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What is Workplace Discrimination?

You can’t turn on the news or scroll through your newsfeed without reading about discrimination and racism. This two-part article focuses on combatting workplace discrimination, but first, we wanted to explain what exactly defines workplace discrimination. 

Discrimination is when a person or group is treated less favorably due to their personal characteristics or circumstances.

Some discrimination is direct, for example, not hiring someone because of their skin color or religious beliefs. 

Then there are types of discrimination that are indirect, such as imposing requirements that discriminate against certain groups. For example, you may have a policy that requires a specific dress code or hairstyle, but ultimately this could discriminate against certain groups.

Small business owners and employers have legal responsibilities under U.S. federal employment anti-discrimination laws. However, the laws companies are subject to depend on the size of their business.

  • 1 or more employees – Employers must provide equal pay for equal work to both male and female employees. 
  • 15 or more employees – You must comply with the aforementioned equal pay rule based on gender and race, color, religion, sex, national origin, genetic information, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.
  • 20 or more employees – You must follow all the laws above, but you are also subject to not discriminating based on age. The age factor depends on each state, but with most states, it is 40 and over. 

It’s also important to note that companies may have specific state and local employment discrimination laws they are required to follow. 

Stay tuned for the second part of this article, where we’ll discuss workplace discrimination prevention techniques. 


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Employment Law Liabilities Employers Face Post-Pandemic

COVID-19 has exposed employers and companies to an onslaught of legal litigation. Here are the top employment law liabilities employers face post-pandemic.

Wage and Hour Claims

With more employees working at home, many employers have abandoned their traditional time tracking methods. Employers should set clear expectations about regular check-ins and employee breaks to help prevent any issues. Employers may also be required to reimburse employees for some expenses related to telework, such as high-speed internet, cell phone or equipment costs.

Sick and Vacation Leave

Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), imposing a federal paid sick time mandate. Employers with fewer than 500 employees must provide their employees with a specific amount of time off for reasons associated with COVID-19, such as they become ill, have to care for a child when their school has closed, etc. Many employers have already been reported for denying leave, requesting improper documentation, miscalculating employees’ pay and retaliating against them for taking leave. 

Workplace Safety

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and OSHA show that COVID-19 is a recordable illness, which means that employers face risks for failing to comply with reporting and recording requirements. Employers will face workers’ compensation claims if employees contract COVID-19 on the job. If state workers’ compensation does not cover claims, employers could be liable if they were negligent in enacting safety measures to mitigate employees’ exposure.

Discrimination Claims

As employers have employees begin returning to work, those with employees suffering from pre-existing conditions may be reluctant to return. Employers may be subject to discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) if they unfairly deny an employee to work remotely with reasonable accommodation. If employees have been working remotely during the pandemic, this may make it even more difficult for employers to deny specific requests. 


Ninja Gig’s advanced applicant tracking system software provides a robust automated hiring process for online recruitment that makes it easy to post legally compliant job applications online and track job applicants. Sign up today for a free Ninja Gig trial and post jobs online today!

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Incorporating Transparency in Leadership

More people are looking for transparency in leadership in all walks of life, whether in politics or the workplace. Employees want to know who, what, when, where and why, primarily when decisions affect them. They want to trust that those making decisions are looking at the big picture and taking their interests into account. 

While the push for more transparency may cause leaders to feel stressed, they don’t need to vet or check every decision, as that is virtually impossible. 

Some decisions can be made with relatively little to no input, while other more important decisions may require extensive research, analysis, discussion and consideration. It’s also the areas in between that can draw even more criticism and create problems, so leaders should practice transparency to help maintain employees’ trust.

Leadership Transparency: Quick Case Study

With COVID-19, a lot of businesses are reducing hours or closing their doors. If executive leadership in a company determines the best financial course of action is to reduce employee work hours, this needs transparent implementation. 

What Happens with Top-Down Decisions That Lack Transparency

No matter how executives communicate their decision, it will be unpopular with employees. One person in a leadership position usually clearly communicates the decision to all employees, fending any questions that may arise, such as:

  • What was the decision involved in reducing hours?
  • How did leadership come to this decision?
  • Who was involved in deciding to reduce hours?

Do not blindside managers with public announcements. It damages the respect between managers and their employees. In turn, managers resent leadership for making quick decisions without receiving any input from them. It makes managers feel set up to fail because their teams stop having faith in them and lose all trust. All too soon, employee morale tanks and leadership is left wondering why. It’s simple: because the decision blindsided everyone.

Implementing Transparency

There’s a better way to deliver bad news to managers and employees to avoid these issues. A strong, positive culture that revolves around leadership and having effective communication is a necessary foundation for growing and maintaining a company. 

Here are the top two ways to successfully implement transparency at work.

  1. Frequent Sharing – The right frequency of sharing sensitive information to ensure that employees are aware of any ongoing issues and any emerging issues. It doesn’t mean notifying employees about every single decision, but it’s best to avoid blindsiding them with major decisions that they didn’t foresee possibly coming. Keeping people in the loop can make a huge difference in how employees react to the news.
  2. Feedback – Simply sharing a one-way street, also doesn’t make employees feel better about decisions, so it’s vital to collect and listen to employees to gain more clarity and understanding. Constructive feedback and discussion can often highlight new perspectives or even reveal alternative options that might work better for the company in the short and long-term. Few things in the workplace destroy employee morale more than not considering their feedback. 

Having a good company culture that revolves around transparency can help benefit companies in our current COVID-19 world and post-pandemic. Use this opportunity to create a healthy workplace culture where employees feel valued.


Ninja Gig offers a comprehensive applicant tracking system that provides an innovative automated online recruitment process. Our easy-to-use software makes it simple to post a job online within minutes. If your company is looking to hire employees, Ninja Gig’s software will track job applicants. Sign up today for a free trial and experience Ninja Gig’s proprietary job posting software.

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10 Tips for Hiring Employees

Whether you’re hiring onsite or remote employees, hiring the right employee can be challenging. Hiring the wrong employee can be costly, time-consuming and contribute to a negative work environment.

Ninja Gig has compiled the top 10 things HR departments can do to hire the right employee for your organization.

  1. Define the job before hiring an employee. No one wants to interview for a job that isn’t defined. Lack of structure and organization means you could be turning away rockstar employees that see you as unorganized. 
  2. Have an employee recruiting strategy in place. Meet with the hiring manager and teams to help define the role before interviewing applicants.
  3. Checklists for new hires. Streamline the hiring process by having a list that keeps everyone organized and on the same page.
  4. Recruit the right candidates. Develop long-term relationships with potential candidates so that if employment opportunities arise, you can quickly recruit from a large pool.
  5. Review applications and credentials. Have a well-written job description and screen all applicants for the skills, qualifications, experience and characteristics your company needs to fill the role.
  6. Prescreen all candidates. Candidates may look good on paper, but prescreening over the phone will help identify if their qualifications are a good fit. Prescreen for salary expectations too. 
  7. Ask insightful job interview questions. Put together a list of interview questions that can help separate great candidates from below average. 
  8. Always check backgrounds and references. Verify that the applicant has excellent credentials, skills and the necessary experience to succeed. Background checks should include work references, employment references, criminal history and educational credentials.
  9. Factor in considerations. The person you choose should complement the team and bring new skills to the table. 
  10. Extending a job offer. Send a job letter that specifies salary, conditions of their hire and any verbal agreements about benefits.

Ninja Gig is an applicant tracking system for online recruitment. The software is easy-to-use and makes it simple to create a legally compliant job posting. Additionally, Ninja Gig’s advanced applicant tracking system software makes it easy for HR departments to track job applicants and identify the most qualified candidates. Sign up today for a free trial and try Ninja Gig’s automated online job posting software.

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How to Engage With Remote Employees

With more employees than ever before working from home due to Coronavirus, the workforce sees some significant changes. For some people, working from home is nothing new, and yet for others, this is uncharted territory. 

At first, working from home can feel exciting and new, but over time, some employees may feel distanced, causing them to disengage, which, in turn, decreases productivity. 

Managers need to help motivate remote employees, especially during pandemic times. Here are five ways employers can help drive a remote workforce.

Communication is Key

Remote employees can often feel that they are left out, which is why managers must communicate with their teams daily. Holding daily check-ins and asking employees if there is anything you can do to help boost their performance is critical. Additionally, managers need to quickly communicate important company news to remote teams to ensure they are in the loop. 

Communication is a two-way street. Managers need to listen to any concerns that may arise, especially if employees feel anxious or overwhelmed about workplace events in today’s pandemic era. Monitoring and evaluating how to mitigate employees’ feelings is necessary, especially if employees feel isolated during these uncertain times. Assure them we are all in this together.

Setting Clear Expectations

Remember that COVID-19 has forced many people to work remotely, meaning it wasn’t their choice. Communicating and setting clear expectations about remote work requirements will help set your employees up for success. For example, if employees need to be available during set hours, communicate this to them. If you need a daily report of what they have worked on, ask them. 

It is important to remember that not all employees may have access to an ideal telecommuting setup, especially if schools and daycares are closed. Be patient and understanding, and encourage them to take paid time off if needed to tend to any critical personal responsibilities. 

Recognizing Achievements and Good Work

Recognize and reward employees that work hard. Incentivize telecommuting productivity and highlight employees’ dedication. Some great examples of ways to recognize achievements while telecommuting include: 

  • Sending out company-wide or teamwide emails
  • Offering rewards to those employees that go above and beyond
  • Sending electronic gift certificates
  • Ordering dinner from a local restaurant delivery service and having it delivered to their home

Recognition doesn’t need to be over the top to be effective. Sometimes just an email or a personal call saying thank you makes employees feel valued.

Encouraging a Healthy Work/Life Balance

Remote employees may find it challenging to establish a healthy work/life balance when their home suddenly turns into their office. Not all employees have physical separation from their personal and workspaces, making them feel as though they are working 24/7, eventually leading to burnout. 

Communicate to employees the importance of a healthy work/life balance, including giving them valuable tips, such as turning off their computer during non-working hours. 

Collaborative Culture

Employees tend to enjoy their jobs more when they feel as though they are part of a team. It can be hard for people to feel like they are part of a team if they work solo from home. Make sure to implement instant chat programs, such as Slack, and hold video conferences to help employees feel like they are part of collaborative company culture.


Ninja Gig offers an advanced applicant tracking system software that makes it easy for HR departments to track job applicants. Our innovative online recruitment system makes it easy for HR teams to post remote jobs with legally compliant job applications online. Sign up today for a free trial and experience Ninja Gig’s automated online job application software.

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Human Resources Can Help Drive Sales

While many companies look at human resources departments as overhead support, they are critical to helping companies succeed. Human resources can improve business’ returns on their ongoing investments – their employees.

Attracting Talent

Human resources departments need to understand how sales departments are structured, what they are selling and to whom they are selling it to so they can assess the position and help find the best candidates for the sales team.

Sometimes it’s not enough to simply find someone that fits the job. HR professionals can help find a candidate that fits the company, whether it’s someone on-site, remote or available to work on weekends.

Onboarding

Having a seamless onboarding process usually takes several days to weeks. To help save time, have new hires fill out all their paperwork in advance, which helps to reduce overhead time and allows them to start their sales training immediately. 

Family-Friendly Environments

Instead of only focusing on sales numbers, create a family-friendly company culture. You may not have as many sales, but you’ll retain far more employees. Competitive companies that set higher sales goals and don’t focus on a family-friendly environment often experience double-digit sales employee turnover. Unfortunately, we all know that employee turnover affects bottom-line profits. 

Hiring Efforts

While many human resources departments and companies tend to focus on extremes, such as attracting top performers, we tend to overlook that most people are average performers. Focus on attracting average to above-average performers, instead of wasting valuable time trying only to recruit the top tier. By incentivizing middle performers, you can help them become top performers.

Given the right resources, human resources departments can help sales teams find the best candidates to boost their revenue and become a long-term team player. 


Given the right resources, human resources departments can help sales teams find the best candidates to boost their revenue and become a long-term team player. Ninja Gig’s advanced applicant tracking system software makes it easy for HR departments to track job applicants. Sign up today for a free trial and experience Ninja Gig’s automated online recruitment hiring software.

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Interview Questions for a Remote Workforce

We are beginning to realize that COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere soon, which has forced many employers to rethink their current physical office space and workforce situation. 

Whether employers are seasoned at hiring remote employees or are exploring this option for the first time, Ninja Gig has compiled a list of top-rated remote interview questions for human resource professionals. 

Many employers are using online video conferencing software, such as Zoom, FaceTime or Skype, to set up meetings to interview candidates. This, in itself, will help assess the candidate’s basic understanding of technology.

Here are some excellent interview questions we recommend asking remote candidates. 

Interview Questions

  1. Have you ever worked remotely? If so, what necessary changes did you make to adapt to working at home?
  2. What do you enjoy about working from home? What do you find most challenging?
  3. When working at home, how do you organize your day?
  4. In a remote setting, how do you communicate with your manager and coworkers?
  5. What recommendations do you have for team collaboration?
  6. Give some examples of how you have handled the stress of COVID-19.
  7. What life lessons have the pandemic taught you?
  8. Would you be willing to work in an office again if remote work is no longer needed in the future?

Ninja Gig is an innovative applicant tracking system that helps human resources departments create an automated hiring process. This easy-to-use job application software makes it simple to post legally compliant job applications online. Whether your company is looking to hire remote or on-site employees, Ninja Gig’s advanced online job listing software makes it easy to track job applicants. Sign up today for a free trial and experience Ninja Gig for yourself!

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Top Qualities to Look for in Remote Workers

While excellent employees don’t always make great remote workers, management and HR must know how to interview potential applicants for todays’ budding remote workforce.

Here are some helpful tips when interviewing potential remote applicants.

  • Observe and Learn – How fast do they respond to your inquiries and emails?
  • Interview Questions – Ask about their remote work experience and what tools they use to manage their schedule.
  • Test Project – Whether you pay for a larger project or have applicants do a small unpaid project, give them a trial assignment to see how they work, if they can meet deadlines and what other team members think of their work.

Top Qualities

When interviewing remote workers, consider finding applicants with these skill sets.

  1. Self-Motivated
  2. Creative Troubleshooting Techniques
  3. Open Communicator
  4. Good Organizer
  5. Ability to Use Software Programs and Technology 

Interviewing remote workers is slightly different from onsite employees. No matter the difference, companies need skilled workers, and asking the right questions can help you find a remote applicant that works best for your team and company.

Ninja Gig allows employers and recruiters access to online job application software. We make it easy to post legally compliant job applications online for all types of jobs – remote, seasonal, part-time or full-time. Our applicant tracking system software is easy-to-use and simple to navigate, making it easy for HR departments to track job applicants. Sign up today for a free trial and experience our automated hiring process software.

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Are Work-From-Home Positions The Future?

While Americans still wait to return to normalcy while practicing social distancing, many companies are reevaluating traditional onsite culture and propose a permanent shift to remote work.

For example, major employers such as Nationwide, Mondelez and Barclays are discussing reducing physical office space in favor of more remote work. Many companies are seeing the advantage of decreasing physical real estate space, which would save considerable overhead on expenses. 

More companies are seeing proof that employee productivity doesn’t suffer in a remote environment. Companies may not need their full staff to physically return to offices to accomplish their workloads. If the US is facing a global economic slump post-COVID, remote work can help many companies significantly cut costs to survive the difficult times that may lie ahead.

Nationwide Insurance announced a permanent transition to a hybrid-style work model. They will continue to operate their four corporate offices in Ohio, Des Moines, Scottsdale and San Antonio. The majority of their other locations around the US will have their employees continue working from home.

While this outcome could be detrimental for the commercial real estate industry, we could also see more expensive renovations to comply with social distancing. Property management firms are already anticipating having open layouts and new seating arrangements, which will be costly for renovation teams.


Ninja Gig is an easy-to-use online job posting software designed for employers and recruiters to post legally compliant job applications online quickly. Whether you need to post temporary, seasonal, part-time, full-time or remote job applications, our applicant tracking system software is simple to navigate, making it easy to track job applicants. Sign up today for a free Ninja Gig trial and experience our automated hiring software to simplify your hiring process.

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Social Media Screenings Gaining Popularity Among Employers

HR receives thousands of employment applications, but how do you narrow down the list of applicants once you’ve reviewed the necessary criteria? Turn to the world of social media. Whether it’s checking on current employees or screening potential applicants, social media is a powerful tool. 

Whether employers are looking for candidates that fit well into their culture and company or looking to verify if a resume is accurate, social media gives employers a glimpse into personal lives.

Social Media Channels

The main social media channels that employers check are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Keep in mind that if you search for someone on LinkedIn and view their profile, the applicant or employee can see it. LinkedIn serves as a secondary resume for many applicants. 

On the flip side of things, if employers can’t find any social profiles for applicants, they may be less apt to hire them. Employers may assume that an applicant has erased all their profiles or hidden information on purpose, but this may not be the case. 

While some places say, it’s not ethical to check social media sites, for HR to overlook it is also negligent in today’s high-tech age. 

EEO Concerns

Equal Employment Opportunity concerns abound with social media profiles. Not everyone is on social media, especially age-protected groups or those that are socially disadvantaged. Social media should be used in conjunction with other recruiting approaches, not the only avenue. Additionally, don’t rely on just one form of social media, but check them all. If HR sees anything that influences their hiring decision, it should be printed out, and the reason for rejecting or firing the applicant needs to be documented. 

If you post jobs on social media, remember these are advertisements that must include EEO information as well as affirmative action taglines. The postings must also include all hiring documents that are required by federal and state law. 

Many employers may also be privy to race, approximate age, gender and more – including medical or family problems posted on social media.

So while social media is an integral part of today’s society, employers should proceed with caution to avoid violating any EEO rules or regulations about hiring or retaining employees.


Ninja Gig is a robust online job application software designed for recruiters and employers to post legally compliant job applications online quickly. Ninja Gig is ideal for posting all types of jobs – seasonal, remote, part-time or full-time. Our applicant tracking system software is a superior tool for HR departments, as it helps easily track job applicants. Sign up today for a free Ninja Gig trial and experience our automated hiring software to simplify your company’s HR processes.