Gislason & Hunter Law Blog

Every employer who employs an individual who performs work inside the territorial boundaries of the United States must have a properly completed I-9 form for each of their employees on file during the course of their employment.  Each employee must, after being offered a job and accepting it, complete Section One of an I-9 prior to performing any work for the employer.  An employee must then, within three business days, provide sufficient original documentation to allow the employer to complete Section Two of the I-9.  If the employee cannot provide such sufficient documentation, then the employee can no longer work until he or she does provide the sufficient documentation.

No business wants to be sued by an employee or former employee.  It is expensive to defend employment lawsuits.  In addition, such litigation is time consuming for management and may decrease company morale.  There is a means by which employers can minimize employee lawsuits.  Your company can require that employees sign arbitration agreements and thus waive their right to file lawsuits in certain situations when they have a dispute with their employers.

Most employers know that conducting an exit interview with an employee who has resigned is a good idea.  No company wants to lose valued and productive employees without knowing why.  But exactly how an exit interview is facilitated will dictate the amount of useful information obtained. 

For example, a resigning employee may be more willing to provide truthful, detailed information if he/she can simply perform the interview by answering a series of questions on a computer.  The next best option is to have a neutral third party conduct the interview.  Another option is to have a human resources employee handle the interview by phone.  The theory is that the more anonymous or disconnected the resigning employee feels during the interview, the more accurate the responses will be.

Employers frequently require job applicants to submit to a criminal background check.  An applicant’s criminal history can be relevant to an employer in combating theft and fraud, preventing workplace violence, and avoiding potential liability for negligent hiring.  However, the use of criminal-history records can constitute unlawful employment discrimination because exclusion from employment of persons with a criminal record can have a race-based disparate impact.  A policy that automatically excludes all employment opportunities because of any criminal conduct is inconsistent with these factors because such a policy does not focus on the dangers of particular crimes and the risks in particular positions.