Book Review: Safe Hiring

The Safe Hiring Manual. By Lester S. Rosen. McGraw-Hill; Facts on Demand Press; brbpublications.com; 840 pages; $24.95

​​The third edition of The Safe Hiring Manual could be classified as an encyclopedia of hiring guidelines. This edition is reorganized and improved with an enhanced format that will be beneficial to employers, human resource departments, attorneys, investigators, and security professionals.

Author Lester Rosen leads the reader through a network of policies and procedures and provides practical case scenarios to support his writings. In the first two chapters on establishing a safe hiring program and considerations of discrimination and privacy, Rosen sets the tone and structure for this book. He explains that a safe hiring program must be an integral part of a business, only partly because it will minimize lawsuits.

A primary tenet of a safe hiring program is legal compliance—what an employer legally can and cannot find out about applicants. Rosen breaks down discrimination laws at the state and local levels. He reminds readers that most states have their own laws about civil rights, as well as an agency within state government that enforces them.

Among other topics are the pros and cons of workplace drug testing methods, the basics of social media searches, and E-Verify laws and how they vary in each state. One chapter looks at background investigations from the applicant's point of view.

Rosen's writing style is fluid and clear. He discusses legal concepts, laws, and government policies without confusing the reader. There are plenty of website links for further reading, and the author includes a safe hiring checklist and a turnover cost calculator form. This comprehensive book will assist the reader in making prudent decisions and minimizing risk in hiring.

Reviewer: Kevin Cassidy is a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is a member of ASIS.