MGMT 329 CH3 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY 3.1-3.7
Equal Employment Opportunity Act (EEOA)
Granted enforcement powers to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This act provided a series of amendments to Title VII.
Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972
Granted the enforcement powers for the EEOC.
OWBPA
Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (1990) amended ADEA to prohibit organizations from excluding employee benefits for older workers.
Organizations that find an imbalance may actively search for qualified minorities by revising recruiting methods in a variety of ways.
1. Ask employees who are in an underrepresented group to help recruit. 2. Participate in job fairs at colleges, universities..where minorities are in a majority or in attendance. 3. Advertise in community bulletins for clubs, sororities, fraternities, and places of worship where minorities are in a majority. 4. Place job ads on social media, tv, radio, websites, and in newspapers and magazines that target a particular demographic
Four components of McDonnell-Douglas Test
1. The individuals a member of a protected group. 2. The individual applied for a job for which he or she was qualified. 3. The individual was rejected. 4. The employer, after rejecting this applicant, continued to seek other applicants with similar qualifications..
Verbal or physical conduct toward an individual is sexual harassment if it:
1. creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile environment; 2. unreasonably interferes with an individual's work; or 3. adversely affects an employee's employment opportunities
EEOC Process
1. notify organization within 10 days and investigate. 2. notify org within 120 days of its findings. If unfounded, it stops. person has 90 days to sue if EEOC doe not. 3. If justified, eeoc will attempt to correct the problem. 4. If unsuccessful, the eeoc will begin formal settlement. 5. If all else fails, the eeoc may file charges in court.
Reverse discrimination
A claim made by white males that minority candidates are given preferential treatment in employment decisions.
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
A document created by several government agencies tat makes it clear that HR hiring policies and employee selection procedures must be tied to specific job-related factors and cannot be discriminatory. They are not law, but are referenced by courts in cases of employment discrimination.
Religious Discrmination
A religiously diverse workforce requires employers to understand how work practices may be discriminatory, establish policies that respect an employee's religion, and protect employer and employee rights.
Executive Order 11375
Added sex-based discrimination to E.O. 11246
Adverse (Disparate) Treatment
Adverse treatment occurs when an employer intentionally treats an applicant or employee differently because of a characteristic protected by law.
Investigate all harassment charges immediately.
All mean all - even those that you suspect are invalid.
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994
Allows veteran right to return to their job in the private sector when returning from military service.
Executive Order 11478
Amends part of E.O. 11246, states practices in the federal government must be based on merit, also prohibits discrimination based on political affiliation, marital status, or physical handicap.
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA)
Anyone who has been absent from work because of service in the military is protected and by the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act (VBIA). USERRA was enacted to clarify and strengthen the rights of veteran who served in the Reserves or National Guard.
Employees may use FMLA leave for one or more of the following reasons:
Birth or adoption of a child or placement of foster child; Care for a spouse, son, daughter or parent with a serious health condition, serious health condition of the employee, situations that arise because the employee's spouse, son, daughter, or parent is on active military duty such as deployment, welcome home ceremonies, counseling, or time to make necessary financial or legal arrangements because of deployment. Caring for a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin who is a member of the armed forces with a serious injury or illness for up to 26 weeks.
Albemarle Paper Company v Moody
Clarified requirements for using and validating tests in selection.
The Equal Pay Act is not directly applicable to comparable worth.
Comparable worth proponents want to take the Equal pay act on step further. Factors present in each job (skills, responsibilities, working conditions, effort) are evaluated.
Hostile work environment definition
Conduct that "has the purpose or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment" can depend on the opinions and culture of the people in the organization and the environment in which they work.
Seniority System
Decisions such as promotions, pay, and layoffs are made on the basis of an employee's seniority or length of service.
If a sexual harassment claim goes to trial, courts want to know two things:
Did the organization know about, or should it have known about the alleged behavior; and what did management do to stop it?
Take corrective action as necessary.
Discipline the harassers and "make whole" the harassed individuals.
Employers should consider a variety of measures to prevent sex-based discrimination for transgender employees;
Dress codes should address organizational goals for professionalism or safety without specific requirements for men and women. Transgendered people should be able to dress according to their expressed gender.
Inform all employees of the sexual harassment policy.
Educate employees. Some training may be required.
Transgender 3
Employee records may need to be modified to reflect gender transition including name changes. Appropriate pronouns should be used. It may be necessary to privately ask the employee's preference and discuss a plan for notifying coworkers and customers of pronoun or name changes.
The categories of claims are changing along with increased number.
Employer retaliation is currently the largest category of complaints, followed by race, sex, disability, and age.
Civil Rights Act of 1991
Employment discrimination law that nullified selected Supreme Court decisions. It reinstated burden of proof by the employer and allowed for punitive and compensatory damage through jury trials. Was passed to restore rights of employees who sued employers for discrimination after a
EEOC
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The arm of the federal government empowered to handle discrimination in employment cases. Probably the greatest accomplishment of the EEOA was the granting of enforcement powers to the EEOC.
Comparable worth
Equal pay for jobs similar in skills, responsibility, working conditions, and effort.
Sexual Orientation
Is not protected by Title VII or federal law. State laws may provide protection and in some circumstances, LGBT are covered if they are discriminated against because they do not conform to traditional sex stereotypes.
EEOC has the power to investigate claims
It has no power to force organizations to cooperate.
Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)
Job requirements that are "reasonably necessary to meet the normal operations of that business or enterprise." BFOQs cannot include race or color. Although BFOQs are permissible exceptions to Title VII, they narrowly defined.
Washington v. Davis
Job-related tests are permissible for screening applicants.
Issue a sexual harassment policy describing what constitutes harassment and what inappropriate behavior is.
Just stating that harassment is unacceptable at your organization is not enough. The policy must identify specific unacceptable behaviors. The more explicit these identifications, the less chance of misinterpretation later on.
Firefighters Local 1784 v Stotts (1984)
Layoffs are permitted by seniority despite the effects it may have on minority employees.
Wygant v Jackson Board Education (1986)
Layoffs of white workers to establish racial or ethnic balances are illegal; however, this case reaffirmed the use of affirmative action plans to correct racial imbalance.
Meritor Savings Bank v Vinson
Michelle Vinson was harassed by her boss Sidney Taylor in 1986 and the supreme court ruled in her favor.
McDonnell-Douglas Test
Named for the McDonnell-Douglas Corp. v Green 1973 Supreme Court case, this test provides a guideline for the employee to establish a strong case of discrimination.
FMLA
Nearly 80 percent of all U.S. workers are covered. The act allows workers of organizations that employ 50 or more workers within a 75 mile radius of the organization the opportunity to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12 month period for qualifying reasons. Public agencies and schools are included regardless o the number of employees.
OFCCP
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program has the power to cancel an enterprise's contract with the federal government if the organization fails to comply with EEO laws.
Continue to follow up on the matter ensure that no further harassment occurs or that retaliation does not occur.
One concern individuals have in coming forward with sexual harassment charges is the possibility of retaliation against them especially if the harasser has been disciplined.
ADEA
Organizations with 20 or more employees, state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor organizations are covered by the ADEA.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Outlawed racial segregation and discrimination in employment, public facilities, and education.
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
Permits employees in organizations of 50 or more workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family or medical reasons each year.
Train management personnel in how to deal with harassment charges and what responsibility they have to the individual and the organization.
Poor supervisory practices in this area can expose the company to tremendous liability. Managers must be trained in how to recognize signs of harassment and where to go to help the victim.
Affirmative Action
Programs were established in an effort to encourage those employers to actively seek a more diverse workforce.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
Prohibits discrimination against an essentially qualified individual and requires enterprises to reasonably accommodate individuals.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
Prohibits discrimination against members of the armed services based on sexual orientation.
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008
Prohibits discrimination based on employee's genetic information. Employers with 15 or more employees.
Executive Order (E.O.) 11246
Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, and national origin by federal agencies as well as those working under federal contracts
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Protects employees 40-65 yrs of age from discrimination. Later amended to age 70 (1978), then amended (1986) to eliminate the upper age limit altogether.
United States v Paradise (1986)
Quotas may be used to correct significant racial discrimination practices.
Sheet Metal Workers Local 24 v EEOC 1987
Racial preference could be used in layoff decisions only for those who had been subjected previous race discrimination.
Johnson v Santa Clara County Transportation Agency 1987
Reaffirmed the use of preferential treatment based on gender to overcome problems in existing affirmative action plans.
Connecticut v Teal (1984)
Requires all steps in a selection process to meet the 4/5ths rule.
Equal pay act
Requires that men and woman be paid equal if they're performing the same work.
Transgender 2
Restrooms and changing rooms should be available according to the employee's full-time gender identity. Unisex facilities may be provided.
The point of the comparable worth issue
Revolves around the economic worth of jobs to employers.
June 1998 ruling
Supreme Court ruled that sexual harassment may have occurred even if the employee had not experienced any "negative" job repercussions.
Institute a procedure to investigate harassment charges.
Tell all employees whom to contact with harassment complaints, and provide multiple ways to complain. Supervisors shouldn't be the only person to tell. The supervisor may be the harasser. Communicate the information clearly to all employees.
Griggs v Duke Power
Tests must fairly measure the knowledge or skills required for a job; also validity of tests.
The Role of the EEOC
The EEOC is the enforcement arm for Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act, the ADEA, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
Albemarle Paper Company v. Moody (1975)
The Supreme Court decision spelled out the validation process necessary to prove employment tests actually measure job requirement.
Griggs v. Duke Power Company (1971)
The U.S. Supreme Court held that tests must fairly measure the knowledge and skills required in a job in order not to discriminate unfairly against minorities. It did not matter if the original purpose of the test was not discriminatory if the result impacts a protected group disproportionately; it creates an adverse (disparate) impact.
4/5ths rules
The agencies have adopted a rule of thumb under which they will generally consider a selection rate for any race, sex, or ethnic group which is less than four-fifths (4/5ths) or eighty percent (80%) of the selection rate for the group with the highest selection rate as a substantially different rate of selection.
Geographical Comparisons
The characteristics of the potential qualified pool of applicants in an organization's hiring market are compared to the characteristics of its employees.
Title VII
The most prominent piece of legislation regarding HRM that states the illegality of discriminating against individuals based on race, religion, color, sex, or national origin. Most organizations with 15 or more employees are bound by the law.
Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc.
The supreme court ruled in 1993 that victims need not suffer substantial mental distress to merit a jury award.
Periodically review turnover records to determine if a potential problem may be arising.
This may EEO audits, exit interviews, and the like.
Eligibility for FMLA
To be eligible for these benefits, an employee must have worked for an employer for a total 12 months (not necessarily consecutively) and must have worked for the organization for at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months.
Don't forget to privately recognize individuals who bring these matters forward.
Without their courageous effort, the organization might have faced with tremendous liability.
Women are gaining equality slowly
Women still earn approximately 80 percent of men's salaries.
Business Necessity
Work-related skills or education that are vital to the safe or efficient operation of a business are an accepted reason that an employer may have a requirement that appears to be discriminatory.
ADA Individual definition
a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity, a person who has a history or record of such impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such impairment.
Restricted Policy
a restricted policy occurs whenever HRM activities exclude a class of individuals.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (OFCCP)
administers the orders and provides technical assstance of organizations with 50 or more employees and/or $50,000 in federal grants must have an affirmative action program.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
age BFOQs are hard to support.
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009
allows workers to file pay discrimination claims within 180 days (300 days in some states) of any discriminatory paycheck.
Executive Orders
are issued by the president to provide guidance to government agencies on specific topics.
Essential job functions
are required for the successful performance of the job. These need to be specified in job descriptions so applicants know what is required and employers can prove that they are necessary to the job and not arbitrarily applied.
Sexual Harassment 3.6
can be regarded as any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that affects an individual's employment
the earnings of women who work full time in salaried jobs
compared to the earnings of men by the U.S. Burueau of Labor Statistics, the women only earned 80 cents for every dollar that men earned.
Faragher v City of Boca Raton
held employers liable for sexual harassment in the workplace, by coworkers, managers, and even customers
EEOC can file suit
if the organization is unable to resolve discrimination charges within 120 days.
Reasonable accommodations
include activities or modifications to the work environment that allow the qualified individual to perform the work.
Major life activities
include, but are not limited to, caring for oneself, seeing, hearing, eating, walking, standing, lifting, bending, learning, speaking, breathing, concentrating, communicating, and working.
National Origin Discrimination
involves issues of citizenship and permanent residence status and is often related to race or color discrimination.
Glass Ceiling
is an analogy explaining why women and minorities aren't more widely represented at the top of today's organizations.
Glass Ceiling Commission
it indicates " institutional and psychological practices, and the limited advancement and mobility of men and women of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds."
Systematic discrimination
means that the employer or industry has a pattern or practice that broadly discriminates against a protected group.
Qualified individual
must meet the basic skill, training, licensure, experience, education, or job-related requirements for the position. Ex. Applicant for CPA must have passed the CPA exam.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of disability in employment for private employers, state and local governments, and labor organizations with fifteen or more employees.
Adverse Impact
refers to employment practices such as a test or requirement that sees neutral, but has the effect of discriminating against a protected group.
1963 Equal Pay Act
requires tat workers doing essentially the same work must initially be paid the same wage. later wage differences may exist due to performance, seniority, or merit systems.
EEOC Staff
staffed by five presidentially appointed commissioners and staff counsels.
Quid pro quo harassment
the first type of sexual harassment is when some type of sexual behavior is expected as a condition of employment.
Hostile environment harassment
the second type of sexual harassment is when a working environment is so offensive that it unreasonable interferes with an employee's ability to work.
Wage gap
the wage gap between men and women in the U.S. shows that in spite of decades of attempts to create equity in pay, women still earn 77 cents for every dollar that men earn.
Sex-Based Discrimination
treating someone unfavorably in the workplace because of their gender is discrimination. EEOC reports that sex-based discrimination accounts for approximately 30 percent of discrimination claims every year.
