How to Hire an Employee
Are you a business owner that would like to handle your recruitment and hiring process but are unsure of compliance and effective practices to implement? You are not alone; most new, small, and growing businesses can’t justify having a full-time human resources employee yet but there isn’t anyone at your business equipped to handle an effective and compliant new hire process. The good news is that talent acquisition laws in Texas are relatively straightforward and once you have your process organized, it doesn’t require a lot of energy. Hooray! You can do this!
Job Description Overview
Start with creating an attractive job description. The job description is your opportunity to set the tone of your organization’s culture and the employee’s job duties, function, responsibilities, and expectations of behavior. It details how work is to be completed and the frequency and purpose of the work as it relates to the organization's mission and goals. It is a good practice to provide the job description during the interview process and most of the information in the document will be included in the job post (more on the job post listed below).
Job descriptions are used for a variety of reasons, such as determining salary levels, conducting performance reviews, succession planning, clarifying missions, establishing titles and pay grades, creating reasonable accommodation controls, and as a tool for recruiting.
Job descriptions are useful in career planning, offering training exercises and establishing legal requirements for compliance purposes. A job description gives an employee a clear and concise resource to be used as a guide for job performance. Likewise, a supervisor can use a job description as a measuring tool to ensure that the employee is meeting job expectations.
Keep in mind, once you have hired an employee in the role, it is a good practice to review and edit the job description once or twice a year to ensure the information accurately reflects the position. And of course, provide the latest version to the employee and collect an employee signed and dated copy to be retained in the employee file.
Job Analysis
To start the job description, you’ll need to complete a job analysis. This is a process of gathering, examining and interpreting data about the job's tasks will supply accurate information about the job so that an organization can perform efficiently. Below is a brief overview of the information that should be collected:
Collect data on jobs from salary surveys on the top online job websites then compare with the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Determine the position classification as exempt or non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Exempt employees must meet both salary and duties tests. Also, misclassification of employees as independent contractors is common. If you wish, SpruceHR can guide you in job classification or you can click the links to determine your compliance with both.
What is the reason the job exists and how does it contribute to the organization’s mission?
What are job duties and how should they be performed?
What acquired knowledge, skills, and abilities are required?
What are the physical attributes an employee must have to perform the role with or without accommodation?
What are the working conditions, inside or outside of the office?
What is the minimum education level, experience, license, certification and other credentials acceptable for this position?
These questions may be tough to answer if your business is in its infancy or you are adding a new position. SpruceHR recommends networking with other business owners to share information and ideas on job analysis. In addition, you can search job boards to read job posts of the same role for inspiration. If you would like more information on job analysis, email us and we will provide a complimentary job analysis questionnaire and we are also here to help.
Essential Functions
The next step in the job description creation process is to establish essential functions from the job analysis. This means you should revisit each job task and make a decision on if it is truly a requirement to perform the job. Then, determine the frequency and time to complete each task. Make sure to include the consequences of not performing the function and how it will affect the company.
Federal and State of Texas Employment Law
What does employment law have to do with job descriptions and job posts when you haven’t even hired them yet? Well, quite a bit. When creating your job description (and job post), ensure the language is compliant by not disqualifying candidates in a protected group. For example, all language should be gender neutral, free of pronouns (he/she). Other language to keep out of job descriptions and job posts, unless the company is prepared to prove that such criteria are justified by business necessity, would be anything that the EEOC might consider to have a direct or indirect impact on minorities, such as "must be currently employed", "recent graduate", "no criminal record", or "must live within city limits".
The hiring process should be free of any indication that the hiring decision will be based in any way upon the protected groups listed below unless there is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). BFOQ is a provision that permits discriminatory practices in employment if a person's religion, sex, or national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of your business.
Thresholds for Coverage Under Employment-Related Laws
Every employer in Texas with at least one employee is covered by the law that requires employers to provide equal pay for equal work to male and female employees. It is also prohibited to discriminate based on race, color, national origin, workers compensation history, bankruptcy history or bankruptcy claim filing status, and an independent contractor is protected from only race/color discrimination. At four or more employees, employees are protected against discrimination based upon national origin or citizenship.
When your business reaches 15-19 employees, employees are protected against discrimination based upon gender (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), religion, military veteran status, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), as well as the use, gathering, and disclosure of genetic information in the context of employment relationships and disabilities, the perception of disabilities, or association with people with disabilities.
When your business reaches 20 or more employees, employees 40 years of age or older are protected from discrimination. If your company is a federal contractor or subcontractor, you have a responsibility to meet additional obligations, regardless of your employee headcount. Please contact us if you’d like to discuss.
It is smart to create your hiring process to comply and exceed all state and federal employment laws regardless of your number of employees. Why? Employment laws regarding hiring trend to support diversity, equity, and inclusion. Employees retain and will likely provide a great experience for your customers if they feel valued, appreciated, and empowered.
Job Description
Once the essential functions are determined it’s time to organize it concisely into a job description. All job descriptions within your organization should be standardized with the same appearance. Below is a list of topics that should be included in your job descriptions:
Job title, the name of the position.
Classification, exempt or nonexempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Salary Range, one of the reasons employees stay is because they are paid fairly. If you do your research on salary from the job analysis, you should be confident in providing at least a mid-point salary range. Some employers shy away from listing the salary range but it will save you and the job applicant time and frustration if it is listed.
Supervisor—list the title of the position this job reports to.
Date, when the job description was written or last reviewed.
Position Summary/objective, summary and overall objectives of the job.
Essential functions, essential functions, including how an individual is to perform them and the frequency with which the tasks are performed; the tasks must be part of the job function and truly necessary or required to perform the job.
Competency, knowledge, skills and abilities.
Supervisory responsibilities, direct reports, if any, and the level of supervision.
Work environment, the work environment; temperature, noise level, inside or outside, or other factors that will affect the person's working conditions while performing the job.
Physical demands, the physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving.
Position type and expected hours of work, full time or part time, typical work hours and shifts, days of week, and whether overtime is expected.
Travel, percentage of travel time expected for the position, where the travel occurs, such as locally or in specific countries or states, and whether the travel is overnight.
Required education and experience, education and experience based on requirements that are job-related and consistent with business necessity.
Preferred education and experience, preferred education and experience based on requirements that are job-related and consistent with business necessity.
Additional eligibility qualifications, additional requirements such as certifications, industry-specific experience and the experience working with certain equipment.
Affirmative action plan/equal employment opportunity (AAP/EEO) statement, clause(s) that outlines federal contractor requirements and practices and/or equal employer opportunity statement.
Add a disclaimer that the job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.
Signatures are an important part of validating the job description. They show that the job description has been approved and that the employee understands the requirements, essential functions, and duties of the position. Signatures should include those of the supervisor and of the employee.
Job Post
Now that you have completed the job description, the next step is to create a job post. Job posts are meant to catch the attention of candidates. When creating job post, try to shift your view to the job seeker by adding what would attract you to the position. What aspects of your business are important for the job seeker to see? Much of the job post comes from the job description.
What to include in your job post:
Summary of Company explaining your business
Mission, Vision, Core Values: Your future employer/employee relationship needs a strong foundation. This is your opportunity to set the tone of your organization’s culture and the future employee’s expectation of behavior.
Job Description excluding #5 & #19 listed in the job description
Benefit Package details, such as, company vacation days and paid time off, health, dental, vision
Directions on how to submit the job application and other requests, such as, resume, cover letter, references or other information you require.
Need some help? SpruceHR is equipped with a comprehensive library of job descriptions and job posts available à la carte that can be customized by you. We can customize your job descriptions and job posts for you as well.
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SpruceHR is a human resources consulting firm that is here to help your organization maximize the potential of your greatest asset, your employees.
Contact us at (281) 502-2200, info@SpruceHR.com, or https://www.SpruceHR.com/
Note: We strive to keep information in our blogs current. This blog was created May 2021 and information shared may be incorrect in the future due to changes in employment law. Please contact us with any questions.
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