Topic: Human Resources
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Is there an Illinois state law regarding employee overdrafts?
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We are not aware of any Illinois law that would prohibit a bank employee from overdrawing his or her account. We also are not aware of any state or federal law that would prohibit a bank from applying its overdraft protection program to an employee, provided that the program otherwise complies with the requirements for overdraft…
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We’d like to hire an independent contractor to bring in customers from a previous bank that has failed. Can we treat this type of hire as an independent contractor? What other issues should we look for?
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Below are some potential pitfalls to consider: Checking that the individual is available to work for the bank and is not bound by a non-competition agreement from his previous employer. Clarifying, via contract, that the individual will be considered an independent contractor (for tax purposes, benefits, workers compensation purposes, etc.). Also clarifying that the contractor…
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We want to put out a radio advertisement to advertise for job openings at the bank. Does the ad have to state all of the equal opportunity disclosures, as is required in print employment ads?
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We believe that because a bank is considered a federal contractor, it would be subject to the “equal employment opportunity” disclosure requirement. All federally-insured banks are considered government contractors; the definition of “government contract” includes “any agreement . . . for the purchase, sale or use of . . . nonpersonal services,” including “insurance, and fund depository.” 41 CFR…
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We are interviewing a candidate for employment, and received authorization to examine the candidate’s credit report. Can we ask about collection items that appear on the report?
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We do not see any problems with asking an employment applicant about collections items on the applicant’s credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) expressly allows you to obtain a “consumer report” for any “employment purpose,” provided that you follow the disclosure and authorization requirements. 15 USC 1681b(b)(1). (Also, while not applicable here, note…
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Can we offer overdraft protection programs on our deposit accounts for bank employees?
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We are not aware of any Illinois law that would prohibit a bank employee from overdrawing his or her account. We also are not aware of any state or federal law that would prohibit a bank from applying its overdraft protection program to an employee, provided that the program otherwise complies with the requirements for…
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When an employee resigns the day after a holiday, do we have to pay them for the holiday, or can we treat their last day worked as the effective date of the resignation?
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If you don’t have a policy in place that specifically says you must work the day before and/or the day after a holiday in order to get holiday pay, you need to pay the employee. However, you are not required to pay the employee for a day if the employee came in only to resign.
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Do we need to have an Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) in place once we have hit the 50 employee mark, but do not sell any government savings bonds (but do still redeem them)?
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We believe that the affirmative action plan (AAP) requirements would apply to a bank with more than fifty employees that either issues or pays U.S. bonds or has any U.S. government deposits. The AAP requirements apply to “[e]ach nonconstruction contractor . . . if it has 50 or more employees and: . . . (iii) Serves as a depository of Government funds in…
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Our FDIC examiners have cited us for having a rider on our Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance policy to cover any civil money penalties (CMPs) that are assessed against a director personally. But our insurance provider thinks that the CMP rider is permissible, as the directors pay for the riders individually. What do you think?
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Since last year, the FDIC has begun citing banks in exams for maintaining D&O policy endorsements that indemnify directors for CMPs, even when the directors pay for this coverage. The American Association of Bank Directors (AABD) wrote to the FDIC earlier this year questioning these citations and the FDIC’s interpretation of the law on which…
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Can a bank employee be named as the beneficiary on a customer’s payable-on-death account, if the customer had no prior relationship with the employee?
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We are not aware of any restrictions on who is named beneficiary of a payable on death account under the Illinois Trust and Payable on Death Accounts Act. With that said, we strongly advise against allowing employees to name themselves as beneficiaries on customer payable-on-death accounts (with exceptions only for family relationships). If a customer…
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Can we allow administrative personnel and registered securities representatives to access bank core systems?
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Administrative employees and registered securities representatives may be allowed to access some aspects of core data processing, but their access should be strictly limited to what is needed to perform their jobs for the bank. The FFIEC’s IT Examination Handbook is an excellent guide for data processing system access questions. The “Access Control” section states…