Hiring Practices

We have a school district public library board considering requiring background checks for new employees. They are concerned that they may be legally required to background check all current employees. Would there be any legal reason they would need to do so?

[NOTE: for background to this short answer, please see the much longer "Ask the Lawyer" Background checks and fingerprinting for new employees, that addresses the tightrope walk/legal minefields of employee background checks.]

My questions involve background checks for potential new employees, fingerprinting, developing policies, procedures, and best practices.

This...is a big question.  It's only three short paragraphs.  But it's BIG.

It's "BIG" because the risks of getting this topic wrong are immense--from not only the obvious risks involving legal concerns, but risks involving ethics, privacy, and the goal at the heart of the issue: safety.

Is it possible for a municipal library and an association library to share one employee? The association library would handle payroll and manage benefits, the municipal library would pay the association library their percentage for the employee's time. Could this happen with two association libraries and one municipal library?

I have good news, and bad news. 

First, the bad news: most of the legal factors involved do not support this type of “job share.” 

Now, for the good news: the type of capacity-adding at the heart of the member’s question is feasible…with a slightly different legal structure.

We are considering pre-employment background checks. What should we know when instituting this process?

To implement a background check process on potential hires, you’ll want to avoid workplace discrimination issues by establishing proper notification steps and by taking the following into consideration.

We are thinking of bringing on a 1099 contractor. What should we be aware of?

Many government agencies provide guidance on hiring a 1099 or an employee, and the guidance is centered on the direction and responsibility of the worker and control of work to be done. The first step is knowing the difference between a ‘contractor relationship’ and an ‘employee relationship.