Bolt Staffing Blog

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently published a revised version of the I-9 Handbook for Employers (the M-274). The goal of the revision is to provide additional guidance in areas that caused confusion for employers. The content of Form I-9 did not change.

Several areas of the handbook were tweaked, including sections pertaining to rehiring an employee and reverifying an employee’s authorization. A staffing firm may rehire an employee within three years from when the form is completed without having to complete a new Form I-9. However, upon each rehire within such a three-year period, the employer must inspect the Form I-9 and determine that the form relates to the individual and that the individual is still authorized to work.

Additionally, USCIS made a minor change to the reverification instructions by adding, “You must reverify the employee on a new Form I-9 if the version of the form you used for the previous verification is no longer valid. Please check uscis.gov/i-9 for currently valid Form(s) I-9.”

Essentially, USCIS wanted to clarify that using old versions of the form is prohibited for reverification of employment authorization.

For a copy of the M-274, visit uscis.gov.

Source:
Anne Duffy, ASA Staffing Week

On October 6 the Solano County WIB held a job fair at the University of Phoenix in Fairfiled.  Of course BOLT was there, and we were pleased to meet and take resumes from 173 very well qualified candidates for work in all the varied positions you can imagine.

Over 60 of our applicants have college degrees.  If you have any positions you are thinking of filling call us today!  Even in this economic environment, these high quality candidates will be helping their new employers succeed very soon.

Make sure you are one of them!  Call 707-552-7800, now!

A Michigan federal court recently issued a stinging rebuke of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s aggressive litigation practices, ordering the agency to pay more than $750,000 in attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees, and court costs to staffing firm Peoplemark Inc., which is not an ASA member.

After three years of investigation, the EEOC sued Peoplemark for an alleged blanket policy against hiring candidates with criminal convictions. The agency claimed that this policy violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by having an unlawful disparate impact upon African-American job seekers.

According to the court, Peoplemark had no such policy—a fact the EEOC knew or should have known early in the litigation. Peoplemark produced evidence showing that it actually had hired 22% of the 286 people identified by the EEOC as allegedly having suffered discrimination.

“Given this reality,” the court said, “the EEOC should have acted to terminate the lawsuit promptly. It did not. Instead, it continued to let it drag on.” The court further commented, “This is one of those cases where the complaint turned out to be without foundation from the very beginning. Once the EEOC became aware that its assertion that Peoplemark categorically refused to hire any person with a criminal record was not true, or once the EEOC should have known that, it was unreasonable for the EEOC to continue to litigate on the basis of that claim, thereby driving up the defendant’s costs, because it knew it would not be able to prove its case.”

The court’s rebuke comes on the heels of the EEOC publicizing the lawsuit. During an EEOC public meeting on employers’ use of criminal records, commissioner Stuart Ishimaru cited the agency’s decision to sue Peoplemark.

Whether the sanctions against the EEOC will chasten the agency remains to be seen. The EEOC has aggressively pursued employers over the use of criminal records during recent years. Although the agency has said for several years that it would issue new guidance to employers regarding the use of criminal backgrounds, it has not yet done so.

As a result, staffing firms must rely on policy guidance issued in 1990, in which the EEOC took the position that an absolute bar to hiring applicants with criminal convictions is unlawful and that a refusal to hire an applicant based on a criminal record can be justified by business necessity only if the following factors are properly taken into account

• The nature and gravity of the offense or offenses
• The time that has passed since the conviction and/or completion of the sentence
• The nature of the job held or sought

The EEOC guidance on considering arrest records in employment decisions is available ateeoc.gov.

Because these factors do not provide a “bright line” test for making employment decisions, staffing firms face a dilemma when it comes to candidates with criminal records. If a firm refuses to hire a particular candidate, it could be sued by the candidate for discrimination. But if a firm places a candidate who later commits a crime at the client’s work site, it could lose the client—or, even worse, be sued by the client for negligent hiring or placement.

This much is clear: Staffing firms should not have blanket policies against hiring candidates with criminal convictions, and neither should clients. To the extent a client has such a blanket policy and a staffing firm complies with it, the firm risks being found to have engaged in discriminatory conduct along with the client.

Stephen Dwyer, courtesy of Staffing Week, American Staffing Association

It’s hard to believe local strawberries have ripened in all the lousy weather we’ve had this Spring.  But they did and from now until Father’s Day, I will serve them as often as possible.  My friend Laurie says strawberries harbor pesticides so she buys organic.  I know of several locally managed fields from Santa Rosa to American Canyon and they don’t proclaim to be pesticide free.  In fact, their fruit is so darn perfect, I don’t know how they keep the bugs out!

Hopefully, I’ll be able to post several strawberry recipes this season.  My friend Susan shared this recipe with me about 10 years ago.  Good strawberries stand on their own, no need to do much to them to please your palette.  Try to find a lovely tall glass bowl (think ice cream sundaes) to serve this in and you’ll delight your friends and family for sure.

Always serve strawberries at room temperature.

Sliced fresh strawberries (one basket will feed about 3 people)

1 1/2 tsps. per serving of sour cream

3/4 tsp +/- brown sugar

mint leaf

Not much to explain here…..clean, hull and slice the berries.  Fill each bowl/cup with berries, top with cream, sugar and mint garnish.

Utter the words red peppers and automatically, kids snicker and whine, convinced their mouths will be set on fire at the dinner table.

Most stuffed pepper recipes don’t have enough ingredients my kids really like so I decided to invent one myself.  My son loves Orzo.  Red peppers were on sale recently and they are the foundation for this recipe.  It is a complete meal, low in fat, plenty of flavor and light on meat.  The cost is about $2.80 per person and takes less than an hour to prepare.

6 red bell peppers, washed, seeded, drained and cut horizontally at about 1/3 from top

1 box of orzo pasta, cooked al dente, following box instructions

3 Italian sausages or about ½ pound of bulk Italian sausage

1 finely chopped onion

1 large carrot, chopped uniformly

4 cloves of garlic minced

1 can of diced tomatoes (drained)

1 can of tomato sauce

1+ tsp dried oregano

1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1 T. chopped parsley (basil would work too, this is optional)

salt and pepper

Wash and prep the peppers, cook the orzo.  In a large skillet, on medium heat, cook the sausage, breaking it with the side of the spoon.  Remove from skillet.  Add the onion and carrot in the same pan (add some olive oil, if needed), cook for 5 minutes or so, add the garlic and oregano, cook for one minute, return the meat to the pan and put in the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, check seasonings.

Preheat oven to 325.

Simmer for 10 minutes or so while the pasta is cooking.  Remove from heat.  Add drained orzo, combine thoroughly with the parmesan cheese and parsley.

Spoon the pasta mixture into the peppers; sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese before putting the tops on the stuffed peppers. 

Bake in a lasagna pan for 30 minutes.  (light cooking spray on the pan keeps from sticking)

Let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.

The next time I make this, I will remove the skin on the peppers before stuffing them. 

You’ll have extra orzo mixture which makes a good lunch the next day.

• Mission tortilla chips (he worked for Mission Foods)
• Black beans
• Refried beans
• Cheese sauce in a jar (heated)
• Hamburger seasoned with salt, paprika, chili powder and cayenne
• Chopped tomatoes, olives, iceburg lettuce
• Dollops of sour cream
• Salsa
This is my husband’s secret recipe that has satisfied many friends over the years. When we visited our first exchange student, “Big Al”, at his home in Germany, we carried all the ingredients on the plane in a rolling cooler, so he could share his favorite American meal with his friends. This dish was also served on our front porch at a fundraiser for 36 people! It’s quick to make – 20 minutes maximum. Prepare the toppings while you sauté hamburger and add seasonings, drain excess fat; heat beans and arrange the chips in a metal SHALLOW oblong baking pan.

With the next step comes the fine art of making nachos…..balancing the layers of ingredients in such a way that every scoop is complete. Start with the burger, then the refried both beans, cheese and work your way up ending with the toppings: lettuce, tomatoes, olives , salsa and sour cream. Serve immediately with tongs or other gripping serving tool.
My next blog post will be a recipe for what to do with leftover nachos…..

My family members appreciate when I do a twist on the salad dressing.  I first learned this recipe when I worked at two of Lisa Hemenway’s Santa Rosa restaurants while I was attending Sonoma State.  It’ll instantly add an Asian flare to any vegetables or salad.

• 2 parts unseasoned rice vinegar
• 4 parts oil (you can use part sesame and part canola)
• 1 part soy sauce (or to taste)
• honey
• toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 tsp. grated ginger root
• a little salt and pepper

Whisk all the ingredients together and drizzle over your favorite vegetables – hot or cold.  I like it on thinly sliced cucumbers and green cabbage.  For a more complete meal at lunchtime, I often add some steamed rice.

Ramona asked for the recipe for the Superbowl Day Pretzels… I’m thrilled she’s still reading! I point to the Food Network (Alton Brown, see below) recipe with 5 stars and almost 300 reviews, it’s a winner. Kids love to make pretzels and their parents love to eat them. It’s a fun family project that will take a couple hours to make start to finish….
I didn’t have the coarse salt on hand so I used standard Kosher salt. Recently I started buying the “Better for Bread” version of Meadow Gold brand flour. Speaking from a home-baker’s experience, it makes a difference; not necessary, but if you make bread frequently, it’s worth the extra buck because it kneads easier than regular white flour.
COMING SOON: TRIED AND TRUE IRISH SODA BREAD RECIPE FOR ST PATRICK’S DAY

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt

Directions