Business Network

Archive for the ‘Employee’ Category

Not all employment gaps are worthy causes of alarm; in life there are a host of valid reasons why a person may choose to exit the workforce for a time. It is important for a company to avoid placing universal stigma on employment gaps. Instead, human resources staff should take the time to interview promising candidates regardless of gaps, and prompt them for explanations about them either in a brief telephone pre-interview or at the first stage interview. Companies that do not try to distinguish between valid and red-flag employment gaps run the risk of hiring unstable workers or passing over quality candidates.

Medical Downtime
Injury and illness are an unavoidable part of the human condition. Human resources staff should question a prospective hire to determine whether the medical condition responsible for his gap in employment would diminish his ability to perform the specific job in question without being offensive. For example, a worker with a leg injury may be ill suited to a position in a warehouse doing heavy lifting. It is the responsibility of human resources staff to explain the demands of the job. If a candidate who has suffered downtime due to an injury or illness insists he can complete the task, consider giving him a probationary test period if allowed under your state’s laws. If the injury flares up again during the probationary time, politely dismiss the worker, not only in the interest of productivity but for the health of the worker himself. It is important for human resources staff to treat mental health issues the same way as other physical health conditions; to do otherwise may be considered a form of unjust discrimination.

Family Matters
Family matters, Read the rest of this entry »