HR Ch. 2

When is the environment "hostile"?

Intimidation, insults, and ridicule were sufficiently severe to alter the employee's working conditions

Executive Orders 11246 and 11375

Johnson administration; required that government contractors with contracts of more than $50,000 and 50 or more employees take affirmative action.

Managing diversity

Maximizing diversity's potential benefits while minimizing its potential barriers.

Protected class

Persons such as minorities and women protected by equal opportunity laws, including Title VII

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)

Prohibits discrimination by health insurers and employers based on people's genetic information. Strict confidentiality around an individual's genetic information

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)

Requirement that an employee be of a certain religion, sex, or national origin where that is reasonably necessary to the organization's normal operation. Specified by the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Affirmative action

Steps that are taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination.

Discrimination

Taking specific actions toward or against a person based on the person's group.

Voluntary Mediation

The EEOC refers about 10% of its charges to a voluntary mediation mechanism, "an informal process in which a neutral third party assists the opposing parties to reach a voluntary, negotiated resolution of a charge of discrimination."

Uniform Guidelines

The EEOC, Civil Service Commission, Department of Labor, and Department of Justice together issued this: Guidelines issued by federal agencies charged with ensuring compliance with equal employment federal legislation explaining recommended employer procedures in detail.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)

The act of prohibiting arbitrary age discrimination and specifically protecting individuals over 40 years old.

Equal Pay Act of 1963

The act of requiring equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex.

Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973

The act requiring certain federal contractors to take affirmative action for disabled persons; contracts are >$2,500.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The act requiring employers to make reasonable accommodations for disabled employees; it prohibits employers with 15 or more workers from discriminating against qualified disabled persons; It also says employers must make "reasonable accommodations" for physical or mental limitations unless doing so imposes an "undue hardship" on the business

Civil Rights Act of 1991 (CRA 1991)

The act that places the burden of proof back on employers and permits compensatory and punitive damages

Federal Violence Against Women Act of 1994

The act that provides that a person who commits a crime of violence motivated by gender shall be liable to the party injured.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

The commission, created by Title VII, empowered to investigate job discrimination complaints and sue on behalf of complaints; Consists of 5 members appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. Each member serves a 5-year term. Receive and investigate job discrimination complaints from aggrieved individuals

(5) Population comparisons

This approach compares (1) the percentage of minority/protected group and white workers in the organization with (2) the percentage of the corresponding group in the labor market

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)

This office is responsible for implementing the executive orders and ensuring compliance of federal contractors

Employee resistance

To avoid it make sure you have transparent selection procedures, communication, and justifications

Qualified individuals

Under ADA, those who can carry out the essential functions of the job

Tokenism

When a company appoints a small group of women or minorities to high-profile positions, rather than more aggressively seeking full representation for that group.

(1) Disparate rejection rates

a test for adverse impact in which it can be demonstrated that there is a discrepancy between

Disparate impact

an employer engages in an employment practice or policy that has a greater adverse impact (effect) on members of a protected group under Title VII than on other employees, regardless of intent." Ex) "Employees must have college degrees

Griggs 5 principles

• 1) A test or other selection practice must be job related, and the burden of proof is on the employer • 2)An employer's intent not to discriminate is irrelevant • 3) If a practice is "fair in form but discriminatory in operation," the courts will not uphold it. • 4) Business necessity is the defense for any existing program that has adverse impact. • 5) Title VII does not forbid testing. However, the test must be job related (valid), in that performance on the test must relate to performance on the job.

Burden of proof

what the plaintiff must show to establish possible illegal discrimination, and what the employer must show to defend its action - plays a central role in equal employment cases.

Proving sexual harassment

1) Quid Pro Quo. The most direct is to prove that rejecting a supervisor's advances adversely affected what the EEOC calls a "tangible employment action," such as hiring, firing, promotion, demotion, and/or work assignment. 2) Hostile Environment Created by Supervisors. One court found that a male supervisor's behavior had substantially affected a female employee's emotional and psychological ability to the point that she felt she had to quit her job. 3) Hostile Environment Created by Coworkers of Nonemployees (example: provocative uniform)

workforce analysis

to analyze the data regarding the firm's use of protected versus non-protected employees in various job classifications

(2) 4/5ths rule

Federal agency rule that a minority selection rate less than 80% (4/5ths) of that for the group with the highest rate is evidence of adverse impact.

"mixed-motive" case

A discrimination allegation case in which the employer argues that the employment action taken was motivated not by discrimination, but by some nondiscriminatory reason such as ineffective performance.

Good-faith effort strategy

An affirmative action strategy that emphasizes identifying and eliminating the obstacles to hiring and promoting women and minorities, and increasing the minority or female applicant flow.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978

An amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that prohibits sex discrimination based on "pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions."; employers must treat pregnancy and childbirth like any other disability and include it in the plan as a covered condition.

(4) restricted policy

Another test for adverse impact, involving demonstration that an employer's hiring practices exclude a protected group, whether intentionally or not

Stereotyping

Ascribing specific behavioral traits to individuals based on their apparent membership in a group

Money Damages

Before CRA 1991, victims of intentional discrimination (disparate treatment) who had not suffered financial loss and who sued under Title VII could not them sue for compensatory or punitive damages. They could only expect to get their jobs reinstated. CRA 1991 makes it easier to sue for money damages.

Reverse discrimination

Claim that due to affirmative action quota systems, white males are discriminated against.

Business necessity

Defense created by the courts. It requires showing that there is an overriding business purpose for the discriminatory practice and that the practice is therefore acceptable

The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA)

Disability must be central to the employee's daily living (not to just his or her job). However, employees can show that their disabilities are influencing one of their "major life activities," such as reading and thinking. (Sensitivity to perfume could even count for this!)

What is sexual harassment?

EEOC guidelines define sexual harassment as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.

Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act

Employers are generally required to reinstate employees returning from military leave to positions comparable to those they had before leaving

Alternative dispute resolution or ADR program

Grievance procedure that provides for binding arbitration as the last step.

Griggs v. Duke Power Company

Griggs was a landmark case because the Supreme Court used it to define unfair discrimination; 1) The Court ruled that discrimination does not have to be overt to be illegal (aka, disparate or adverse impact). 2) The Court held that an employment practice must be job related if it has an unequal impact on members of a protected class 3) The burden of proof is on the employer to show that the hiring practice is job related. Thus, the employer must show that the employment practice is necessary for satisfactory job performance if the practice discriminates against members of a protected class

Sexual harassment

Harassment on the basis of sex that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with a person's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

Adverse impact

The overall impact of employer practices that result in significantly higher percentages of members of minorities and other protected groups being rejected for employment, placement, or promotion.

utilization analysis

The process of comparing the percentage of minority employees in a job at the company with the number of similarly trained minority employees available in the relevant labor market

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

The section of the act that says an employer cannot discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin with respect to employment; bars discrimination on the part of most employers, including all private and public employers with 15 or more persons.

State and Local EEO Laws

The state or local laws usually cover employers (< 15 employees) not covered by federal legislation.

Gender-role stereotypes

The tendency to associate women with certain (frequently non-managerial) jobs.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to view members of other social groups less favorably than members of one's own group.

Diversity

The variety or multiplicity of demographic features that characterize a company's workforce, particularly in terms of race, sex, culture, national origin, handicap, age, and religion

US Department of Labor

enforces affirmative action for federal contractors

Disparate treatment

intentional discrimination. "Exists where an employer treats an individual differently because that individual is a member of a particular race, religion, gender, or ethnic group." Ex) "We don't hire drivers over 60 years of age"

EEOC Enforcement process

o File Charge ♣ The process begins when someone files a claim with the EEOC. Either the aggrieved person or a member of the EEOC who has reasonable cause to believe that a violation occurred must file the claim in writing and under oath. o Charge Acceptance ♣ The EEOC's common practice is to accept a charge and orally refer it to the state or local agency on behalf of the charging party. If the agency waives jurisdiction or cannot obtain a satisfactory solution, the EEOC processes it upon the expiration of the deferral period. o Serve Notice ♣ After a charge is filed, the EEOC has 10 days to serve notice on the employer. Provide a concise explanation describing why the actions were lawful. o Investigation/Fact-Finding Conference ♣ The EEOC then investigates the charge to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe it is true; it has 120 days to decide. • Fact-Finding Conference: occurs early in the investigation. Here the EEOC seeks to find weak spots in each party's position. It uses these to push for a settlement. o Cause/No Cause ♣ If it finds no reasonable cause, the EEOC must dismiss the charge and must issue the charging party a Notice of Right to Sue. The person has 90 days to file a suit on his or her own behalf. o Conciliations ♣ If the EEOC does find cause, it has 30 days to work out a conciliation agreement. Tries to negotiate a settlement with the employer. o Notice to Sue ♣ If this conciliation is not satisfactory, the EEOC may bring a civil suit in a federal district court or issue a Notice of Right to Sue to the person who filed the charge.

(3) Standard Deviation Rule

the standard deviation is a statistical measure of variability. It is a measure of the dispersion of a set of data from its mean. In selection, the standard deviation rule hold that, as a rule of thumb, the difference between the numbers of minority candidates we would have expected to hire and whom we actually hired should be less than two standard deviations.

(6) McDonnell-Douglas Test

• Lawyers use this test for showing (intentional) disparate treatment, rather than (unintentional) disparate impact. o The Court set 4 rules for applying this test: ♣ 1) that the person belongs to a protected class ♣ 2) that he or she applied and was qualified for a job for which the employer was seeking applicants ♣ 3) that, despite this qualification, he or she was rejected ♣ 4) that, after his or her rejection, the position remained open and the employer continued seeking applications from persons with the complainant's qualifications. • If all conditions are met, a prima facie case of disparate treatment is established.

Albermarle Paper Company v. Moody

• The Court said that if an employer wants to test candidates for a job, then the employer should first clearly document and understand the job's duties and responsibilities. o The job's performance standards should be clear and unambiguous.