© 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved Prepared by Joseph B Mosca, Monmouth University & Marla M Kameny, Baton Rouge Community College Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, you should be able to: Describe the legal context of HRM Identify key laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace and discuss equal employment opportunity Discuss legal issues in compensation, labor relations, and other areas in HRM Discuss the importance to an organization of evaluating its legal compliance © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–2 The Regulatory Environment of HRM • Regulation can come in the form of new laws or statutes passed by national, state, or local government bodies • Most regulations start at the national level • State and local regulations are more likely to extend or modify national regulations rather than create new ones © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–3 Legal Regulation of Human Resource Management © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–4 Types of Discrimination • Illegal Discrimination  Results from behaviors or actions by an organization or managers that cause protected class members to be unfairly differentiated from others • Disparate Treatment  When the differential treatment of individuals is based race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability status © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–5 Forms of Illegal Discrimination © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–6 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 • It is illegal for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual or to discriminate in any other way against any individual with respect to any aspect of the employment relationship on the basis of that individual’s race, color, religious beliefs, sex, or national origin © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–7 Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) • BFOQ  A condition (e.g., age, sex, or other personal characteristic) that legitimately affects a person’s ability to perform a job • Business Necessity  Is a practice that is important for the safe and efficient operation of the business, thus is a permissible BFOQ  Indicates an employment practice shown to be related to successful job performance © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–8 Diaz v Pan American • Cello Diaz was denied employment because Pan Am had a hiring policy of hiring only women flight attendants  Courts cited that Pan Am’s data on relative effectiveness of male and female flight attendants was not compelling  No evidence existed to prevent males from being employed as flight attendants © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–9 Disparate Impact • Occurs when an apparently neutral employment practice disproportionately excludes a protected group from employment opportunities • Four-fifths Rule  Suggests that disparate impact exists if a selection criterion results in a selection rate for a protected class that is less than four-fifths (80 percent) of that for the majority group • Ward’s Cove Packing v Antonio case © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–10 Beyond the Book: Policy of Acme Electronics Corporation Corporate policy is that all employees have the right to work in an environment free of discrimination One form of discrimination is sexual harassment Corporate policy concerning sexual harassment is as follows: Any employee found engaging in sexual harassment will be subject to: Official reprimands that will be placed in the employee’s permanent personnel file Suspension from work without pay Demotion to a lower-paying job assignment Discharge from the company Other appropriate action (Continued on next slide) © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–16 Beyond the Book: Policy of Acme Electronics Corporation No supervisor shall explicitly or implicitly threaten that a subordinate’s refusal to submit to sexual advances will result in adverse effects on the worker’s employment, pay promotions, assigned duties, or any other condition of employment Acme employees are prohibited from engaging in behavior of a sexual nature that would create an offensive, unpleasant, or otherwise hostile work environment, e.g., telling jokes of a sexual nature, offensive flirtations, sexual advances or propositions, comments concerning the bodies of members of the opposite sex, or using sexually explicit words that might be considered offensive Acme Corporation encourages any employee who feels he/she has been the victim of sexual harassment to report the incident to his/her supervisor or to Bob Farrow, chair of the EEO Compliance Committee (456-2534, Room 423 in the Personnel office) The incident will be investigated, and corrective action will be taken if appropriate Acme management is committed to eliminating this type of behavior from our company and will take every step necessary to protect individuals from it © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–17 Legislation • Equal Pay Act of 1963 • Age Discrimination and Employment Act (ADEA) • Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1979 • Civil Rights Act of 1991 • Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 • Vietnam Era Veteran’s Readjustment Act Vocational Rehabilitation Act â 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–18 Legislation (cont’d) • Civil Rights Act of 1991  Makes it easier for individuals who feel they have been discriminated against to take legal action against organizations  Provides for punitive damages in cases of discrimination under Title VII © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–19 Legislation (cont’d) • Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990  Prohibits discrimination based on disability in all aspects of the employment relationship such as job application procedures, hiring, firing, promotion, compensation, and training, as well as other employment activities such as advertising, recruiting, tenure, layoffs, leave, and fringe benefits • ADA Amendments Act of 2008 © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–20 Beyond the Book: ADA of 1990  Individuals attempting to prove disability status cannot merely submit a medical diagnosis of an impairment  The act does not cover:  Homosexuality or bisexuality  Gender Identity disorders not resulting from physical impairment or other sexual behavior disorders  Compulsive gambling, kleptomania, or pyromania  Psychoactive substance use disorders resulting from current illegal use of drugs  Current illegal use of drugs © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–21 Legislation (cont’d) • Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993  Requires employers with more than fifty employees to provide up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave for employees:  after the birth or adoption of a child  to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent  to care for the employee’s own serious illness © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–22 Legislation (cont’d) • Executive Order 11246  Prohibits discrimination against protected groups by federal contractors; requires written affirmative action plans from those with contracts greater than $50,000 • Executive Order 11478  Required federal government to be nondiscriminatory in its employment practices  Extends to all contractors with federal contracts worth $10,000 or more © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–23 Investigating and Resolving a Discrimination Complaint MARY SMITH believes she has been discriminated against at work She was passed over for a promotion to supervisor, and believes it was because she was a woman, rather than because she was unqualified Specifically, all candidates for promotion must be approved by their immediate supervisor, and most of these supervisors are older white men who have been heard to say that women should not be promoted In fact, almost no women have been promoted to supervisor in this organization What can Mary do? STEP 1: Mary files a complaint with her local or state EEO agency STEP 2: Local/state EEO agency agrees to investigate Mary’s claim on behalf of EEOC, and the agency contacts Mary’s employer to determine whether the claim has any merit © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–24 (cont’d) Investigating and Resolving a Discrimination Complaint Once the case goes to court, and assuming that Mary and EEOC believe they have a case of disparate impact, the process goes through several more crucial steps STEP 1: Mary tries to establish a prima facie case of discrimination © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–25 Legal Issues in Employment • Compensation  Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)  Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) • Labor Relations  National Labor Relations Act or Wagner Act  Taft-Hartley Act  Landrum-Griffin Act © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–26 Legal Issues in Employment • Employee Rights  Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA)  Privacy Act of 1974  Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988  Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988 © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–27 Beyond the Book: Employee Termination  An employer can not terminate an employee for:  Refusing to commit perjury in court on the employer’s behalf  Cooperating with a government agency in the investigation of a charge or giving testimony  Refusing to violate a professional code of conduct  Reporting OSHA infractions  Refusing to support a law or a political candidate favored by the employer  Complying with summons to jury duty © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–28 Privacy Issues at Work • The Patriot Act • Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2009 © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–29 Privacy Issues at Work • Evaluating Legal Compliance  Ensure that managers clearly understand the laws that govern all aspects of HRM  Have organization legal and HR staff answer questions  Organizations should engage in periodic external legal audits of their HRM procedures © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–30 ... Regulation of Human Resource Management © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–4 Types of Discrimination • Illegal Discrimination  Results from behaviors or actions by an... as indicated by a specific law © 2012 South-Western, Cengage Learning, Inc All rights reserved 2–13 Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination • Affirmative Action  Steps taken by an organization...Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, you should be able to: Describe the legal context of HRM Identify key laws that prohibit