Kim Chan is a lawyer and founder and CEO of DocPro.com, an automated legal document creator in Hong Kong. DocPro.com has had some success in hiring foreign legal experts as foreign entrepreneurs, Chan said. However: “If you hire someone abroad as an employee, you have to set up a place of business there. This can lead to potential tax issues, as your business may generate income that is received in that jurisdiction. “Startups often need to hire workers, but don`t have an HR department to help them identify, interview, and hire additional employees. Instead, someone with little or no HR experience often takes on this responsibility. This article will help startups and small businesses identify and avoid common legal pitfalls in the hiring process. Before and during the hiring process, prospective employees enjoy a number of legal rights, including anti-discrimination laws and the law on “implied contracts”. If you believe your rights have been violated during the hiring process, whether you were ultimately hired or not, you should speak to an experienced employment lawyer to discuss your options and protect your legal rights. Have your potential claim reviewed by a local lawyer. After gathering a stack of resumes or applications for your company`s vacancy and reviewing the candidates, the next step is to invite the selected candidates for interviews. You should use the interview process to learn more about the candidate and determine if he or she is a “good candidate” for the position and your company. Adhering to the 80/20 rule is a good goal for interviews: the candidate should speak 80% of the time and you should only speak 20% of the time.

Again, be careful not to ask questions that suggest that you are considering (or giving the appearance you have envisioned) a candidate`s race, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or religion, as you could be on the wrong side of the prosecution. in which violations of federal and/or state anti-discrimination laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (or other laws) are alleged. For example, to avoid the appearance of discrimination, you should not throw away a resume simply because you disagree with the applicant`s religious affiliation or because it indicates that they have a disability. Similarly, during an interview, you should not ask questions intended to reveal the candidate`s age, religion or sexual orientation. If you have concerns about how the selection process will work, you should seek legal advice. When making a formal job offer to a candidate, make sure that the salary offered is strictly based on the skills and responsibilities required for the position. In companies that have a union, wages are often calculated according to seniority or quantity/quality of production. It should not be based on any of the above-mentioned discriminatory parameters. The U.S. Department of Labor regulates legal issues related to the wage structure, including minimum wage, overtime pay, and severance pay.

Your company`s HR managers need to be aware of this. Most small businesses don`t have a formal HR department. You can contact one of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission`s small business partners and answer any questions you may have. There are a number of factors that employers are not allowed to consider by law when deciding whether or not to hire a candidate. As already mentioned, the possible liability extends to the content of job advertisements and the way in which they are disseminated. To reduce the risk of liability, review job postings with a lawyer to ensure they are objective and do not discourage people in protected categories from applying. Once you`ve identified the candidates you want to hire, you need to do a background check on the candidates.

If you do, the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires (among other things) that you make various disclosures to the applicant and obtain their approval before retrieving the background report. If, ultimately, you decide not to hire (or subsequently have to fire a candidate) based on information you learned in an information report, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires you to provide additional information about “adverse actions.” Given the detailed legal obligations associated with required disclosures (as well as the severe penalties for violating the law), you should be very careful before using generic disclosure forms to conduct background checks. Stick to this golden rule: don`t ask about references you can`t talk about in an interview. You cannot ask an applicant about their disability. Similarly, you cannot ask the same question to a former employer. Instead, learn about punctuality, performance level, work ethic and ability to work in a team. For background checks, be sure to comply with federal and state laws. For example, in some states like California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, and Washington, it is illegal to deny an applicant because of their credit history. In other states, it`s legal. Applicants have legal rights even before becoming employees. Under federal law, an employer cannot unlawfully discriminate in its hiring processes based on a candidate`s race, national origin, gender, pregnancy, age, disability, or religion.