We are almost there!!!  At the end of the month we will have completed updating the status of all employees affected by the FLSA changes.  Thank you for your support, assistance and patience, and hard work during this transition.  It was a large undertaking with a short turnaround time.  It was exciting to see our team come together and work together to accomplish such a large goal in a short period of time.  Thank you!

Different types of interview are:

Behavioral Interviews:  Evaluates how job skills and personal attributes were applied to key tasks.  Past performance can predict future behavior.

Situational Interviews:  Evaluate how a candidate might react to a scenario or problem they may face in the new job.  Explores the person’s problem solving ability and how quickly he/she thinks on his/her feet.

Group:  Allow multiple people to evaluate the candidate from different perspectives.

Case Study:  Candidates are given a hypothetical scenario and must draw on his/her knowledge to come up with a solution.

What not to do:

Don’t go with your gut:  Gut decision too often reflect personal biases and lead to the wrong hire.

Don’t ask different questions of each applicant:  This prevents apples to apples comparison and could lead to charges of discrimination. (Follow up and clarifying questions are appropriate as long as they do not dominate the interview.)

Don’t ask personal questions:  Stay away from questions about family, marital status, religion or even irrelevant hobbies.

HR Magazine May 2016, “The Art of the Interview”, Steve Bates

As requests are made to fill positions or create new positions, it is important to review the position description that is provided by the hiring manager.  We need to ensure the information in the position description is not unrealistic, for example, that the job duties are incredibly demanding and the pay is too low.  While we have measures in place to avoid this issue, it does come up from time to time.   We will want to ensure we are following the measures in place including, consulting with Linda Riemenschneider and communicating with OHR. We will all need to keep in mind that OHR will be reviewing things with more scrutiny to determine the FLSA status based on job responsibilities.

An employer was ordered to pay a $300,000 award to a former employee who was a victim of same-sex harassment by a co-worker.  The employer failed to take appropriate action after the employee complained that a male co-worker repeatedly touched his buttocks.  The employee reported two incidents and that he told the male co-worker to stop.  In the third incident the employee bent over to pick up a box and the male co-worker grabbed his hips from behind and began rubbing the employee’s crotch to simulate sex.  The employee reported all three incidents to the manager and documented the incidents in a letter.  The company delayed investigating because the supervisor was on vacation.  The employee was sent back to work with the male co-worker.  Despite three managers recommending termination, the decision was made to suspend the male co-worker for short time, even though he previously received a written warning about a similar complaint.  The employee was unable to work due to anxiety.  He filed suit in US District Court and was awarded $300,000 in compensatory damages.

If you hear of an incident directly or indirectly, please report it to Amy Burns, Michelle Gaines, or Elayne Siegfried.  We do not tolerate sexual harassment of any kind.

HR Magazine May 2016, “Sexual Harassment Award for Same-Sex Touching Upheld”, Jeffrey L. Rhodes