Hiring Requirements Research Articles

Laws of European Countries are Very Protective of the Employees

This paper will provide a brief opinion about the laws of employment in European countries especially the employment law of UK including the EU directives, which is very protective for the employees. It will briefly respond to the inquiry for any investor who would like to invest in Europe. It will explain the relation between employer and employee, What laws govern employer/employee relations, are there restrictions on the ability to terminate employees? Are there obligations to train employees, Is there a minimum wage, Is there required bonuses or profit sharing with employees, are there a maximum number of hours an employee can work each week. Are there rules to follow in hiring/dismissing personnel (e.g. notice)? Is there a minimum number of vacation and sick days to be given employment regulations, hiring and firing requirements, safety stander, are there safety codes which must be followed labour availability, and union. In some European counties, employee benefit package cost more than employee salaries. Are there mandatory collective bargaining agreements for the business involved? Moreover, these worker rights and protections in Europe unavoidably result in higher direct and indirect costs for companies, affecting their international competitiveness. Any informed analysis of doing business in Europe requires careful consideration of these labor and employment laws.

Employers' hiring practices, employment protection, and costly search: A vacancy-level analysis

An employer with a vacancy may respond to high search costs by lowering hiring requirements. While such an adjustment increases the employer's chances of filling the vacancy, it also more likely results in a match that terminates when the match is hit by match-specific productivity shocks. Drawing on a novel Slovenian vacancy dataset, we find that employers who are searching to fill temporary positions are more likely to hire underqualified workers when search costs are high. We find that search costs are taken into consideration when employers are searching to fill permanent positions in some specifications but not all. These findings suggest that for employers who are searching to fill a permanent position, the benefits of lowering hiring requirements when search costs are high are likely outweighed by: a) high firing costs if an under-qualified worker is hired on a permanent contract or b) the costs of undertaking a new search later if an under-qualified worker is hired on a temporary contract. These are novel findings about the employers' hiring practices in the presence of employment protection laws and costly search.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities of International Business Majors

To compete in a global environment, firms need people with the appropriate international knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA). Undergraduate international business (IB) majors may not be taught the specific KSA that match those business needs. This study surveyed the most active international companies in Minnesota (USA) that had recently hired new employees into IB positions. Top hiring requirements were general skills followed by five specific IB-related KSA: direct sales (exporting/distributorships); importing (sourcing/purchasing); global sales contracts/negotiations; global transportation/logistics, and strategic planning. Business needs for IB-related KSA differ from the content of typical textbook-guided IB courses taught at colleges and universities, the implication being that more practical aspects of day-to-day operations of firms engaged in IB should be included in the curriculum.

Paraprofessionals on the Front Line

YOUR school might call them paraprofessionals, teacher aides, teacher assistants, para-pros, instructional aides, or noncertified staff. Sometimes they help students one on one. They read with the Bluebirds and the Robins in the little chairs at the back of the room, and they give a yippee when a really hard word gets sounded out correctly. They help Josh and Megan practice their times tables. Paraprofessionals often live close to school and work any number of hours. They're not paid well. The majority are compassionate and really want all kids to succeed. Many are well educated. Many are not. It is this last descriptor, and the concern that any person helping to instruct students should meet at least a minimum level of academic competency, that led to the paraprofessional requirements set by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB requires that paraprofessionals working in programs supported by Title I funds meet one of the following conditions: * they have completed at least two years of postsecondary study; * they have obtained an associate's (or higher) degree; or * they have met a rigorous standard of quality and can demonstrate, through a formal state or local academic assessment, knowledge of and the ability to assist in instructing reading, writing, and mathematics. The requirement applied immediately to newly hired paraprofessionals. The original deadline for compliance with the NCLB regulations was 8 January 2006, but on 17 June 2005, the U.S. Department of Education extended until the end of the 2005-06 school year the deadline for paraprofessionals hired prior to NCLB to meet the mandates. By that date, all paraprofessionals, regardless of hiring date, must have earned a high school diploma or its equivalent. The NCLB law applies only to paraprofessionals who provide instructional support. Individuals who work in food services, cafeteria or playground supervision, personal care services, noninstructional computer assistance, and similar positions are not affected. Recently, staff at the Education Commission of the States created a database of state requirements, including any certification requirements; tests used to assess academic proficiencies; cut scores; and professional development opportunities. The collection and analysis of this database was supported by the National Center for Teacher Transformation, based at St. Petersburg College in Florida. CERTIFICATION While NCLB does not require that states set certification standards for paraprofessionals, 11 states have done so. The individual state requirements are detailed in the ECS report Instructional Paraprofessional Certification Requirements, by Angela Baber, a researcher with the ECS Teaching Quality and Leadership Institute. In Georgia, all paraprofessionals must hold a valid state certificate, which is issued by the Professional Standards Commission (PSC). An applicant must be employed as a paraprofessional in a Georgia school system, hold at least a high school diploma or the equivalent, and satisfy all other appropriate federal hiring requirements, such as completion of a PSC-approved paraprofessional preparation program. The Georgia certificate is valid for five years and can be renewed with six semester hours of college coursework or 10 credits of Georgia Professional Learning Units or 10 credits of continuing education units. A criminal record check is also required for all of the options. TESTING Passing a state or locally approved assessment is one of the ways in which Title I paraprofessionals with instructional duties can meet the NCLB highly qualified requirement. According to Baber, the ParaPro Assessment from ETS is the test most widely used by the states to determine skills, followed in order by local assessments and the ACT WorkKeys Assessment. The ETS ParaPro, ACT Work-Keys, or tests such as the CLEP (College Level Examination Program), PRAXIS I, or a state-developed basic skills test all have track records in assessing academic skills. …

Demand-led Programmes: Challenging Labour-Market Inequalities or Reinforcing them?

Demand-led programmes have been a key feature of US welfare-to-work and are being enthusiastically embraced by UK policymakers. The author, drawing upon findings emerging from the evaluation of the New Deal Innovation Fund (round three), discusses the extent to which such interventions are capable of meeting the needs of disadvantaged groups. The key findings are that pilots are primarily benefiting groups closest to the labour market and need to engage community-based organisations if they are to become more inclusive. Yet the risk remains that in using the hiring requirements of employers as a basic standard of job readiness such interventions may legitimate discriminatory behaviour which is a significant cause of the inequalities that some groups face in the labour market.

The Use of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles as a Source of Estimates of Educational and Training Requirements

The use of estimates of educational and training requirements to measure educational investment must distinguish between (1) functional or performance requirements, (2) employer or hiring requirements, and (3) educational attainment. Each has its uses, but only the first provides the basic information needed for manpower planning and development. The use of the functional scales developed for the revised 1965 Dictionary of Occupational Titles is explained. The provision of such estimates in a Supplement to the Dictionary now provides basic reference points for scholars in the field. Also described is the structure of definitions in the Dictionary, the language controls which these definitions provide, and how the definitions integrate with the estimates of functional educational and training requirements.