• Recruiting and Hiring
• Finding Qualified Employees
• Business Tools for Recruiting and Hiring
• Workers' Compensation: Avoiding Legal Pitfalls
• Tax Credits, Incentives, and Services
• Business Tools for New Hire Tax Reporting
• Hiring Foreign Workers
• Business Tools for Verifying Employment Eligibility

Recruiting and Hiring Top
Here are a few points to consider before starting the recruiting and hiring process:

1. Should you hire someone? Determine if you'll need the extra help for the foreseeable future. You may be able to meet your needs by using independent contractors, temporary help, leased employees, and for the small- to medium-sized businesses (SMB), even family members.

2. What legal responsibilities are involved? At a minimum, you'll need to keep extensive payroll records and withhold taxes. As you add employees, the regulations also increase. 

3. What do you need done? What tasks and duties need to be performed? Using detailed job descriptions can help. 

4. How do you let people know that you have a job opening? Contact your local Workforce Oklahoma center and let them know you need staff.

5. How do you gather information from applicants and check backgrounds? You need to determine whether you want applications, resumes, or both. Will you require additional testing? And to avoid negligent hiring claims and to protect your business, make sure to thoroughly check references, credentials, and maybe even run a credit check

Finding Qualified Employees Top
Oklahoma's 1.5 million workers are widely recognized for their strong work ethic and are consistently ranked among the nation's most productive. Absenteeism, work stoppages, and turnover levels are well below national averages, and Oklahoma is a Right to Work state.

Career Readiness - a nationwide system of skill assessment and certification designed to help you find qualified employees with documented skills based on the "real world" of any work place. You can match the Career Readiness levels of certified candidates against skill requirements for thousands of profiled occupations.

To use Career Readiness Certificates as a job requirement, rather than a preference, you need to go beyond the pre-defined profiles and get a profile individually customized to your company. Job profiles can sometimes be completed at no cost for certain high-demand well-paying jobs. For more information, contact Susan Kuzmic at 405-809-3582.

Oklahoma Job Link -- a free job match and workplace information service for employers -- can help plug you into this skilled labor pipeline. Offered through the Workforce Network of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Job Link lets employers post jobs, search for qualified employees, research career information, receive automatic e-mail notification when new job seekers post resumes that match their job openings, and much more.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (DOLETA) provides free services and resources to employers looking for qualified employees.

Labor Surveys: Labor surveys on the Oklahoma Resources Integration General Information Network System (ORIGINS) examine the availability of labor in many regions of Oklahoma. They represent a joint effort of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the University of Oklahoma, and local economic development organizations. These studies include the following data:

• Occupational mix of the labor force
• Numbers of underemployed by skill type
• Desirability for hourly jobs within the $8 to $10 range
• Willingness to commute or change employment
• Skills of individuals interested in entering the labor market and educational attainment.

Oklahoma's Child Labor Law limits working hours for 14- and 15-year olds and restricts the type of work allowed for those up to age 17. 

Oklahoma Wage Law sets certain requirements for paying workers and settling disputes. The Wage and Hour Unit provides free required posters and enforces wage claims.

Business Tools for Recruiting and Hiring Top

Employee hiring package: When hiring new employees, employers must take steps to protect themselves from charges of discriminatory hiring practices. You must ensure that a job offer doesn't imply a "contract of employment." The U.S. Chamber of Commerce provides a variety of business tools and resources designed to help employers through this process.

The Chamber's Employee Hiring Package, for example, includes four documents: (1) an application template to ensure you have all the relevant information at hand to pick the best applicants; (2) a waiver form to protect you from unintentionally creating an employment contract during the hiring process; (3) a form to help document your hiring selection process to show that you're not engaging in discriminatory practices; and (4) a post-employment information form for your employee records. The forms are Microsoft Word 6.0 forms and can be easily customized.

Workers' Compensation: Avoiding Legal Pitfalls Top
Every business owner must be prepared to deal with workers' compensation issues and claims. No matter how safe you try to make the workplace or how careful you are in hiring people, accidents happen. The actions you take or neglect to take can prove critical to your financial future. First, you must know the law.  Oklahoma's Employment Security Act   

Documentation is crucial to managing workers' compensation claims. By taking affirmative steps to keep on top of the situation, you can minimize your exposure to unwarranted claims and expenses. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce provides a comprehensive checklist for handling workers' compensation claims. This list highlights a number of common indications that a worker's claim might be fraudulent. Although only a small fraction of claims are fraudulent, the cases that do occur are expensive, can reduce productivity, and can send your insurance premiums through the roof.

Tax Credits, Incentives, and Services Top
A variety of state and federal tax credits, incentives, and services exist to help employers hire people from underemployed groups, including people with disabilities, former recipients of long-term family assistance, and people who have been convicted of crimes and have served their prison sentences.

Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)--a tax credit offered to employers who hire members of targeted groups that have traditionally faced significant barriers to employment. Eligible workers include certain individuals in the following categories:

• Title IV-A recipient
• Veteran
• Ex-felon
• Designated community resident
• Vocational rehabilitation recipient
• Summer youth
• Food stamp recipient
• SSI recipient
• Long-term family assistance recipien

Hiring workers with disabilities: There are three major tax incentives available to help employers offset the costs of accommodations for employees with disabilities and make your businesses more accessible to customers with disabilities.

1. Small Business Tax Credit: IRS Code Section 44, Disabled Tax Credit--allows small businesses (those with a maximum of $1 million in revenue or with 30 or fewer full-time employees) to take an annual tax credit for making their businesses accessible.
2. Architectural/Transportation Tax Deduction: IRS Code Section 190, Barrier Removal--allows businesses to take an annual deduction of expenses incurred to remove physical, structural, and transportation barriers for employees with disabilities.
3. WOTC (discussed above)

More on these tax credits

Business Tools for New Hire Tax Reporting Top
Through the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission's (OESC), employers can now report new hire tax information online. Free Online Tax Service

Hiring Foreign Workers Top
Foreign labor certification programs permit U.S. employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary or permanent basis to fill jobs essential to the economy. More on hiring foreign labor.
Business Tools for Verifying Employment Eligibility Top
Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, all employers are required to verify the identity and eligibility to work in the United States of all employees hired after November 6, 1986. To do this, you must use an I-9 Form from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Once completed, you don't send the information to the government but keep it on file in case an INS inspector ever requests it. I-9 Form