HR Management: Chapter 3

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

*Prohibits employers from discriminating based on: -Race -Color -Religion -Sex -National origin -Applies to organizations that employ 15 or more. *Title VII is the major law regulating EEO in the United States. The law is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), an agency of the Department of Justice.

disparate impact

-A condition in which employment practices are seemingly neutral yet disproportionately exclude a protected group from employment opportunities. *One way employers can avoid disparate impact is to be sure that employment decisions are really based on relevant, valid measurements. the company's employment practices lack obvious discriminatory content, but they affect one group differently than others. Examples of employment practices that might result in disparate impact include pay, hiring, promotions, or training.

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFQQ)

-A necessary (not merely preferred) qualification for performing a job. -Supreme Court has ruled that BFOQ's are limited to policies directly related to a worker's ability to do the job. *Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) A necessary (not merely preferred) qualification for performing a job. The courts have held that in some situations, a factor such as sex or race may be a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ), that is, a necessary (not merely preferred) qualification for performing a job. A typical example is a job that includes handing out towels in a locker room. Requiring that employees who perform this job in the women's locker room be female is a BFOQ. Employers can avoid discrimination by avoiding disparate treatment of job applicants and employees, as well as policies that result in disparate impact. Companies can develop and enforce an EEO policy coupled with policies and practices that demonstrate a high value placed on diversity. Affirmative action may correct past discrimination, but quota-based activities can result in charges of reverse discrimination. To provide reasonable accommodation, companies should recognize needs based on individuals' religion or disabilities. Employees may need to make such accommodations as adjusting schedules or dress codes, making the workplace more accessible, or restructuring jobs.

Thirteenth Amendment

-Abolished slavery in United States. -Has been applied in cases where discrimination involved symbols and incidents of slavery.

Civil Rights Act (1991)

-Adds compensatory and punitive damages in cases of discrimination under Title VII and ADA. -Amount of punitive damages is limited by the act and depends on size of the organization charged with discrimination *The Civil Rights Act of 1991 broadened the relief available to victims of discrimination. One major change in EEO law under CRA 1991 has been the addition of compensatory and punitive damages in cases of discrimination under Title VII and the ADA. Punitive damages are a punishment. Compensatory damages include such things as future monetary loss, emotional pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. *Congress has limited the amount of punitive damages allowed in civil rights cases. Table 3.2 shows that the amount of damages depends on the size of the organization charged with discrimination. The limits range from $50,000 per violation at a small company (14 to 100 employees) to $300,000 at a company with more than 500 employees. A company has to pay punitive damages only if it discriminated intentionally or with malice or reckless indifference to the employee's federally protected rights.

Occupational Safety and Health Act

-Authorizes federal government to establish and enforce occupational safety and health standards for all places of employment engaging in interstate commerce. -Established (OSHA). Responsible for: --Inspecting employers --Applying safety and health standards --Levying fines for violation *Like equal employment opportunity, the protection of employee safety and health is regulated by the government. (OSH Act) of 1970 is the most comprehensive U.S. law regarding worker safety. Under OSHA, employers have a general duty to provide employees a place of employment free from recognized safety and health hazards. They must inform employees about hazardous substances, maintain and post records of accidents and illnesses, and comply with NIOSH standards about specific occupational hazards. hazardous substances, maintain and post records of accidents and illnesses, and comply with NIOSH standards about specific occupational hazards. Besides complying with OSHA regulations, employers often establish safety awareness programs designed to instill an emphasis on safety. They may identify and communicate hazards through the job hazard analysis technique or the technic of operations review. They may adapt communications and training to the needs of different employees, such as differences in experience levels or cultural differences from one country to another. Employers may also establish incentive programs to reward safe behavior.

Civil Rights Act of 1866 and 1871

-Civil Rights Act of 1866 granted all persons same property rights as white citizens. -Civil Rights Act of 1871 granted all citizens right to sue in federal court if they feel they have been deprived of some civil right.

Vocational Rehabilitation Act (1973)

-Covered organizations must engage in affirmative action for individuals with disabilities. -Employers are encouraged to recruit qualified individuals with disabilities and make reasonable accommodations to them -Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was intended to enhance employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The act covers executive agencies, contractors, and subcontractors that receive more than $2,500 annually from the federal government.

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009

-Covers not being paid the same as one's co-workers, where the difference is due to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability.

Promoting Safety Internationally

-Cultural differences make this difficult. -Laws, enforcement practices, and political climates vary from country to country. -Companies may operate in countries where labor standards are far less strict than in U.S. *To ensure safe behaviors, employers should not only define how to work safely but reinforce the desired behavior. Given the increasing focus on international management, organizations also need to consider how to ensure the safety of their employees regardless of the nation in which they operate.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978

-Defines discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related form of medical condition to be a form of illegal sex discrimination. -Benefits, including health insurance, should cover pregnancy and related medical conditions in the same way as other medical conditions.

prevent sexual harassment by

-Developing and communicating a policy that defines and forbids it -Training employees to recognize and avoid this behavior -Providing a means for employees to complain and be protected *To ensure a workplace free from sexual harassment, organizations can follow some important steps. First, the organization can develop a policy statement making it very clear that sexual harassment will not be tolerated in the workplace. Second, all employees, new and old, can be trained to identify inappropriate workplace behavior. In addition, the organization can develop a mechanism for reporting sexual harassment in a way that encourages people to speak out. Finally, management can prepare to act promptly to discipline those who engage in sexual harassment, as well as to protect the victims of sexual harassment.

disparate treatment

-Differing treatment of individuals based on the individuals' race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability status. *One potential sign of discrimination is disparate treatment, differing treatment of individuals, where the differences are based on the individuals' race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability status. For example, disparate treatment would include hiring or promoting one person over an equally qualified person because of the individual's race. Or suppose a company fails to hire women with school-age children (claiming the women will be frequently absent) but hires men with school-age children. In that situation, the women are victims of disparate treatment, because they are being treated differently based on their sex. To sustain a claim of discrimination based on disparate treatment, the women would have to prove that the employer intended to discriminate.

general duty clause

-Each employer has a general duty to furnish each employee a place of employment free from recognized hazards that cause or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008

-Employers may not use genetic information in making decision related to terms, conditions, or privileges of employment -Includes a person's genetic tests, genetic test of the person's family members, and family medial histories -Forbids unintentional collection of this data -Forbids harassment of employee because of genetic information *Because the developments in the fields of genetics and medicine, more is known about genes associated with risks for developing particular diseases. This is helpful for individuals who can begin to take precautions but raises concerns that employers could use this information when making employment-related decisions. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 prohibits these actions by employers. Specifically, -Employers may not use genetic information in making decision related to the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment -Includes a person's genetic tests, genetic test of the person's family members, and family medial histories -Forbids unintentional collection of this data -Forbids harassment of employee because of genetic information

specific duties

-Employers must keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses. -Employers must post and annual summary of these records from February 1 to April 30 in the following year.

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)

-Employers must reemploy workers who left jobs to fulfill military duties for up to five years. -Should be in the job they would have held if they had not left to serve in the military. *Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of 1994 Under this law, employers must reemploy workers who left jobs to fulfill military duties for up to five years. When service members return from active duty, the employer must reemploy them in the job they would have held if they had not left to serve in the military, providing them with the same seniority, status, and pay rate they would have earned if their employment had not been interrupted. Disabled veterans also have up to two years to recover from injuries received during their service or training, and employers must make reasonable accommodations for a remaining disability. The act requires employers to reemploy service members in the job they would have held if they had not left to serve in the military.

fourteenth amendment

-Forbids states from taking life, liberty, or property without due process of law. -Prevents states from denying equal protection of discrimination. -Applies to decisions or actions of government or private groups whose activities are deemed government actions *For example, a person could file a claim under the Fourteenth Amendment if he or she had been fired from a state university (a government organization) but not if the person had been fired by a private employer

Reinforcing Safe Practices

-Implementing a safety incentive program to reward workers for their support of and commitment to safety goals. -Start by focusing on monthly or quarterly goals. -Encourage suggestions for improving safety.

Equal Pay Act of 1963

-Men and women in an organization doing the same work must be paid equally. -Equal is defined in terms of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. *Under the Equal Pay Act of 1963, pay differences are allowed if they result from differences in seniority, merit, quality or quantity of production, or any factor other than gender (such as work shift differentials). However, the act allows for reasons why men and women performing the same job might be paid differently. If the pay differences result from differences in seniority, merit, quantity or quality of pro- duction, or any factor other than sex (such as participating in a training program or working the night shift), then the differences are legal.

technic of operations review

-Method of promoting safety by determining which specific element of a job led to a past accident. -Many employers establish safety awareness programs to go beyond mere compliance with OSH Act and attempt to instill an emphasis on safety. A safety awareness program has three primary components: 1.Identifying and communicating job hazards 2.Reinforcing safe practices 3.Promoting safety internationally

Age Discrimination in Employment Act

-Prohibits discrimination against workers who are over the age of 40. -Age discrimination complaints make up a large percentage of complaints filed with EEOC. *ADEA was originally enacted in 1967 and has been subsequently amended. Similar to Title VII, the ADEA outlaws hiring, firing, setting compensation rates, or other employment decisions based on a person's age being over 40. To defend against claims of discrimination, one practical way is to establish performance-related criteria for layoffs, rather than age- or salary-related criteria *Age discrimination complaints make up a large percentage of the complaints flied with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and whenever the economy is slow, the number of complaints grows. For example, as shown in Figure 3.1, the number of age discrimination cases jumped in 2008, when many firms were downsizing, and has fallen slightly as the recovery has proceeded at a slow pace. Another increase in age discrimination claims accompanied the economic slowdown at the beginning of the 2000s

Executive Order 11246

-Prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -Employers whose contracts meet minimum size requirements must engage in affirmative action. *Executive Order 11246 was issued by President Lyndon Johnson. Covered organizations receiving more than $10,000 from the federal government must take affirmative action, and those with contracts exceeding $50,000 must develop a written affirmative action plan for each of their establishments

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

-Protects individuals with disabilities from being discriminated against in the workplace. -Prohibits discrimination based on disability in all employment practices. -Employers must take steps to accommodate individuals covered by the act. *Figure 3.2 shows the types of disabilities associated with complaints filed under the ADA in 2013.In contrast to other EEO laws, the ADA goes beyond prohibiting discrimination to require that employers take steps to accommodate individuals covered under the act. If a disabled person is selected to perform a job, the employer (perhaps in consultation with the disabled employee) determines what accommodations are necessary for the employee to perform the job. Examples include using ramps and lifts to make facilties accessible, redesigning job procedures, and providing technology such as TDD lines for hearing-impaired employees. Some employers have feared that accommodations under the ADA would be expensive. However, the Department of Labor has found that two-thirds of accommodations cost less than $500, and many of these cost Nothing. As technology advances, the cost of many technologies has been falling. In addition, the federal government has created a tax credit, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, of up to $2,400 for each qualified disabled worker hired. That means accommodating disabled workers can lower an employer's income taxes.

Preventing sexual harrassment

-Refers to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature when: -Submission to such conduct is made explicitly or implicitly a term of condition of an individual's employment, -Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or -Such conduct has the purpose of effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. *Based on Title VII's prohibition of sex discrimination, the EEOC defines sexual harassment of employees as unlawful employment discrimination. Under these guidelines, preventing sexual discrimination includes managing the workplace in a way that does not tolerate anybody's threatening or intimidating employees through sexual behavior. he most obvious examples of sexual harassment involve QUID PRO QUO Harassment, meaning that a person makes a benefit (or punishment) contingent on an employee's submitting to (or rejecting) sexual advances. For example, a manager who promises a raise to an employee who will participate in sexual activities is engaging in quid pro quo harassment. Likewise, it would be sexual harassment to threaten to reassign someone to a less-desirable job if that person refuses sexual favors.nA more subtle, and possibly more pervasive, form of sexual harassment is to create or permit a "hostile working environment." This occurs when someone's behavior in the workplace creates an environment in which it is difficult for someone of a particular sex to work. Common complaints in sexual harassment lawsuits include claims that harassers ran their fingers through the plaintiffs' hair, made suggestive remarks, touched intimate body parts, posted pictures with sexual content in the workplace, and used sexually explicit language or told sex-related jokes. The reason that these behaviors are considered discrimination is that they treat individuals differently based on their sex

Executive Order 11478

-Requires federal government to base all its employment decisions on merit and fitness. Also covers organizations doing at least $10,000 worth of business with federal government. *Executive Order 11478 was issued by President Richard Nixon. It requires the federal government to base all of its employment decisions on merit and fitness. It specifies that race, color, religion, sex, and national origin may not be considered. Along with the government, it covers all contractors and subcontractors doing at least $10,000 worth of business with the federal government.

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Procedurs (OFCCP)

-Responsible for enforcing executive orders that cover companies doing business with federal government. -Audits government contractors to ensure they are actively pursuing goals in their affirmative action plans. -Plan must include utilization analysis, goals and timetables and action steps. -If the OFCCP finds that a contractor or subcontractor is not in compliance, it has several options: -It may notify EEOC (if it has evidence of a Title VII violation). It may advise the Department of Justice to begin criminal proceedings. -It may request the Secretary of Labor cancel or suspend any current contracts with the company. -It may also request that the Secretary of Labor forbid the firm from bidding on any future contracts.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

-Responsible for enforcing most EEO laws. -Investigates and resolves complaints about discrimination -Gathers information Issues guidelines -Monitors organizations' hiring practices -Complaints must be filed within 180 days of incident. -EEOC has 60 days to investigate complaint. *At a minimum equal employment opportunity requires that employers comply with EEO laws. To enforce these laws, the executive branch of the federal government uses the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Procedures (OFCCP).

four-fifths rule

-Rule of thumb that finds evidence of discrimination if an organization's hiring rate for a minority group is less than four-fifths the hiring rate for the majority group. -Compares rates of hiring, not numbers of employees hired. *A commonly used test of disparate impact is the four-fifths rule. This test finds evidence of discrimination if the hiring rate for a minority group is less than four-fifths the hiring rate for the majority group. Figure 3.4 illustrates how to apply the four-fifths rule.

Job Hazard Analysis Technique

-Safety promotion technique that involves breaking down a job into basic elements, then rating each element for its potential for harm or injury.

Providing Reasonable Accommodation

-an employer's obligation to do something to enable an otherwise qualified person to perform a job -Companies should recognize needs based on individuals' religion or disabilities. -Employers may need to make such accommodations as adjusting work schedules or dress codes, making the workplace more accessible, or restructuring jobs. -For example, accommodations for an employee's religion often involve decisions about what kinds of clothing to permit or require. For employees with disabilities, reasonable accommodations vary according to the individuals' needs. Figure 3.5, employers may restructure jobs, make facilities in the workplace more accessible, modify equipment, or reassign an employee to a job that the person can perform. In some situations, a disabled individual may provide his or her own accommodation, which the employer allows, as in the case of a blind worker who brings a guide dog to work. f accommodating a disability would require significant expense or difficulty, how-ever, the employer may be exempt from the reasonable accommodation requirement (although the employer may have to defend this position in court). An accommodation is considered "reasonable" if it does not impose an undue hardship on the employer, such as an expense that is large in relation to a company's resources.

Vietnam Era Veteran's Readjustment Act of 1974

-requires federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action toward employing veterans of the Vietnam War -covers veterans who served between August 5th 1964 and May 7th, 1975

Equal Employment Opportunity

-the condition in which all individuals have an equal chance for employment, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin *Federal government's efforts in this area include: -constitutional amendments -legislation -executive orders -court decisions

Regulation of HRM

1. Legislative branch - Has enacted a number of laws governing HR activities 2. Executive branch - Responsible for enforcing the laws. Includes the regulatory agencies that the president oversees. 3. Judicial branch - Interprets the law. The Supreme Court is the court of final appeal. Its decisions are binding.

employees have the right to:

1.Request an inspection. 2.Have a representative present at an inspection. 3.Have dangerous substances identified. 4.Be promptly informed about exposure to hazards and be given access to accurate records regarding exposure. 5.Have employer violations posted at work site. *OSH Act also grants specific rights to employees. Besides complying with OSHA regulations, employers often establish safety awareness programs designed to instill an emphasis on safety. They may identify and communicate hazards through the job hazard analysis technique or the technic of operations review. They may adapt communications and training to the needs of different employees, such as differences in experience levels or cultural differences from one country to another. Employers may also establish incentive programs to reward safe behavior. -OSHA is responsible for inspecting businesses, applying safety and health standards, and levying fines for violations. -OSHA regulations prohibit notifying employers of inspections in advance. *OSH Act has unquestionably succeeded in raising the level of awareness of occupational safety. Yet legislation alone cannot solve all the problems of work site safety. Indeed, the rate of occupational illnesses more than doubled between 1985 and 1990, According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while the rate of injuries rose by about 8 percent. *As depicted in Figure 3.7, the combined rate of injuries and ill-nesses has showed a steady downward trend since then, and illnesses remain a small share of the total, at around 5%.A more troubling trend is an increase in the number of claims of retaliation against employees who report injuries. The data do not indicate whether more employers are actually retaliating, however, or more employees are learning that the law forbids retaliation. *In 2016 , serious work-related injuries cost employers $50 billion. The leading cause was overexertion (for example, excessive lifting, pushing, carrying, or throwing), followed by falls on the same level (rather than from a height, such as a ladder), and falls to a lower level.