Category Archives: Employment Legal News
Employment Background Checks: What Can You Look For, and How? Part IV – Credit Checks
After criminal background checks, credit checks are probably the next most-often factor searched on prospective employees. It doesn’t matter whether the job is within the banking or finance industry either. As long as the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act are followed (see Part II in this series), an employer may run a… Read More »
Employment Background Checks: What Can You Look For, and How? Part III – Criminal Checks
Of all the information an employer may want on a prospective or current employee, the person’s criminal record may be the most sought after. A person’s criminal history (or lack thereof) can provide important clues as to the individual’s honesty and integrity, propensity toward violence, and other sensitive issues. In the last installment –… Read More »
Employment Background Checks: What Can You Look For, and How? Part II – The Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is an 85-page piece of federal legislation regulating the collection and dissemination of a wide variety of consumer information, including credit history and status but also much more. If you are seeking information on an employee or applicant from a third-party source, chances are your actions are governed… Read More »
Employment Background Checks: What Can You Look For, and How? Part I – Introduction
It is a common practice for employers to run background checks on prospective employees. A background check can be used to verify the accuracy of an employment application by providing information on an individual’s social security number; address; places and dates of education, including degrees obtained; and current or past places of employment. Much… Read More »
Construction Workers: Secure Your Right to Compensation with Bonds and Liens
Workers in the construction industry are not always guaranteed secure employment. In contrast to salaried workers, many construction workers are independent contractors, or are only employed on a per project basis. Being paid for the work they do is of primary importance, but being paid adequately and on time can sometimes be a dicey… Read More »
Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey to Work as Independent Contractors in the New Hobbit Movie
Movie director Peter Jackson is delving into Middle Earth once again, this time to film The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a series of books which have been turned into movies with smashing box office success. In The Hobbit, a team of dwarves hire Bilbo Baggins as a… Read More »
Identity Theft Can Ruin Your Day
Okay, so you probably already knew that identity theft could ruin your day. You probably knew it could ruin your credit rating as well. But did you ever think that it might get you fired? The problem occurs when an employer runs a background check and uncovers information about you that you didn’t even… Read More »
Employment At-Will and its Exceptions: Statutory and Constitutional Protections
We have been looking at the concept of at-will employment which states that an employee may be terminated at any time for a good reason, a bad reason, or for no reason at all. In the last entry, we discussed how the existence of an employment contract, which may be express or implied, can… Read More »
Employment At-Will and its Exceptions: The Employment Contract
In part one of this series we introduced the concept of employment at-will: the idea that you can quit or be fired at any time for any reason or for no reason at all. We also hinted at the fact that some major exceptions have grown up around this doctrine, and seem to swallow… Read More »
Employment At-Will and its Exceptions: Introduction
The doctrine of employment at-will states that you can be fired at any time for any reason – a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all. You remain hired only at the will of your employer, who has the right to terminate that employment as he or she sees fit. At… Read More »
