Human resource 1e by denisi griffin chapter 02

© 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:

1. Describe the legal context of HRM
2. Identify key laws that prohibit discrimination in the
workplace and discuss equal employment opportunity
3. Discuss legal issues in compensation, labor relations,
and other areas in HRM
4. Discuss the importance to an organization of evaluating
its legal compliance

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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.

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2–3


Legal Regulation of Human Resource Management

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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.
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2–5

Forms of Illegal Discrimination

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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.

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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.
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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.

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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

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2–10


Disparate Impact
(cont’d)

• Geographical Comparisons
 Compares the characteristics of the potential pool of

qualified applicants for a job (focusing on
characteristics such as race, ethnicity, and gender)
with those same characteristics of the present
employees in the job.

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2–11

Disparate Impact
(cont’d)

• McDonnell-Douglas Test
 A basis for establishing a prima facie case of

disparate impact discrimination
 Four steps:


Applicant is a member of a protected class.



Applicant was qualified.



Applicant was turned down.



Firm continued to seek other applicants with the
same qualifications.

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2–12

Disparate Impact
(cont’d)

• Pattern or Practice Discrimination
 A form of disparate treatment that occurs on

a class-wide basis
• Protected Class
 All individuals who share one or more

common personal characteristics (e.g., race)
as indicated by a specific law

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2–13


Affirmative Action and
Reverse Discrimination
• Affirmative Action
 Steps taken by an organization to seek

qualified applicants from groups
underrepresented in the workforce
• Utilization Analysis
 A comparison of the race, sex, and ethnic
composition of the employer’s workforce to

that of the available labor supply

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2–14


Sexual Harassment at Work
• Quid pro Quo
 The harasser offers to exchange something

of value for sexual favors.
• Hostile Work Environment
 The climate or culture of a firm is punitive

toward people of a different gender.

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2–15


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)
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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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
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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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2–25