Rehire

plete an entirely new form. While Form W-4 technically comes with no expiration date from the Internal Revenue Service, your best bet is to have the employee complete a new form to be sure the information is up to date. Internal forms, such as confidentiality agreements and policy acknowledgments, should be treated as new and signed again.

To ensure the smoothest rehire process, consider documenting your steps and creating a policy. That way, a returning employee won’t be caught off-guard when he sees the job posted or is asked for consent to run a background check.

The key to remember is this: Rehiring former employees can save your company time and money, but be sure to cover all your bases before making a job offer. Ann Potratz is an associate editor with J.J. Keller & Associates, a nationally recognized compliance resource firm. Potratz specializes in business topics such as discrimination and harassment, background checks, and security. She is the editor of J. J. Keller’s Employment Law Today newsletter and Essentials of Employment Law manual. For more information, visit www. jjkeller.com/hr and www. jjkellerlibrary.com.