Have to hire?

CathyMac · March 2006

I don't have to hire even though I've advertised a position, right?

ray a · March 2006

Not if your job requirements change.

HRinTN4Life · March 2006

Correct, you do not have to. Somehow I think there's really more to the question, though. Seems loaded.

Paul in Cannon Beach · March 2006

Are you willing to share a little more about the situation? What is your reasoning for not hiring this position after advertising it?

CathyMac · March 2006

You are all very perceptive... the former employee now wants to come back and the supervisor wants her back.

lorrie · March 2006

In that case, it seems to me that you ARE hiring for the position, and you have determined that the most qualified applicant is the previous employee. No problem.

Dutch2 · March 2006

Had you already offered the position to another? As I tell our Supervisors: "You are responsible to select and hire the most qualified person that you can." It would appear on the surface that the person (now applicant) that has already had the job would be very qualified for the position.

hrdir03nafcu · March 2006

CathyMac,

The details you provide are still pretty sketchy....but as I read your posts:

1) the former EE resigned
2) you advertised to fill the job
3) the former EE has now decided she wants to come back to her job.
4) her supervisor (and you?) would like the former EE to return to her old job

If this is the case (??), then I would suggest allowing the former EE to reapply for her old job. We actually require that, once an EE resigns and the resignation is accepted by the organization, the EE cannot simply rescind their resignation-- even if they do so before the effective date of their resignation-- but would have to re-apply for their job, and be considered among other applicants.

Assuming that your former EE was a good EE, and someone you'd WANT to come back to work for the co., consider her application among others you receive. I would think that, based on her previous work record with your co., she would probably be the best qualified/best fit for the job at the end of the process.

I don't know where you're located....but in VA you have no obligation to hire from the pool of applicants who respond to a job ad once you've advertised publicly. So, in VA, there would be no legal problem with simply allowing the EE to return to her job, w/o going thru the process of re-applying. However, I think to do so sets an "evil precedent" that might haunt you in future cases. We established the policy I refer to above SPECIFICALLY to preclude a poor-performing EE who resigns (thus solving our problem) from changing their mind and rescinding their resignation.

WT · March 2006

It looks to me, from your post, that you do not want to rehire this former employee. Perhaps you and the supervisor do not agree on the suitability of this employee for employment with your company. HR generally has the authority to arrange the timing and sequence of events in hiring, among other things, in order to achieve desired results. If there is a good reason for not wanting the former employee back, then do not hire at this time. Supervisors can be notoriously poor judges of character and often make decisions based on what is good for them (friendship, shared activities, various favors from the employee, mutual friends, or other non work related issues) rather than what is good over the long term for the Employer. I have known employees that would do absolutely anything to please their supervisor (except productive work). The supervisor may well love them dearly and I love to see the back side of them as they leave. I would not bring an employee like this back to the company for any reason.

KathyHR · March 2006

If there was a "problem" with the former employee, I'd still fill the position but not with the former employee.
We had a situation like that in January. The person was here 4 years and I was getting a nice documentation file built up on her (had to be very careful as she was a lawyer) and she quit. We were happy. She reapplied for an open position this year and I didn't even consider her. With the other problems we experienced with her we would never hire her back, even if she would have more experience and education. It wouldn't be worth it.

Have to hire?

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