To ensure the right people are hired, many companies bring in prospects to shadow an employee. This is so companies can see whether the candidate has the right skills and abilities for the job, and so the candidate gets a realistic representation of the job.

Is there anything wrong with doing this? Absolutely not. It makes sense for both the company and the candidate to assess whether the “fit” is right before the candidate is hired. That said, the candidate should be paid at least minimum wage for the time spent shadowing the employee. The pay can be included in the candidate’s first paycheck if he or she is hired. You can also cut a check to him or her if you decide not to hire the individual. For added protection, companies may want to process a W4 and I9.  

Affinity HR Group is BSCAI's endorsed HR partner, providing HR support, recruiting and employee engagement services.  For a link to our menu of services for BSCAI members, go to www.AffinityHRGroup.com/BSCAI

"Ban the Box" is a movement that advocates for employers to remove asking whether applicants have a criminal background on job applications. We can’t speak to every specific “Ban the Box” law/regulation because they are all somewhat different, but usually they only require that companies remove the question box from the employment application. If you are going to perform a criminal background check later in the process, you may want to let applicants know that on your application so they know they will be subject to one.

We recommend that employers run background checks either at the end of their hiring process or after a contingent offer of employment has been extended – meaning you’re offering them employment contingent on a clean background check. And remember, if you decide not to hire someone because of what appears in their background check, you may be legally obligated to provide the background report to them.

You can run a background check on an independent contractor if the contractor will have access to sensitive materials or the nature of his work requires a clean background check, and you can make the contract contingent on the results. You should also include language in the contract around confidentiality of information and non-solicitation. 

But the most important component of your contract should be that the contract does not constitute an employee-employer relationship. Of course, it’s important to make sure you are classifying the worker correctly – many independent contractors would probably be considered employees if the Department of Labor (DOL) were to investigate the nature of the work relationship. To make sure your contractor is appropriately classified, click here for the DOL’s fact sheet on Independent Contractor classifications.

In a tight labor market and with a large percentage of new hires carrying student loan debt, student loan repayment is a great benefit to recruit new hires. Whether it’s paying a portion of the debt every month or paying off chunks of debt at a time, it helps employees alleviate the burden of debt. The benefits are fully taxable to the employee and to you, so there’s no tax advantage. But unlike salary, you will not be paying FICA or other employment taxes on the amount. There are a few companies out there to help with setting up a program like this such as Tuition.io, Futurefuel.io, and Vault. Check them out!

If you’ve experienced mis-hires before and prefer to try out a candidate before you hire them, it is absolutely fine to hire someone temporarily on a contract basis. By doing so, you could treat them as an independent contractor or a short-term employee. 

Be sure to provide an engagement letter discussing the scope of the engagement, the length of the project, the work expected, the pay rate and, importantly, include your "at-will" language specifying that the engagement does not constitute an employment contract and can be severed "at-will" by either party without notice or cause.