Tag: job

APPLY NOW: Government of District of Columbia Now Hiring: Supervisory Attorney Advisor (Deputy General Counsel)

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL SERVICES

                                                                                                            

The District of Columbia’s Department of General Services is seeking candidates for the Supervisory Attorney Advisor (Deputy General Counsel) position. The Deputy General Counsel will specifically provide management and support in the following areas: real estate transactions, leasing, real estate portfolio management, energy, sustainability and green initiatives and other agency operational issues as needed. The Deputy General Counsel reports to the General Counsel and will supervise at least two other attorneys.

The incumbent of this position will provide legal counsel and support to DGS in the following activities:

  • negotiating and preparing commercial leases and other real estate documents—rights of entry, license agreements, etc.;
  • handling real estate transactions;
  • providing legal support for lease administration, including preparing amendments, work agreements, estoppels, SNDA’s, extension requests, termination notices, default notices;
  • providing litigation support;
  • advising the agency in matters related to energy, sustainability and green initiatives; and
  • providing assistance, as needed, in all operational areas of the agency including: contracts, procurement, facility management, security services and human resources.

A successful candidate must:

  • have a law degree;
  • be a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association or eligible for waiver into the bar. If selected and not a member of the District of Columbia Bar, he/she must apply for membership and show proof of such prior to the commencement of employment.
  • have at least 10 years of experience in the following areas: local government, real estate, leasing and/or procurement law.
  • have the skill and ability to gather, develop, evaluate and analyze investigative information from a variety of sources to determine compliance with District government and federal statutes, rules and regulations.
  • have experience in negotiating, drafting and reviewing commercial real estate documents including drafting of commercial leases and land purchase and acquisition contracts.

How to Apply:

Applications for this vacancy must be submitted online at www.dchr.dc.gov for consideration. When completing applications, candidates submit resume and respond to specific ranking factors that will be used in the evaluation process. In responding to the ranking factors, please describe specific incidents of sustained achievements from your experience that show evidence of the level at which you are applying. You may refer to any experience, education, training, awards, outside abilities described in ranking factors. The information given in response to the ranking factors should be complete and accurate to the best of your knowledge, FAILURE TO RESPOND TO ALL RANKING FACTORS WILL ELIMINATE YOU FROM CONSIDERATION.

Deadline: Closing date for the vacancy announcements until 11:59 pm on December 12, 2014. 

Contact Information: All inquiries related to employment and job applications should be directed HR Answers, (202)442-9700—please reference agency (DGS) and vacancy number (26253).

  

2000 14th St. NW, 8th Floor  Washington DC 20009  |Telephone (202) 727.2800 | Fax (202) 727-7283

Rights of Job Applicants in Germany

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The German Federal Labor Court made a very clear ruling regarding job applicants in Germany who are not offered the position for which such applicants applied.  In the Federal Labor Court’s view, a rejected applicant has no right to know whether another applicant was offered or accepted the position.  (Federal Labor Court, verdict dated April 25, 2013, case number 8 AZR 287/08)

This case concerned a plaintiff who was born in the former Soviet Union in 1961.  She applied for a position that was advertised by a German company, the defendant in this case.  Even though the plaintiff fulfilled all required qualifications, she was rejected and did not receive a job offer.  The plaintiff presumed that this decision was based on discrimination for her gender, age and origin.  The Federal Labor Court submitted the case to the European Court of Justice to determine whether the job applicant had a right to information regarding why she was not selected, or if another applicant was selected for the position.  The European Court of Justice rendered its verdict on April 19, 2012 (case number C415/10), and stated that rejected job applicants had no right to this information under European law.

The German Federal Labor Court dismissed the case because it could not detect any evidence of discrimination.  The mere refusal of the defendant to disclose any information related to the application process and/or the hiring could not establish the presumption of an inadmissible discrimination, according to Section 7 of the German General Equal Treatment Act.

However, this ruling has to be viewed with great caution.  The German decision is not in line with the aforementioned ruling in the same matter of the European Court of Justice.  The European judges, in contrast to the German Court, stressed that the complete refusal to give out any information regarding the hiring could actually be evaluated as a presumption of possible discrimination.  This remarkable difference in the two verdicts was not explained by the German judges and as long as their reasoning remains unclear, German employers should provide a short explanation to rejected applicants when they ask the reason why they have been rejected for an open position (e.g., the other candidate better satisfies the qualification profile, made a better impression at the job interview, seems to be a more motivated and energetic person, etc.).

Article By:

Dr. Sandra Urban-Crell
Gudrun Germakowski
Of:
McDermott Will & Emery

 

Will New Jersey Go “Ban the Box” and Beyond? New Jersey Takes Step to Prohibit Employers From Asking About a Job Applicant’s Criminal History

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Recently, in a 6-3 vote, New Jersey’s Assembly Labor Committee advanced a bill (A-3837), known as the Opportunity to Compete Act, that would prohibit New Jersey employers with 15 or more employees from asking candidates about their criminal history on employment applications, and from conducting criminal background checks on applicants prior to a conditional job offer. If passed, this legislation would become one of the toughest “ban the box” measures in the nation (derived from the ubiquitous check box on employment applications inquiring whether an applicant has a criminal record), and would place several new administrative burdens on employers. New Jersey would join the 64 states, counties and cities (including Newark, New Jersey) that have already enacted laws aimed at benefiting job seekers with a criminal history. And many states (including New York) prohibit employers from disqualifying an applicant based on a conviction absent a clear nexus between the nature of the conviction and the job sought.

Under the proposed legislation, only after the employer determines the candidate is qualified and provides a conditional job offer, may it inquire about and consider the individual’s criminal history. Then, before the employer may look into the candidate’s criminal history, it must first provide the candidate with a written notice of the inquiry (along with a “Notice of Rights) and obtain the candidate’s consent.

The bill authorizes employers to consider in their employment decision making process convictions for certain serious crimes regardless of when the crime occurred. These crimes include murder or attempted murder, arson, a sex offense for which the offender served time in State prison and is required to register as a sex offender, robbery, kidnapping, human trafficking, possession of weapons, burglary, aggravated assault and terrorism. Separately, employers may only consider other crimes of the 1st through 4th degree if the crime was committed within the previous 10 years. Employers may also consider convictions for disorderly persons offenses that occurred within the last 5 years and pending criminal charges until the case is dismissed. The bill further provides that if any of the candidate’s criminal history is subject to consideration by employers due to the fact that it occurred within 10 years for crimes of the 1st through 4th degree, or 5 years for disorderly persons offenses, then the employer may also consider any prior criminal history, regardless of when it occurred.

Under the bill, when making an employment decision, employers may not consider or require a candidate to disclose or reveal any arrest or criminal accusation made against the candidate which is not then pending or which did not result in a conviction. Records which have been erased or expunged, records of an executive pardon or legally nullified records may not be considered by employers, nor may the employer consider an adjudication of delinquency of a juvenile, any violation of a municipal ordinance or any record which has been sealed.

The proposed legislation requires employers to make a good faith effort to discuss with the candidate any questions or concerns related to the candidate’s criminal history and provide the candidate with an opportunity to explain and contextualize any crime or offense, provide evidence of rehabilitation, and rebut any inaccuracies in the criminal history.

In deciding whether to hire a candidate, employers must consider the results of any criminal history inquiry in combination with factors such as: (1) information provided about the degree of the candidate’s rehabilitation and good conduct; (2) information provided about the accuracy of the criminal record; (3) the amount of time that has elapsed since the conviction or release from custody; (4) the nature and circumstances surrounding the crime(s); and (5) the duties and settings of the job. This last factor—job-relatedness—is critical, as employers may not disqualify a candidate if the nature of his or her conviction bears no relationship to the job sought. The reasonable consideration of these factors must be documented by employers on a “Criminal Record Consideration Form.”

If an employer makes an adverse employment decision, including rescinding a job offer, after a discussion of a candidate’s criminal history, the employer must provide the candidate in one package by registered mail: (1) written notification of the adverse employment decision; (2) a copy of the results of the criminal history inquiry; and (3) a completed copy of the Criminal Record Consideration Form.

A candidate who received an adverse employment decision has 10 business days after receipt of this written information to provide evidence to the employer related to the accuracy and relevance of the results of the criminal history inquiry. Employers may, but are not required to, hold the position open for the candidate. Employers who uphold an adverse employment decision after considering any additional information provided by the candidate are required to provide to the candidate a written notice of the final decision within 45 days of receipt of the additional information.

There is good news for employers here: the bill does not provide applicants with the ability to sue them in court for a violation of the law. Instead, the applicant would have to file a complaint with the New Jersey’s Division on Civil Rights (“DCR”) in the Department of Law and Public Safety, and the DCR may impose civil fines ranging from $500 to $7,500 depending on the number of employees the employer has and whether the employer has committed previous violations. Additionally, as noted above, the bill does not apply to smaller employers with under 15 employees. Moreover, employers can take solace in that the bill would give employers the highest protection against negligent hiring/retention suits of any state in the nation in the form of a “grossly negligent” standard, meaning that there must be a finding that the employer consciously acted with a reckless disregard for the safety of others in its hiring decision.

There is no certainty that the proposed Opportunity to Compete Act will be passed into law in its current form or any other form for that matter. Governor Chris Christie, who could very well exercise his veto power, has not indicated whether or not he supports the bill. Needless to say, we will closely monitor this legislation.

Article by:

David M. Katz

Of:

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.