Hiring without advertising in Missouri

System

Is it against the law in Missouri to hire someone without advertising to the public?

Don D

I know nothing about MO law but I think I can tell you the answer is no. Unless you are a state agency which is required to advertise or you are an employer who has a conciliatory agreement with the EEOC requiring a certain level of job advertisement, I can't think of anything that might require you to advertise. Then there are the FCJL program jobs that must be advertised with the employment security network if they pay under, I think, 25k.

Balloonman

Absolutely not! I am a merit shop and by policy cannot advertise, I can only accept referrals. Can be challenging...........but we have a good crew.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Hunter1

Say, DJ, that's a new term for me. What's a 'merit shop', and why must you hire from referrals? There's some old case law about referrals from current employees and how it can result in discriminatory hiring. How does your referral process work?

vmiller MO

"Merit Shop" is a code name for non-union. Missouri has no requirement that a private employer has to advertise job openings. Of course, one needs also to consider whether their company is a federal contractor and must evaluate whether their hiring practices are inconformity with the antidiscrimination statutes.
Vance Miller
Editor, Missouri Employment Law Letter
Armstrong Teasdale LLP
(314) 621-5070
[email]vmiller@armstrongteasdale.com[/email]

Yahoo

I am in MO & Don is right - no problem hiring without outide advertisement.

Dutch2

I also am in MO and there is no problem to hire without first running a help wanted ad for most business. As someone mentioned above, State agencies, some private colleges, etc., must run an ad before they can fill the position permanently. I am in banking, we have a company policy of posting every position internally and if no current EE's are interested or qualified then we run the help wanted ads.

Don D

Balloonman: I don't know what a 'merit shop' is; but, what would you do if you either entered into a government contract or became a subcontractor of someone who had one ongoing? Then you would be required to advertise, and your policy might cause you a problem.

Theresa Gegen TX

Well, to put in another view, whether you are a government contractor or not, you should have diverse recruiting practices.

If your workforce is all one race, but the available work force is diverse, the EEOC can look at you and find that your practice has a discriminatory effect. People generally refer people like themselves (whites refer whites, minorities refer minorities). That is a fact. I have seen the EEOC go in and complain about these types of referral only systems as having a disparate impact (they appear neutral on their face, but they really screen out certain categories of qualified applicants).

If you get diverse referrals, that's okay. But I sincerely doubt that you do. While a government contractor is more likely to get in trouble over it (because their practices are more closely scrutinzed) a private employer does not get a free pass.

While hiring without posting may be okay in some instances, and there is no per se law against it, if you make a general practice of it, you can run into trouble.

Good Luck!!

Don D

Theresa: It's been a looooong day, but I would be remiss if I did not state my true feeling about your post. (You know I do that but you love me anyway x:-)) Although I agree 100% with your philosophy and general advice in this case, the question was not: "What do you all think about the pros and cons of advertising your job vacancies in the newspaper?" We've had many similar discussions about the good reasons to broaden your recruitment program in every possible direction, but, again, that wasn't the question.