Are You Violating Federal Law in the Interview Process?

Intro: [00:00:01] Broadcasting from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, it’s time for Dental Law Radio. Dental Law Radio is brought to you by Oberman Law Firm, a leading dental-centric law firm serving dental clients on a local, regional, and national basis. Now, here’s your host, Stuart Oberman.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:26] Hello everyone, and welcome to the Dental Law podcast. You know, as we go into this second half of the year, if you will, we’re seeing a lot of H.R. Movement in the Federal Law area. And we’re becoming more and more astute as to interviewing process, Americans with Disabilities Act. And we’re getting a lot of questions regarding the interview process. What do we do? How do we do it? What’s the questions? What’s not the questions? What’s the proper answer? Are we doing Zoom calls? What’s the protocols for the interviews now in today’s world?

Stuart Oberman: [00:01:04] So, I want to hit a couple of things that, really, our doctors are do not know about, I would say as a whole. And I think it’s important because it is one less step that doctors have to worry about. So, we’re going to talk a little bit about are you violating Federal Law during the interview process, which is an absolute loaded question.

Stuart Oberman: [00:01:24] So, what we’re discovering now is, actually, interviewees on Zoom calls are actually recording your phone calls or recording your sessions. We’re discovering that potential candidates are also recording your conversations during an interview process. So, what you thought was a confidential communication between a prospective employee and employer is now going viral. So, I think you got to be very, very, very careful how the interview process takes place, the procedures in place, make sure the questions are in place, make sure that you have the protocols in place to have a legitimate interview process, which is not in violation of State and Federal Law.

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:20] But I want to talk about a lawsuit that came about that, I think, has been on the horizon for a while and it’s been a topic of a lot of things that we see in our dental offices also. So, on April 29, 2001, the EEOC filed suit against Wal-Mart. Again, I want to drill this down to how this affects our doctors, an interview process. So, our doctors have to be aware of the American with Disabilities Act whenever they are interviewing anyone or actually working with employees on a day-to-day basis.

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:53] So, what does this lawsuit allege? It alleges something our doctors probably do not do on a daily basis. The allegation, that Wal-Mart violated the Federal Law by not providing a sign language interpreter for the applicant. So, the question is, doctors, staff members, team members, what are you going to do if you discover that an applicant who’s qualified, that’s a good candidate, comes with an ADA requirements – Americans with Disabilities Act requirements – for a legitimate interview, and you have to accommodate that. Do you have a procedure in place to accommodate that worker?

Stuart Oberman: [00:03:47] An interview process, you have to hire them, but do you have a process in place to accommodate them? So, the allegation is, they basically failed to hire this particular person because he was deaf. So, the EEOC, of course, says the ADA requires that employers provide a disabled and able-bodied applicants the same opportunity to compete for the job, which is fair. The question is, when you do your interview process, are you doing that? How are you doing that? What’s the process? Do you even know, when that person comes in, if there’s a disability? And if so, what do you do when you discovered that interview process? Or, do you do what probably a lot of our employers or doctors do, have a ten-minute interview and they’re done? You made the decision even before the person sits down.

Stuart Oberman: [00:04:47] So, the bottom line is, is that, when the H.R. process or an interview process, you have to make sure, one, your questions are legitimate. Two, your reasoning is legitimate. Three, that you’re absolutely complying with all the ADA requirements that are required to provide the applicant the same opportunity as a – I’ll use the term – normal bodied person that is not subject to the American with Disabilities Act.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:21] So, the bottom line is, is that, as these rates increase, as our exposure increases because potential candidates are now recording conversations, candidates are now putting things viral, interview process-wise, the EEOC is going to hold you accountable. That’s the last thing you need. And you’re trying to hire a candidate and, all of a sudden, you’ve got the EEOC filing a complaint against you because you failed to comply with the ADA.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:52] So, when you start this process again, H.R., H.R. in dental offices is your biggest nightmare. You got a procedure in place; you’ve got a person appointed in your office to understand this. This is not your sixth person position. You can’t have one person doing H.R. You can’t have one person doing payroll. You can’t have the same person doing hygiene, checking out. It’s not going to work. That’s a recipe for disaster.

Stuart Oberman: [00:06:21] So, again, take a look at your policies, tailor your procedures, what is your H.R. in place? Especially in today’s economy where it is so hard to find workers, workers are as transient as ever in today’s world. Some of our doctors are showing 30, 40, 60, 70 percent turnovers. That is a lot. And you have to have a policy in place, procedures in place, for interviews. It is critical. A bad interview, a bad procedure, a bad H.R. matter will set you back months and years.

Stuart Oberman: [00:06:58] So, quick update, H.R.. Do it, get it in place, keep up to date what’s going on. For those who really want to get involved in H.R. process, I would urge you to reach out to us. We do have a newsletter for our clients. We really try to have a lot of bullet points on H.R. process because it is so ongoing. They’re not comprehensive. It’s not a six day read. A lot of us just touch points what you need to know. Please feel free to give us a call. Please reach out to us. That’s what we do every day so we have a lot of knowledge with any industry.

Stuart Oberman: [00:07:37] Any questions, please feel free to give us a call at 770-886-2400. Feel free to reach out to me directly, stuartoberman – Stuart, S-T-U-AR-T – @obermanlaw.com. Thank you everyone. Hopefully, this has been of some value. If you just took away one particular piece of advice, then it’s a success as far as I’m concerned. Have a great day. And we’ll see you back in our next podcast.