While the “must be employed to apply” philosophy may make sense, federal regulators are examining these types of policies, and at least one state has made it illegal.

Can a solid presence on social media benefit you as an HVACR contractor? You bet it can.

Taking workers off the clock for their meal periods can lead to litigation and government investigations if not done with care.

First, what is a one-legger?

Imagine one of your employees bashes your company or their coworkers on Facebook. You might think that you could fire that employee. But you would probably be wrong. Or consider whether you should Google job applicants. It may seem like a no-brainer, but if you don’t do it correctly, you could end up in the midst of a lawsuit.

This article should really be titled “Miracle Closing Technique for the Estimate-Getting Researcher.” As you will read, it’s really not a miracle at all. It’s more common sense. There are many kinds of customers, but the most classic might be the we’re-getting-estimates customer.

The Social Security Administration’s re-introduction of No-Match Letters, along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s skyrocketing issuance of Notice of Inspections of I-9s, evidences the federal government’s increasingly aggressive stance to curb the hiring of unauthorized workers and to penalize employers who do.

The bottom line is that if there is no sale made or no money coming in, there is no company. One thing that seems to elude contractors at times is their ability to ask for the order. In other words, “close the sale.” Years ago I learned to plan your close in advance and build your sales presentation around it.

To bring more objective standards to the hiring and promotion process, many organizations are using or considering employment tests. However, when employment tests are not designed, administered, or used correctly, they can leave employers vulnerable to claims of discrimination and reverse discrimination.

What is good judgment anyway? It’s not the same thing as sheer brain power, or mental capacity, or natural intelligence. It’s not a matter of accumulated knowledge or memorized information. It’s more than the mastery of techniques and tools. In simple terms, good judgment is the ability to see the connection between causes and their effects.