Viewpoint - Viewpoint

 Like others, I looked forward to the season finale of Donald Trump’s “Apprentice” show…  Had this funny thought pop into my mind…

Having  finished an HR Law course and remember chatting about what constitutes employment.  Talked to a few professional associates – and asked them this question:

“When Donald Trump says ‘you’re fired’, isn’t he implying that there was some type of employment involved?  How can you fire someone who’s not an employee?”

A member of my online HR Law class was John Koenig, an attorney with the Maryland based firm, Robinson & Koenig.  He responded as follows: “that’s a good question!  Certainly some type of implied understanding of employment – whether it was a employee, trainee, recruit or whatever… if not with Donald Trump directly – another alternative theory could be to say that they (the Apprentices) were fired from the show.”

At the time, I talked with Joan Ehrilich, Former District Director of the San Francisco EEOC.  “It’s dramatic license in my opinion.  He’s using it as a clique and it’s very important and effective for television.  He uses the language to make a point on the show.  Anyone can use any form of terminology in interviewing or termination of employment.  What someone does need to be concerned about is - was the terminology sensitive and done in a manner that would avoid lawsuits?  Was an explanation given for the termination of employment or contractual services?  Was an explanation given for not hiring that person? Was the explanation justified and not ‘just a smoke screen’ for another reason that could be interrupted as discrimination or illegal?”

Karen Mattonen C.A.C. C.S.P. of HireCentrix, is a major force in the staffing and recruiting circles I corral around in…  reminded me that an employer could offer the job to anyone they seem fit and most states have “At Will” employment status.  It is within the interviewing and hiring process itself where especially the candidates that didn’t get the job can interrupt actions as discriminatory and/or illegal activities.

Regarding the “Apprentices” and my good pal Donald…  the legal contracts are in place for this specific example as well as the FCC because these people appear on television.  It is my understanding that they are basically classified as “talent” and are technically “actors” – covered by all legal aspects of that industry.

But I think we all could agree that we deal with “talent” when recruiting and trying to staff technology-based staffing requirements.  We all know about the current lawsuits that spur a huge amount of discussion on what constitutes an employee and a contractor – but do all staffing professionals in our industry know exactly what constitutes employment?  (Check out the IRS Federal-State Reference Guide Publication 963, Chapter 4 “Determining Worker Status”).   How about an understanding beyond the IRS SS-8 form?  Does the SS-8 cover you, no matter what?

As recruiting and staffing professionals, I believe that we should be aware legal issues that confront our industry right now.  Topics regarding overtime for contractors, use of H1-B candidates and converting them to employees… lawsuits about employers using contractors to substitute employees….   And hopefully, the Bay Area Technology Recruiters Group will be the venue for you to receive that information… (how do you like that plug ?)…

It’s all about how things are perceived during the interviewing and hiring process – as well as during employment.  If an action, response or behavior during the interviewing process could be perceived as discriminatory or illegal, you’ve got a problem on your hands – and perhaps, legitimately so.

As staffing and recruiting professionals, it is imperative that we sincerely realize the importance of our role in the hiring and recruiting process…  and that our clients and/or employer understands that how the process is conducted is imperative to the bottom line of any business (know what settling out of court for some recent lawsuits have cost technology employers recently?  Know how much time dealing with an EEOC complaint takes away from your HR staff?)…

It’s eventually going to head back to an “employee market” and if prospective employers don’t conduct themselves in a proper, ethical and legal way – they may not only find an in-box full of EEOC complaints, but they will also find many quality, top-notch talent saying “You’re Fired” to that organization for prospective employment consideration for that person’s career (not just a single employment search).

Hope everyone enjoys his or her December Holidays…

Your partner in placement,

Danny!

--------------------------------------

 Biography

Daniel Parrillo – President, Strategi LLC

http://www.linkedin/com/in/strategi

A Senior HR Practitioner, Staffing Manager and Employment Community Manager experienced in human resource strategy, technical staff recruiting and augmentation specifically focusing on software and webservices companies. Experienced with supporting corporate strategies, incorporating employer and product branding into productive recruiting strategies. Believe in order to attract technical talent, recruiting needs to involve both "farming" and "hunting" and a constant advocate of networking. Contribution to staffing websites and human resources organizations demonstrates commitment to morals and ethics in an industry often perceived as unprincipled and unscrupulous. Huge advocate of social networking and senior level knowledgeable of Web 2.0 techniques, passive candidate generation, vendor management, data management, acquisition and employment strategy.

Specialties

Technical Recruiting and Human Resource Services - specializing in staffing strategies and resource augmentation for start-up software and webservices companies in San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley

Comments: