives the employer a certification that is incomplete or insufficient, the employer has to give the employee a written notice saying what further information is needed. It has to give the employee at least seven days to fix the problem.
If the employee doesn’t come back with sufficient information after that, then the employer can deny the request for FMLA leave.
Intermittent FMLA
Some have called intermittent FMLA leave HR’s biggest headache, and for good reason. Tough issues can arise here. Employers must be careful to grant leave required by the statute while doing their best to prevent abuse and control labor costs.
Employees can take intermittent leave when it’s medically necessary to do so. They must ask for intermittent leave, as opposed to a specific block of time.
Important: Employees don’t have to mention the FMLA by name in order for an employer’s duties under the statute to be triggered.
Here are steps that employers can take to keep the issue of intermittent leave under the FMLA manageable.
Many employers give employees FMLA certification forms that include boxes their doctors can check. But in fact, employers have the ability to ask their employers for information that is more specific.
For example, the employer can ask when the condition began and how long it is likely to last.
In addition, the employer can ask for the medical facts relating to the condition and for the healthcare provider’s contact information.
Also, it can ask why intermittent leave is needed as well as for information about the dates of planned leave or estimated frequency and duration.
It can also be a good idea to give the healthcare provider a copy of the employee’s job description or a list of essential job functions. That way, the provider will be able to do a better job of answering the questions on the form.
If an employer doubts the validity of a certification, it can ask for a second opinion. In these cases, the employer must pay the cost of the second opinion. Employers should not use a doctor it employs under contract to issue the second opinion.
If the first two opinions differ, the employer can pay for a third. The third opinion is final.
Employers can also prevent intermittent leave abuse by requiring recertification every 30 days. Recertification can also be sought if the employee asks for a leave extension, if the duration or nature of the illness has changed, or the employer receives information that calls the validity of the certification into question.
When it comes to employee leave, preventing FMLA leave abuse is near the top of the list of priorities for employers.
There are specific steps employers can take to help prevent employees from abusing FMLA leave.
For example, employers can make it their practice to use written leave request forms. Be careful here: Employers can’t require that a leave request be put in writing. However, using written forms as a matter of practice help discourage workers from taking leave they don’t really have to take.
Employers can also help prevent FMLA abuse by asking employees relevant questions, such as why the leave is being taken and how long the condition is expected to last. This can be accomplished by requiring the completion of a certification form, as discussed above.
Employers can also require employees taking FMLA leave to continue to follow their applicable call-in policies, and they can check in from time to time with employees who are already on FMLA leave.
Under the FMLA, employers who are covered must create and preserve specified records for at least three years.
There are no submission requirements, but the records have to be handed over to the Department of Labor on request. Records can be maintained electronically. They are to be treated as confidential and must be maintained in separate files.
The records must include payroll information and general information about employees, such as name address and job title. Terms of compensation as well as hours worked generally must be kept, in addition to information about pay deductions.
Note: If an employer is covered by the FMLA and has FMLA-eligible employees, but is not subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s recordkeeping requirements relating to overtime and wage compliance, it doesn’t have to keep a record of hours worked – but only if it presumes FMLA eligibility for workers who have been employed with them for 12 months and, for workers who use FMLA leave intermittently or on a reduced schedule, the employer must create a written record of an agreed-upon arrangement.
Employers also have to keep on hand information relating to the dates on which FMLA leave was taken and copies of FMLA notices.
Documents that discuss employee benefits and policies regarding unpaid leave must also be maintained.
In addition, employers must keep records regarding premium payments for employee benefits.
If there has been a dispute with an employee regarding FMLA leave and there are records relating to the dispute, such as emails, those records need to be kept as well.
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