A prospective employee arrives on time and prepared to interview for a new position and your first inclination is to make her feel comfortable with a few questions about her family or her place of birth - right? Jeff Tenenbaum, David Warner and Simone Putnam - our panel on hiring and firing at the March luncheon say, "Stop right there."  As innocent and well-meaning as the questions appear, their answers may give cause for a claim of discrimination if the applicant is not hired.  The panel warns "Claims can come from any direction, and they do."
 

What followed were advice and stories that the panel called "common sense dos and don'ts."  If followed carefully, the interview will tell you what you need to know and - should it become necessary - will protect you from claims of discrimination or breach of contract.  The core of the hiring process comes from (1) describing exactly the behaviors you expect from any employee doing the job.  You do this in the job description, the employee handbook and the offer letter; (2) advertising your open position widely; (3) and having diversity among your interviewers and training them in which questions to ask and which ones are taboo.  That's only the beginning - but it's a good start.
 

The panel welcomed audience questions throughout the presentation, adding interest and personal experiences to the discussion and leaving little time to spend on questions about firing.  See the program slides for more information on this end of the process and let us know if this is a topic you'd like to see again.