H E A L T H L A W Hiring an Employee ■ JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP L et’s be honest, we have all done it: hired someone who, in ret- rospect, had only two brain cells, both of which turned out to be mutually inhibitory. Have I told you about the time (many years ago) when I hired a provider who, on a busy day, locked himself in the bath- room and screamed, “If you don’t get me some more help, I am going to start drinking?” Since I was not sure what he could drink other than tap or toi- let water, I was not concerned about him becoming intoxicated (for the internists in the audience, yes he could have become water intoxicated) during the shift. Had I taken the time to per- form a background check on him I would have learned that he was a “troubled soul” who, years later, would be caught cook- ing meth in his garage. There is wide variation in the diligence organizations use in their pre-hiring process. On one end of the spectrum there is an urgent care center whose screening criteria consists of measur- ing the BMI=IQ/4 ratio. An applicant’s IQ had to be at least four times their Body Mass Index. The other end of the spectrum was an urgent care that did in- depth personality profiles and background checks on all their prospective applicants. Somewhere between these two extremes lies an appropriate screening process. I recently had an ex-employee’s prospective employer call me about a reference. Unfortunately, the former employee had dif- ficulty working with the nursing staff and she treated the patients as if they were a bother to her. I commended the person on inquiring about her history and was very honest about the employee’s strengths and shortcomings. Interestingly, one study showed that less than half of employ- ers check on the references of their prospective employees. Some former employers will only discuss dates of employ- ment, title, position, and possibly salary. Many employers are reluctant to say anything negative, due to concerns about libel John Shufeldt is the founder of the Shufeldt Law Firm, as well as the chief executive officer of NextCare, Inc., and sits on the Editorial Board of JUCM. He may be contacted at JJS@shufeldtlaw.com. 36 or slander suits. However, even incomplete information is helpful inasmuch as you can compare it to what the applicant submits on their application. The take-home point is to call a prospective employee’s references as well as others who can speak to their competen- cy and integrity. A gap in a resume can be a harbinger of something untoward and should be questioned until the truth is ascertained, as it may be attributed to something as noble as time spent de-worming orphans in Somalia (Legally Blond) or, conversely, it could mean that the applicant had a job which ended badly or was interred for a stint at Betty Ford. Either way, it is information that is helpful in the hiring process. Avoid “Oops” Questions It is also important to be aware of your own potential for mis- steps when conducting an interview. Once, I was interviewing a woman to be our HR director. She was not very talkative and I was struggling to keep the conver- sation going so I asked her if she was planning on having chil- dren. She turned red and said, “Well, someday.” After she left, our chief operating officer was nothing short of incredulous. She said, “What is wrong with you? You can’t ask a woman if she is planning on having kids during an interview!” Who knew? Federal and state laws protect people from being discriminat- ed against on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, and, in some states, marital status. Therefore, you must ensure that during an interview you do not imply that you have a preference for a certain “type of person.” You can ask if a person is able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommoda- tions. If an accommodation is needed, you can ask what that accommodation consists of. Also, during the interview, no remarks should be made about any protected characteristic (race, color, and creed) nor should hiring decisions be based upon what “kind of person” your staff or your patients want to associate with. There are times when you may want to offer someone a job during the interview. I call these the “fog the mirror” or the “you JUCM T h e J o u r n a l o f U r g e n t C a r e M e d i c i n e | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7 w w w. j u c m . c o m