The Policies and Procedures That Govern the Hiring Practices - Article Example

? The Policies and Procedures That Govern the Hiring Practices (Lesson 5 Discussion Forum) Hiring of the right employee tends to be one ofthe most difficult tasks for an organization. It is the hiring practices that govern the success and failure of an organization. There are various policies and practices that govern the hiring practices. The federal as well as state laws prevent the public or corporations from indulging in unlawful hiring practices. It is significant for the organizations to consider adequate hiring practices in order to retain the best talents in the workplace. Catholic Charities tends to employ several policies as well as procedures in their human resource policies such as equal opportunity rights, fair wages and safe working environment among others. Introduction In the era of competition, the employers are confronted with certain challenges to attract, develop and hence retain the best employees in their organization. Recognition and hiring of the right candidates are considered to be the key human capital priorities of most of the organizations in the United States (Walsh, 2012). The prime objective of the discussion is to gauge the policies as well as procedures governing the hiring practices in Catholic Charities Spokane. The hiring practices of Catholic Charities shall be related to the federal and state regulations of the US. The discussion shall also intend to identify the activities involved in securing the position within the facility and the ways in which the standards of the National Labor Relations Board has an impact upon the interview process. Policies and Procedures That Govern the Hiring Practices The federal as well as the state laws that monitor the human resources policy were initiated in order to shield the employees (Purdue University, 2012). The prime objective of such laws has been to shield the employees from discrimination and thus assist in securing retirees pension checks. It is the duty of the federal law to monitor the hiring practices as well as medical leaves for the employees who have been working with the organization for longer period. According to the US Department of Labor, the state laws tend to alter depending upon the scenario of employment. Minimum wage as well as child labor standards are set by the state laws (US Department of Labor, 2000). It is quite prudent to comprehend regarding these laws and hence identify how these laws can protect the individuals (United States Office of Personnel Management, 2012). In an interview with the personnel manager of the Catholic Charities Spokane, it was intended to identify the policies and procedures governing the hiring practices in the organization. One of the policies pertaining to the organization has been that a constant as well as an educated employee tends to contribute in an effective way to the consumer satisfaction as well as for ensuring positive service delivery outcomes for Catholic Charities Spokane. In light of this fact, it becomes essential for the organization to make its hiring practices quite stringent in order to obtain the right kind of employees. It is observed that the Catholic Charities aims at offering equitable work environment which is supportive of organizational output, multiplicity as well as constancy. The Catholic Charities believes the fact that it is significant to offer equal opportunity to all the employees in order to attain consistent success of the organization. In relation to the state and federal laws, Catholic Charities does not tend to distinguish against any employee for the purpose of recruitment because of creed, color, religion, age or non-job factors in the process of hiring. It can be stated that the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission governs the employers for the practice related to unlawful favoritism. This comprises the unfairness related to age, gender, religion as well as national origin (Catholic Charities Spokane, 2012). For the purpose of ensuring conformity with the legal requirements the organizations review its use related to the dependent workers comprising the independent contractors, volunteers as well as provisional employees and wage and hour laws. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) mandates that a minimum wage needs to be set and hence identifies the maximum amount of hours that the employees are required to work. The FLSA also has laws for the child labor, setting the legal working age of a child in the United States (Boston University, 2012). It was identified from an interview that Catholic Charities endeavors to offer a work environment which prevents its employers from risks that are likely to cause damage. The Charity as well has prepared certain rules and laws in relation to the good protection policies. In the US, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) generally set the laws that shield all the aspects of the workplace protection. This Act requires the companies to list the security measures that comprise the creation of the dangerous chemical lists along with the setting up of the first aid kits (Catholic Charities Spokane, 2012). Catholic Charities is required to protect the employees from medical as well as financial hazards via insurance as well as benefit programs (Catholic Charities Spokane, 2012) On the other hand, the Family as well as Medical Leave Act offers the covered employee with up to twelve weeks off in a year for the medical conditions either of his own or the family members. In the US, it is the Employment Retirement Income Security Act that controls all benefits plans provided to the employees (Catholic Charities Spokane, 2012) From the interview, it was further identified that at Catholic Charities, family medical leaves is unpaid until and unless the employee has accumulated paid leave (Catholic Charities Spokane, 2012) The other policies and procedures governing the hiring practices at Catholic Charities include employment of relatives. The organization attempts to have personal policies free of favoritism. The rules set forth in the policy pertaining to employment of relatives states that no person is permitted to hold a job over which a member of his/her immediate family practices supervisory authority. Furthermore, from the interview, it has been apparent that if two employees work in the similar department or tend to supervise each other, create a dating relationship after employment, then in such circumstances one of the two partners is likely to be transferred (Catholic Charities Spokane, 2012) Securing a Position It is quite important for the candidates to possess critical thinking skills and decision making skills in order to secure any position in the organizations (Yoder-Wise, 2010). It was observed from the interview that all the new as well as revised positions need to be accepted by the Executive Director or Associate Director before the position is being posted. It was further noted that the authorization for the new positions or filling up of the current positions will consist of the assessment of the capability of the organization to fund the position along with the ability to rearrange the present staff in order to hold the new duties. Additionally, it is the duty of the hiring staff member at Catholic Charities to schedule for in-person interviews with top two candidates. It is further the duty of the hiring staff member to check for at least three references of the final candidate and hence needs to examine the educational as well as other needed credentials for the person who has been selected before offering the job. Vacant positions need to be posted concurrently within and outside the Catholic Charities agencies. In order to secure a position at Catholic Charities, it is quite essential for the candidates to possess adequate knowledge and skills so that they are capable of meeting the demands for the services. From the interview, it was further noted that the organization possesses a written job description as well as selection criteria for the organizational position or group of similar positions that comprise the qualifications, responsibilities as well as expectations. The interviewee revealed the fact that the Human Resources as well as the Executive Director of the organization reconsiders job description along with selection criteria after every two years in order to ensure that the education as well as experience needs of the candidates are pertinent and adequate to the requirements of the organization’s programs, requirements of the consumers and the particular services needed. They further review in order to ensure that the qualifications or the credentials are rationally related to the degree of competence needed for the task involved. It has been recognized from the interview that Catholic Charities select only those employees for the job who meet all the parameters in accordance with the job description as well as selection criteria for the positions that they engage in (Catholic Charities Spokane, 2012). Impact of Standards Presented by National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on the Interview Process National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) can be identified as a federal agency managing the National Labor Relations Act. The National Labor Relations Act is the law that monitors the association arising between the unions and employers in the private organizations. The Act shields the workers who assist the labor unions or shields group of workers who involve themselves in activities without a union looking to alter their wages. It is the duty of the NLRB to examine ‘inequitable labor practice accusations’ which are made by the employees, employers or the unions. The board has a major impact upon the interview process conducted by the companies in the USA. It tends to regulate the selection procedures of the candidates and hence monitors the iniquitous practices in the interview process of the organizations such as Catholic Charities. Its main task is to check if the companies are being biased in terms of age, sex, occupation and other factors while selecting the candidates (American Bar Association, 2012). Conclusion Hiring of the right candidates helps an organization to attain consistent success and to ensure efficient operations. Such practices need to be governed by the regulatory authorities so that the rights of the people can be safeguarded. The companies’ further need to evaluate and select assessment tools so that they can increase the scope of obtaining the right fit between jobs and employees. Furthermore, both the employers as well as the candidates are required to comprehend the professional as well as lawful standards that need to be followed while conducting the hiring process. The standards can help in maintaining uniformity in the hiring process and hence biasness can be minimized. References American Bar Association. (2012). Representation law and procedures. Retrieved from http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/labor/basics/nlra/papers/representation_procedures.authcheckdam.pdf Boston University. (2012). Federal and state laws. Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/hr/policies/federal-and-state-laws/ Catholic Charities Spokane. (2012). Policies and procedures. Retrieved from http://www.catholiccharitiesspokane.org/core/files/catholiccharitiesspokane/uploads/files/PManual%205%20HR%20Management%20pdf%202012.pdf Purdue University. (2012). The hiring process. Retrieved from http://www.ppp.purdue.edu/Pubs/ppp-69.pdf United States Office of Personnel Management. (2012). Human resource line of business. Retrieved from http://www.opm.gov/egov/documents/practices/FederalCaseStudies_022808.pdf US Department of Labor. (2000). Testing and assessment: an employer’s guide to good practices. Retrieved from http://www.onetcenter.org/dl_files/empTestAsse.pdf Walsh, D. J. (2012). Employment law for human resource practice. United Kingdom: Cengage Learning. Yoder-Wise, P. S. (2010). Leading and managing in nursing. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Health Science Division. Read More