Legal Aid Employment Law

Q. Information within an employment program is critical. Why?

Q. Can I legally entitled to utilize search applications to attain background history on workers for prescreening to assess criminal history, workman's comp background, and so on, and after hire?

Q. Does the law govern how workers are hired?

Before starting the hiring process, an employer should gather a set of prerequisites and criteria for your job. An employer can use these needs to compare applicants to decide who is to be given an offer of employment. The company can match each applicant's skill, experience and background with all the requirements and standards . This helps a company eliminate discriminatory and prohibited practices in reaching a decision, from being used.

Q. What's the difference between employee and independent contractor?

An independent contractor is in company for him/herself. The independent contractor makes quarterly state and federal personal income tax deposits (based on annual estimates), pays the whole contribution to social security and Medicare taxes, and provides his/her own insurance and benefits. An independent contractor doesn't gain from any unemployment insurance program and isn't subject to wage and hour regulations.

Q. Is a business required to offer disability insurance coverage for the employees?

A. No. While it is not uncommon to supply "employee benefit" policy for workers, the law generally does not ask for a business to achieve that. However, in the event of disability insurance that's a part of an employer-sponsored health program, that situation is changing. Especially, the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) that took effect January 1, 1998, and one of the main features of the Act, guarantees the continued access to health insurance, regardless of medical condition, for all those already with policy through employment or otherwise. For this reason, and others concerning court cases and state laws, while there may be no obligation to offer health insurance, even once health insurance is in place for an employed individual it will normally remain available. This is particularly governed by collective bargaining agreements.