Have Questions About Hiring Employees? We Have Answers

When it comes to interviewing and hiring applicants, there are unique and specific situations that are not always top of mind for HR professionals and business owners. We’ve compiled a few questions about hiring employees that can assist you in your process, specifically regarding background checks, interview questions, and using social media.

Q: Can we do background checks for certain employees but not others, depending on the position for which they are being hired?

A: You may conduct a background check for certain jobs even though you haven’t done one for others. You can elect to run a background check on only certain positions based on the nature of a position, but you’ll want to be consistent for all individuals in a specific position. If you only ran a check on one candidate, that could certainly appear discriminatory. Additionally, as a best practice, we recommend that background checks be done after a conditional offer of employment has been made.

We would recommend, however, against making a hiring decision based on convictions or other information that are not relevant to the job. If you receive results that you believe would preclude an employee from working for your company, it’s very important to allow the employee to dispute the negative information before you make any decisions. If you decide to do a background check, there are state and federal laws governing when and how they should be done.

Q: Can we ask an applicant why they are leaving their current job?

A: Yes. While it’s fine to ask this question during the interview, we recommend you collect this information ahead of time by asking about it on an employment application. In the section where the applicant lists their previous employment experience, you can ask for the reason they left each job. Trends you notice may be cause for follow-up questions during the interview or a reason not to schedule an interview at all.

If you ask about previous or current employment during the interview, be mindful of the direction the response goes. As with any interview question, you should redirect the candidate if they start to share sensitive information. For example, if a candidate says they left past employment due to medical reasons, don’t ask for details about their condition. Instead, you could ask whether they provided notice of their need to resign and whether they left on good terms.

Q: Do you recommend screening the social media accounts of job candidates?

A: Some companies choose to review the social media accounts of job candidates, usually with the hope of spotting any red flags or assessing “cultural fit,” but we recommend against doing so.

First, it creates extra risk. You could be exposed to information about the candidate’s protected classes, such as their race, age, or religion. If your ultimate hiring decision was challenged, you would need to prove that those characteristics were not a factor in your decision. Second, your application and interview process should provide you with sufficient information to determine whether a candidate is qualified and would contribute to your culture. You shouldn’t need to get into the private lives of candidates to determine whether they’re the right person for the job.

Want access to all sorts of questions and answers about hiring, terminating, and everything in between? GTM’s business HR services keeps you up to date with alerts about changes to wage and labor laws, and gives you access to a library of articles, FAQs, policy templates, and more. Request a quote today.