Questions:

• What laws must I follow when hiring new employees?
• When I hire someone, do I have to use a written employment contract?
• Do any special rules apply if I'm hiring a teenager?
• Can I take an applicant's disability into account when I'm hiring?
• Can I ask where an applicant was born or whether he or she is a U.S. citizen?
• I want to know whether applicants have ever been fired or stolen from a prior employer -- can I require them to take a lie detector test?
• What should I do before hiring my first employee?
• What first-day paperwork requirements do I need to handle with new employees?
• How far can I go in running background checks?
• What is a job description?
• Can I check an applicant's credit report?

Answer:

I want to know whether applicants have ever been fired or stolen from a prior employer -- can I require them to take a lie detector test?

No. A federal law called the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (and the laws of many states) prohibits almost all employers from asking or requiring applicants to take a lie detector test. The only exception is for employers that deal in controlled substances or provide certain types of security services, who are allowed to require certain applicants to take a polygraph (a particular kind of lie detector test). For more information on requiring applicants to take tests, see Nolo's article Testing Job Applicants.