Employee Hiring Procedure | HRG101

Employee Hiring Procedure

The Employee Hiring Procedure outlines the steps your company should follow when hiring personnel to ensure that the best new employees are found. The Employee Hiring Procedure helps your company avoid the loss of time money, productivity and opportunity cost.

The hiring of a new employee is an expensive process. It takes time, money, and a thorough understanding of the needs of the organization, both today and in the future. Every employee is expected to make a far greater contribution to the company, in terms of revenue, than the actual expenses incurred.

The Employee Hiring Procedure applies to all hiring of full-time, part-time or temporary employees. (22 pages, 5023 words)

Employee Hiring Definitions:

Full-Time – Employees hired full time (40 hours a week) on a full workweek basis are considered full-time employees for compensation and benefit purposes.

Part-Time – Employees whose work schedule is less than full time (less than 40 hours a week) on a full work week basis are part-time employees for all compensation and benefit purposes.

Temporary – Employees, contractors hired as temporary replacement for full-time or part-time employees, or for short periods of employment such as summer month, peak periods and vacations are considered temporary employees. Temporary employees are not eligible for benefits regardless of the number of hours or weeks worked.

Disability – Under the ADA, a “disability” is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities such as seeing, hearing, speaking or working, etc. Illiteracy is even covered if caused by a physical or mental disorder.

Employee Hiring Procedure Activities

• Needs Analysis
• Personnel Requisition
• Job Posting & Screening
• Interviewing
• Pre-Employment Screening and Testing
• Background Investigation
• Hiring and Employee Offers
• Motor Vehicle and Equipment Operation
• Applicant Files

Employee Hiring Procedure References

• Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986
• TitleVII
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• Equal Pay Act
• Americans with Disabilities Act

Employee Hiring Procedure Forms

• Personnel Requisition Form
• Offer Letter Form
• Personnel Change Notice Form
• New Employee Hiring Checklist Form

The integration of technology into your workplace requires an employee hiring process to help maintain a highly-skilled, well-trained workforce. Employees hiring is needed to fill immediate openings and training must be budgeted and completed to keep employees current with the growth requirements you’ve identified in your business plan.

The Employee Hiring Process

The dynamics of employee hiring (recruiting and retention) are getting more and more complex. The 21st century has introduced an array of new HR-related issues, such as:

• Family/medical leave;
• Telecommuting;
• Flexible work schedules;
• Global cultural workplaces; and
• A workforce that may not have the skills to meet forecasted hiring requirements for future job openings.

As baby boomers leave the workplace, the number of available workers to fill the projected demand is not expected to keep up. How does a company’s Human Resources department plan for such a contingency? Senior management must recognize that circumstances like these could prevent the company from accomplishing its goals. The answer is to ensure that Human Resource Management is a key ingredient in strategic planning and the future success of the business.

EMPLOYEE HIRING AND RECRUITMENT

The employee hiring process is generally initiated once you’ve identified a need to bring on one or more additional employees to fulfill certain requirements of your business plan. It officially starts when you fill out a new employee requisition, including required experience, skills, and qualifications, and ends with the candidate selection and offer, followed by orientation and reporting to work.

After the employee requisition, your staff prepares an appropriate advertisement to solicit qualified candidates. The advertisement should make your requirements clear (e.g., all applicants must complete an application form) and should include such information as:

• Job title;
• Job qualifications;
• A description of duties; and
• Salary or pay rate.

The application form cannot ask the applicant to divulge any information that could be used to unfairly discriminate (questions of race, religion, etc.). All language in the advertisement should be specifically job-related. A “final date for accepting applications” may be indicated to ensure the company meets its own requirements, as well as to limit the number of applicants, so long as that date is conspicuous.

The advertisement may be posted in state employment offices, as well as in newspapers, radio, television, trade journals, announcements on yours and other websites. Some companies’ recruitment processes include job fairs and/or using a recruiting service. A statement that you are an “Equal Opportunity Employer” is required of job postings in the USA, the EU, and other areas of the world.

Depending on your location(s), you may have to comply with regulations pertaining to recruiting, selection, and hiring of employees. Examples of laws affecting hiring include the:

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (USA);
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, USA);
• Various Civil Rights Acts (USA);
• Racial Equality Directive (EU); and
• Employment Framework Directive (EU).

DISCRIMINATORY RESTRICTIONS (FEDERAL & STATE)

Companies that have fifteen or more employees are subject to federal anti-discrimination practices covering recruiting, application and hiring processes. States have more laws that are restrictive and generally affect even the smallest companies as to anti-discrimination. A company cannot discriminate in hiring based on sex, race, color, national origin, citizenship, disability (physical or mental), religious affiliation, military service, pregnancy, personal bankruptcy, refusal to take a polygraph test, or age.

SELECTION (NEW HIRE EMPLOYEE)

The successful applicant should be processed into the organization in an orderly manner beginning with a company orientation, a review of the company policies concerning employee’s, a tour of the job site, a safety brief concerning the job, introductions to associated supervisory personnel and co-workers, and processing into the payroll system.

General Employment Issues

The new hire is sometimes asked to sign an “at-will” employment statement, which means there is no contract binding either party to the other (unionized employees being an obvious exception). In other words, the employer or the employee may terminate the work relationship at any time without cause.

You may hire applicants who are not U.S. citizens. However, once a non-citizen is offered a job he/she must have an “Alien Registration Receipt Card” (USCIS Form I-551, commonly known as a “green card”) or an appropriate “work visa”, which shows that the individual has the right to work within the United States.

Also in the USA…within three (3) days of employment, every new hire must fill out a “Form I-9” and supply identification and proof-of-eligibility documents listed on the I-9. This is required of all firms, in accordance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). Note that I-9 forms must be kept separate from personnel files.

Minors (those under 18 years old) may be hired, except where certain work hazards (e.g., working with explosives, in a sawmill) are a normal part of the environment, where minors are prohibited in accordance with the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act.

Minors that are 14 or 15 years old may work only during certain hours after school (e.g., not after 10 p.m.), not more than three hours a day, and no more than 18 hours a week; check your state and local labor statutes for specifics.