Human Resources: Module 4

Acceptable or not acceptable to ask a candidate during a job interview? Are you legally eligible to work in the United States?

Acceptable

Acceptable or not acceptable to ask a candidate during a job interview? Have you ever been convicted of a crime?

Acceptable

Acceptable or not acceptable to ask a candidate during a job interview? How long have you lived in this area?

Acceptable

What information is included in the background check?

Background checks include ID verification and check the sex offender registry, national most wanted, federal terror watch list, state and county criminal records, checks for use of deceased person's SSN, matches the name to SSN, reports current and previous addresses, and runs a detailed credit report.

When are they done?

Background checks should be done after the job offer has been made but before the employment is finalized. They are also common for employees that work with money or drugs as part of the job. Drug screening should also be done as a part of the pre-employment screening before finalizing employment.

How much do they cost?

Background checks, if done through an online service, can cost between $25 and $60 depending on the level of information needed. Drug testing costs on average $30-40 per test.

The following is a poorly worded interview question. Re-write the question so it is a behaviorally-based question that will elicit useful information. "Do you have good communication skills?"

Describe a situation in which you demonstrated having good communication skills.

What drugs will you screen for? Why?

Drugs tested for using urine drug tests usually include amphetamines, methamphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, opiates, and alcohol. All of these drugs could cause a workplace disruption if the employee was under the influence at the time of working.

Where do you go to have background checks and drug screens performed?

For obtaining background checks on new employees, one option is to go to the local courthouse and fill out an information request form. This is inexpensive and relatively easy, however the records are only for that jurisdiction. Another way to obtain background checks is to use a third party service, however this takes more time and money and is generally better for larger companies. A third, and best, option is using online background screening services such as ShareAble which is quick and easy to use and is not very expensive. For drug screening, employees would need to go to a testing center or urgent care that offers drug screening options. A few places to look include Labcorp, Medline Plus, and MedExpress locations.

You are the practice manager at a small animal practice and are hiring a receptionist. After pre-screening applicants with a phone interview, you have called in several for face-to-face interviews. One of the candidates comes to the interview in a wheelchair. What is a legal way for you to determine whether or not this candidate could perform the receptionist duties at your practice?

I could ask about the candidate's ability to meet attendance requirements of the job. I could also have the candidate explain or demonstrate their ability to perform the tasks required by the job, but only if I ask the other candidates to do the same.

Are these good things to spend time and money on? Why or why not?

I think that it is a good idea to spend time and money on background checks and drug screening for potential new employees. This allows the practice to determine job competence, workplace safety, risk for workplace theft, and honesty and integrity. This process could save an employer a lot of unnecessary trouble later on by knowing more about new employees and the risk they may pose to the practice.

How will you use the information found in the background check? For example, it is possible for a person to be arrested for something but never tried and convicted? Will that affect your decision? How far back will you go in the background check? If an applicant has a felony conviction from 8 years ago, do you treat that the same as a felony conviction from 3 years ago?

I think the information in the background check should primarily be used to determine if the person will be a danger or high risk factor if hired. It is possible for a person to be arrested but not convicted, so this information alone should not be used to determine whether to hire the person. I think that an employer should be impartial to the timeline of convictions and not discriminate against people that had more recent convictions. Not looking at other factors to determine their qualifications for the job could put the practice at risk for legal trouble if they take back the job offer based only on a previous offense.

Who is going to pay for them? Can you make applicants pay for their own background check and drug screen?

Most companies pay for the background checks required of employees. However, in Indiana there is no law stating that employers have to pay for it. An employer can ask the employee to pay for their own background check. The drug screen can also be payed for by either the employer or employee. However, it may be more reasonable to have the employer pay for these things.

Describe what nepotism is and explain precautions a veterinary practice should take if they engage in the practice of nepotism when hiring employees.

Nepotism is the hiring of relatives. The veterinary practice should make sure not to refuse hiring anyone because of their marital status and employ the relatives in different areas so one does not have superiority over the other.

Acceptable or not acceptable to ask a candidate during a job interview? Do you own your own home or do you rent?

Not acceptable

Acceptable or not acceptable to ask a candidate during a job interview? How did you acquire the ability to speak fluent Chinese?

Not acceptable

Acceptable or not acceptable to ask a candidate during a job interview? What year did you graduate with your degree in Veterinary Technology?

Not acceptable

You are a practice manager at a veterinary practice and have been struggling over the last several years to attract credentialed veterinary technicians to come and work at your practice. What can a veterinary practice do to help recruit new graduate veterinary technicians to apply for job openings at your practice.

One thing the practice can do is send the job opening descriptions to various veterinary colleges and ask that they be sent to graduating vet techs. Another way to attract RVTs is to offer excellent benefits packages to new employees.

You are a practice manager at a practice that needs to hire several new employees. You have decided to use social media sites to find prospective employees. Identify the two ways that you can use social networking to find potential employees?

One way to use social networking to find employees is to announce the job opening through various channels. Another way is to seek out individual candidates and inquire about their interest in the job opening (but in a way that does not discriminate between candidates).

You are a practice manager at a growing small animal hospital and need to hire three full-time credentialed veterinary technicians. You are thinking about posting an ad on Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com. Is this a good idea? Why or why not?

Posting an ad on these sites may not be the best choice since many other companies will also be posting similar positions on the same sites. Also this is usually not the main place for the best candidates to be searching for a job.

What is the potential new hire's responsibilities and what is the employer's responsibilities?

Responsibilities of the potential new hire include an agreement to the background check and drug screening as well as submitting an honest drug test. The employer's responsibilities include providing all of the necessary information to the employee about how to complete these tasks before finalizing employment.

When will you do these things (i.e., for any applicants you think you may offer a job to, only to applicants to which you have made a job offer)?

The best time to request drug screening and background checks is after a job offer has been made but before employment is finalized. This ensures that money is not being wasted on job applicants that will not get the job.

You are the practice manager at a veterinary practice and you need to hire a receptionist. The receptionists at your practice are responsible for obtaining all payments from clients and the last receptionist had to be fired because she was caught embezzling money from the practice. Because of this, your boss (the practice owner) wants to do a credit check on the applicants. Answer the following questions about this scenario: -Is it legal for a practice to do a credit check on receptionist applicants? -If the practice starts doing credit checks for receptionists, does this mean they will have to start doing credit checks on all employees when hired? -Do you (the employer) have to do anything before running the credit check on the applicant? -If the practice decides not to hire the applicant based on (or at least partially on) the results of the credit check, is the practice required to do anything? If yes, what do they have to do?

Yes, it is legal for a practice to do credit checks on applicants that will handle money. The practice does not have to do credit checks on all employees because they do not all handle the money. In order to run a credit check, you must first have the applicant's permission to do so. If the applicant is not hired based on the results, the practice must disclose to the applicant the information that determined the decision.

You are the practice manager at a busy 24/7 emergency practice. You need to hire a credentialed veterinary technician that will have to work some weekends including Sundays. As you are prescreening applicants for the position, what is the best (legal) way to find out if a candidate can work weekends including Sundays?

You can describe the work schedule requirements to the applicant and ask if they are able to meet those requirements.

When you start this policy (i.e., background checks and drug screens for all new hires), do you have to go back and perform these tests on existing employees? Why or why not?

You do not have to perform these tests on existing employees, however I think that it would be best to do it anyway. The screening can be used as ongoing monitoring of all employees or to ensure that internal hiring is also screened.