Resources for Hiring Managers

Use this guide to navigate the hiring process in NEOED.

• Hiring Manager User Guide

Use this guide to understand the lawful and unlawful questions you can ask throughout the pre-employment process per the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

Address

• Lawful | Applicant's current and prior address
• Unlawful | Not Applicable

Age

• Lawful | Are you 18 or older?
• Unlawful | Applicant's age or date of birth

Arrests

• Lawful | Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Have you ever been arrested for a felony?
• Unlawful | Misdemeanor arrests, which did not result in conviction, unless the applicant is seeking a position with a law enforcement agency.

Birthplace

• Lawful | Not Applicable
• Unlawful | Birthplace of applicant and applicant’s relatives; birth certificate, naturalization, and baptismal records, unless required by federal law.

Citizenship

• Lawful | Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?
• Unlawful | These questions are unlawful unless asked as part of the Federal I-9 process. Of what country are you a citizen? Are you a naturalized or native-born citizen? Are your parents or spouse naturalized or native-born citizens?

Disability

• Lawful | Ability to perform the essential functions of the job with or without accommodation.
• Unlawful | Physical or mental conditions which are not functions of the job, with or without/directly related to the requirements of an accommodation.

Education

• Lawful | Applicant’s academic, vocational, or professional education and schools attended.
• Unlawful | 

Genetic Testing

• Lawful |
• Unlawful | Applicant’s genetic information; requiring the applicant to undergo genetic testing.

Height or Weight

• Lawful | 
• Unlawful | Applicant’s height or weight.

Marital Status

• Lawful |
• Unlawful | Marital status or children; titles such as Mr., Mrs., or Ms.

Name

• Lawful | Applicant’s name; other names used by applicant.
• Unlawful | Applicant’s maiden name.

National Origin

• Lawful | Languages spoken and written by applicant.
• Unlawful | Applicant's lineage, ancestry, national origin, or nationality.

Notice in Case of Emergency

• Lawful | Name, address, and phone number of person to be notified in case of accident or emergency.
• Unlawful | Name, address, and phone number of a relative to be notified in case of accident or emergency.

Organizations

• Lawful | The organizations and clubs to which the applicant belongs, except as noted in the column on the right.
• Unlawful | Names of organizations to which an applicant belongs, if information would reveal the race, color, religion, national origin, or ancestry of the members of the organization.

Photograph

• Lawful | 
• Unlawful | Applicant’s photograph prior to hire.

Race or Color

• Lawful |
• Unlawful | Applicant’s race, national origin, or color.

Religion

• Lawful |
• Unlawful | Religious denomination or affiliation; religious holidays observed.

Sex

• Lawful | 
• Unlawful | Applicant’s gender; ability or desire to have children; child care arrangements.

The rubrics below can help your hiring team evaluate individual or multiple candidates at once during the hiring process.

• Candidate Evaluation Rubric - Individual
• Candidate Evaluation Rubric - Multiple
• Post-Interview Evaluation Rubric

Follow the procedures below when checking references.

• Use the approved Reference Check Forms linked below.
• Every attempt should be made to complete reference checks by phone. Email may be used if repeated attempts by phone are unsuccessful.
  • If references are unresponsive, contact the candidate and ask them to provide a different reference, or ask the reference to respond.
• Information you receive in the reference check should never be disclosed to the candidate.
• Refrain from telling an applicant that the reason they are not being offered the position is a poor reference. The reference provided information in confidence and assumes information will remain confidential.
• The completed reference check form (even if a person is not hired) must be returned to Human Resources and becomes part of the employee/applicant personnel file or vacancy file.
• Carefully question the validity of comments made by former employers. It is not uncommon for employers to express negative feelings toward a good employee who resigned for a better position. Likewise, employees terminated for poor performance sometimes work out a deal with their former employers to ensure positive reference checks. Probe for objective statements regarding job performance.
• Do not assume that a reported personality conflict is the applicant’s fault.
• Having been fired does not necessarily mean a person is a bad risk. Get an explanation before jumping to conclusions.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do

• Speak with the referral on the phone, if possible.
• Set a positive tone.
• Follow local, state, and federal laws.
• Ask the same reference questions for all job applicants.
• Notify the job applicant that you will be contacting the references.
• Document who you talked with and the information provided.
• Be upfront with the references about why you are contacting them.
• Understand your state or local laws about salary history questions.
• Speak with 1-2 references for students and 3 or more for full-time positions.

Don’t

• Rush the call.
• Ask leading questions.
• Ask for protected class information.
• Contact people without the candidate’s consent.
• Assign reference checking to a hiring team member who doesn’t understand the role.

Use these forms to record reference checks. 

• Reference Check Form - Phone
• Reference Check Form - Email or Fax

Use these checklists to ensure your new team member gets off to a great start at Mid.

• New Employee Onboarding Worksheet - Supervisor