The Manager's Guide to HR: Hiring, Firing, Performance Evaluations, Documentation, Benefits, and Everything Else You Need to Know

305 Pages·2009·1.31 MB·English

by  Max Muller

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The
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HR
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uide to
Hiring,Firing,Performance
Evaluations,Documentation,
Benefits,and Everything Else
You Need to Know
Max Muller
American Management Association
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Muller,Max,1947-
Themanager’sguidetoHR:hiring,firing,performanceevaluations,documentation,benefits,and
everythingelseyouneedtoknow/MaxMuller.
p.cm.
Includesindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-8144-1076-9(hbk.)
ISBN-10:0-8144-1076-6(hbk.)
1.Personnelmanagement.2.Supervisionofemployees.3.Laborlawsandlegislation—UnitedStates.
I.Title.
HF5549.M786 2009
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2008042204
(cid:1)2009MaxMuller
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Contents
CHAPTER 1
Hiring 1
Introduction•DefiningtheJob•WritingtheJobDescription•
Recruiting•Interviewing•VerifyingEmploymentEligibility
CHAPTER 2
Performance Evaluations 35
Introduction•TheJobDescription•EmployeeSelf-Review•
StructuredPerformanceReviewsandDiscrimination
CHAPTER 3
Training 41
Introduction•Strategy•Safety•SexualHarassment•Training
Records
CHAPTER 4
Benefits 51
Introduction:TheFamilyandMedicalLeaveAct•Covered
Entities•TheTwelve-MonthPeriod•Notice•Schedulingthe
Leave•TheWorkweek•EmployeeEligibility•Eligible
ReasonsforLeave•UnpaidNatureofLeave•Maintaining
HealthBenefits•SeriousHealthConditions•Health-Care
Provider•KeyEmployees•ConsolidatedOmnibusBudget
ReconciliationActof1985•HealthInsurancePortabilityand
AccountabilityActof1996—PreexistingConditions
CHAPTER 5
Compensation: The Fair Labor
Standards Act 87
Introduction•MinimumWageandOvertime•Compensable
Hours•EqualPayforMenandWomen(EqualPayAct)•Child
Labor•Coverage•BenefitsandPayrollPracticesNotCovered
bytheFLSA•Exemptvs.NonexemptStatusUndertheFLSA
•WageandHourViolations
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER 6
Employment Laws 117
Introduction•KeyFederalEmploymentLaws•ProhibitedActs
•EnforcementMechanisms•ProofofDiscrimination•TitleVII
Remedies•FederallyProtectedClasses•StateandLocal
ProtectedClasses
CHAPTER 7
Hot-Button Issues: Sexual
Harassment and Workplace
Violence 165
SexualHarassment:Introduction•SexualHarassmentDefined•
TheEllerth/FaragherDefense•TheInvestigation•Workplace
Violence
CHAPTER 8
Privacy Issues 201
Introduction•BackgroundChecks•MedicalInformation
DuringtheHiringProcess•MonitoringEmployeesinthe
Workplace•InvasionofPrivacy•Defamation,Libel,and
Slander•IntentionalInflictionofEmotionalDistressorOutrage
•FalseImprisonment
CHAPTER 9
Firing and Separation 231
Introduction•PolicyStatementsMayAlterAt-Will
Employment•HowtoReestablishtheAt-WillPrivilege•
ProgressiveDiscipline•TheTerminationSession•Wrongful
Discharge•TheWorkerAdjustmentandRetraining
NotificationAct
CHAPTER 10
Documentation and Records
Retention 247
Introduction•PersonnelRecordsinGeneral•Medical
Information•OtherDocumentsThatShouldNotBeKeptina
PersonnelFile•EEOCMinimumDocumentRetentionRules
UnderTitleVII•DocumentRetentionPolicies•OSHA
RecordKeeping
INDEX 287
1
C H A P T E R
Hiring
Introduction
Hiring dumb is easy. Hiring smart is hard.
Allittakestohiredumbistoselectajobdescriptionwrittenbysome-
one once upona time, a long time ago—one that is hopelesslyout of date
when compared with the job as it currently exists—and then use that job
definitiontorecruitacandidatewhofitsthejobdescription,nottheactual
job.
Hiring dumb also involves advertising job openings in ways that dis-
criminate against potential candidates based on their race, religion, age,
sex, national origin, physical disabilities, or other legally protected charac-
teristics.
Hiring smart involves defining the job properly, and then developing
ajob descriptionthatismorethanabullet listofgeneralizeddescriptorsof
technical skills.
A well-researched and well-developed job description is the founda-
tion stone of smart recruiting, interviewing, and hiring, as well as staff
retention.
1
2 THE MANAGER’S GUIDE TO HR
Defining the Job
The first order of businessin hiring smart is to analyze the jobin terms of:
• Skills and knowledge required
• How the work is performed
• Typical work settings
Analytic Steps
Identify and determine in detail the particular job duties, requirements,
and the relative importance of these duties and requirements for a given
job by undertaking the following steps:
1. Review existing job description, if any.
2. Review public source information and job classification systems.
3. Conduct incumbent surveys and interviews.
4. Conduct supervisor surveys and interviews.
ReviewExistingJobDescription
Although your existing job description could well be out of date, it does
represent a starting point from which to derive basic technical skills, re-
porting relationships, and other information.
The existing description also provides you with a baseline against
which to measure the current job—in other words, how the job has
evolved or materially changed.
ReviewPublicSourceInformationandJobClassification
Systems
Looking at howother companies describe jobs will help you writea good
jobdescription.Herearesomeexamplesofpublicsourcesofthatinforma-
tion:
TheOccupationalInformationNetwork(O*NET(cid:2))System
(www.onetcenter.org)
• Database of occupational requirements and worker attributes
HIRING 3
• Comprehensive source of descriptors, with ratings of importance,
level, relevance, or extent, for more than nine hundred occupa-
tions
• Common language and terminology describing occupational re-
quirements
TheOccupationalOutlookHandbook(OOH)(http://www.bls.gov/oco/
home.htm)
• Publication of the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor
Statistics
• Includes information about the nature of the work, working con-
ditions,trainingandeducation,earnings,andjoboutlookforhun-
dreds of different occupations
• Released biennially with its companion publication the Career
Guide to Industries
These sources will give you a good idea of how to classify a job.
ConductIncumbent SurveysandInterviews
Find out what the people who have actually been doing the job think.
Whattechnicalskillsdotheythinkarerequired,towhomdotheybelieve
they report (irrespective of what an organization chart says), whom do
they believe reports to them, whom do they interact with on an ongoing
basis, how do they believe the job is actually performed, what percentage
of their time is being spent on various tasks or undertakings, and so forth?
Help them help you. Most staff members do not think of their jobs in
anorganizedfashionorspendanytimetryingtomeasurehowmanymin-
utes or hours per day they engage in any particular task versus any other.
However,thatispreciselytheinformationyouneedtosuccessfullyanalyze
the job and develop a meaningful job description. Consequently, provide
incumbents with box checklists, surveys, and questionnaires to fill out.
BoxChecklists Hereisanexampleofaportionofaboxchecklistrelated
to bookkeeping, accounting, or auditing clerks.