Q. What are things I must do before hiring my first employee?
A. When you hire your first employee, you become subject to an array of registration and filing requirements.
Obtain a federal employment identification number by filing IRS Form SS-4.
Set up a payroll system for withholding taxes and making payroll tax payments to the IRS.
File IRS Form 940 to report your federal unemployment tax each year.
Register with your state's employment department for payment of unemployment compensation taxes.
Create an employment application for each type of position you will fill.
Create an employee handbook.
Q. What should I take care of when hiring new employees?
A. A variety of state and federal laws govern what you can and cannot do during all phases of the hiring process, which includes advertising, interviewing, investigating, testing and selecting employees. You must:
Avoid illegal discrimination or any perception of it.
Respect the applicant’s privacy rights.
Refrain from promises you can’t keep.
Observe the legal rules for hiring immigrants and
Observe the legal rules for hiring young workers.
Q. When I hire someone, do I have to give him or her a written employment contract?
A. No. The law does not require you to use a written employment contract. However, there may be times when using a contract is wise.
Q. Can I hire someone who is younger than 18 years of age? A. There are some restrictions on whether you can hire someone younger than 18 years of age. These restrictions are relate to
The nature of the job (for example, whether it is agricultural or hazardous)
The hours of the job (for example, whether it is full-time or part-time), and
Your relationship to the applicant (for example, whether you are the applicant's parent).
Q. What is Age Discrimination In Employment Act?
A. The ADEA is the primary federal statute that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees in terms, privileges and conditions of employment on the basis of age. The law also applies to employment agencies and labor organizations. To be covered by the ADEA, an individual must be 40 years old or older. (There is no cap on
an employee's age to be covered by the ADEA).
Q. What are anti-discrimination laws?
A. If you employ four or more people these laws apply to you, however, you should keep these anti-discrimination laws in mind during every phase of the hiring process, The federal laws, which apply to employers in all 50 states, generally prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, gender, pregnancy, national origin, religion, disability and age (if the person is older than 40). If you are an employer with at least 15 employees, you must follow these federal laws (although the prohibition against
age discrimination only applies to employers with 20 or more employees).
Q. What is the Fair Labor Standards Act?
A. The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, record- keeping and child labor standards for nearly all workers in the private sector and in Federal, state and local governments.
Q. What are the Employers' Rights and Responsibilities after hiring?
A. As soon as you hire your first employee, you'll need to know about laws governing Employer’s relationships with their workers. As an employer, you will have to follow a host of state and federal laws that regulate your relationship with your employees. Always engage in:
Proper hiring practices, including how to conduct interviews and investigate job applicants without invading their privacy.
Compliance to Wage and hour laws, including those governing the minimum wage, overtime and compensatory time.
Practices and procedures to avoid harassment and discrimination based on a variety of characteristics, including gender, age, race, pregnancy, sexual orientation, disability and national origin.
The minimum requirements for sick, vacation, parental and other types of employee leave.
Ensuring an up-to-date employee handbook, conduct performance reviews and discipline employees
Proper processes to fire an employee without trampling on his or her legal rights.
Processes to protect your business and respect employees' rights when they leave.
Processes and policies allowed under the law to run a background check, do a workplace search or monitor employee conduct
Q. What is Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?
The FMLA provides covered employees with entitlement up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave during any 12 months for the following reasons:
Birth and care of the employee's child or placement for adoption or foster care of a child with the employee;
To care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, parent) who has a serious health condition; or
For the employee's own serious health condition
Q. What is the Americans with Disabilities Act?
A. Under the equal employment provisions of the ADA, it is unlawful for an
employer to discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability. Like most discrimination statutes, the prohibition applies to conduct involving applicants and employees in the terms, privileges and conditions of employment. It is also unlawful to discriminate against an non-disabled individual because of that person's association with a disabled individual.
Q. What precautions should I take when a worker has quit or is fired?
A. When employees quit or are fired, you must give them their final paychecks within the time limits set by state law -- or face some stiff consequences. You will also have to make important decisions about what to tell others, whether to offer a severance package and whether to ask the employee to sign an agreement not to sue. If you are firing a problem employee, you may fear being sued for wrongful termination. You can protect yourself by asking that employee to sign a release.
Q. What is the Employer’s Liability for an Employee's Bad Acts?
A. Like it or not, you might be responsible for harm caused by your employees. Under a handful of legal theories, courts have held employers liable for injuries their employees inflicted on coworkers, customers or total strangers. An employer is legally responsible for the actions of its employees. However, this rule only applies if the employee is acting within the course and scope of employment. In other words, the employer will generally be liable if the employee was doing his job, carrying out company business or otherwise acting on the employer's behalf.
