When Recruiting, the Law, and COVID-19 Collide

The current pandemic has raised numerous legal questions and challenges when it comes to hiring. As we continue to tread through difficult and confusing times, it’s important to ensure that your recruitment practices remain both effective and compliant.

Recently, ERE legal columnist Kate Bischoff sat down with ERE editor Vadim Liberman for a Facebook Live discussion and Q&A to help you figure out what you can — and can’t — do to manage through this crisis. The range of questions, many of which came from the audience, included:

Can an employer ask medical questions or for proof of COVID-19 status — of both candidate and household members — during the hiring process?
Should companies be doing temperature checks of candidates with whom they are meeting in person?
Can an employer coronavirus-related criteria to determine who should and shouldn’t come in for an in-person interview?
What are companies permitted to do now that they weren’t previously when it comes to hiring?
Can you withdraw an offer if you need someone to start right away if that person comes down with COVID-19 after the offer has been accepted?
Can an employer devise COVID-19-related hiring criteria based on job duties? For instance, if certain jobs involve people being around coworkers more than other jobs
And what if such rules have adverse impact on certain protected classes?
Can you not hire someone who refuses to work onsite out of virus concerns?
What legal considerations should you consider when rehiring furloughed workers?

Click below to view the Facebook Live session for insights related to these and other questions: