Chapter 3 Understanding the Legal Environment

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Chapter 3Understanding the Legal Environment
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Why Understanding the Legal Environment is
Important

• Doing the Right Thing
• Ethical Implications
• First and foremost, compliance with the law is
  important because it is the right thing to do.
• Realizing the Limitations of HR and Legal
  Departments
• If managers make poor decisions, the HR
  department will not always be able to resolve the
  situation.
• Limiting Potential Liability
• Financial
• PR

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Important Concepts

• Ideal behavior vs. Affirmative Action
• Ethical dilemma?
• Availability Analysis
• Sexual Harassment

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Fair Employment
Fair employment is the goal of EEO legislation
and regulation a situation in which employment
decisions are not affected by illegal
discrimination.
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Affirmative Action
Steps that are taken for the purpose of
eliminating the present effects of past
discrimination
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Competing Strategies for Fair Employment
Ideal Behavior Strategy
Affirmative Action Strategy

• Best way to achieve
• fair employment is to
• make decisions
• without regard to
• Race
• Sex
• Religion
• National Origin
• Color
• Age
• Disability

• Best way to achieve
• fair employment is to
• make decisions, at
• least in part, on the
• basis of
• Race
• Sex
• Religion
• National Origin
• Color
• Age
• Disability

Goal Fair Employment
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Components of an Eight-Factor Availability
Analysis

• Determine the percentage of protected-class
  members for each
• of the following groups of people
• Local population
• Local unemployed workers
• Local labor force
• Qualified workers in the local labor market
• Qualified workers in the labor market from which
  you
• recruit
• Current employees who might be promoted into the
• job classification
• Graduates of local education and training
  programs that
• prepare people for this job classification
• Participants in training programs sponsored by
  the
• employer

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Components of an Eight-Factor Availability
Analysis

• Local population
• Local unemployed workers
• Local labor force
• Qualified workers in the local labor market
• Qualified workers in the labor market from which
  you
• recruit
• Current employees who might be promoted into the
• job classification
• Graduates of local education and training
  programs that
• prepare people for this job classification
• Participants in training programs sponsored by
  the
• employer

• Phoenix Metro
• 27.7 ethnic minority
• 9.8 college educated
• 12.7 below poverty level
• 34.8 growth (past 10 years)
• 6 unemployment

• Albuquerque Metro
• 25 ethnic minority
• 34.9 median age
• 29.2 college educated
• 10 below poverty level
• 16.5 growth (past 10 years)
• 3.8 unemployment

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Discrimination

• What are some other bases of discrimination not
  currently legislated?
• How should they be dealt with?
• Are we always cognizant of them?

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Legislation

• Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Equal Pay Act

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Two Kinds of Discrimination
Disparate Treatment
Adverse Impact
Direct discrimination Unequal treatment Decision
rules with a racial/ sexual premise or
cause Intentional discrimination Prejudiced
actions Different standards for different
groups
Indirect discrimination Unequal consequences or
results Decision rules with a racial/ sexual
consequences or results Unintentional
discrimination Neutral actions Same standards,
but different consequences for
different groups
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EEOC Definitions of Harassment
1980 Definition of Sexual Harassment
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual
favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of
a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment
when 1. submission to such conduct is made
either explicitly or implicitly a term or
condition of an individuals employment 2. submis
sion to or rejection of such conduct by an
individual is used as a basis for employment
decisions affecting such individual or 3. such
conduct has the purpose or effect of
unreasonably interfering with an individuals
work performance or creating an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive working environment.
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EEOC Definitions of Harassment
1993 Definition of Harassment
Unlawful harassment is verbal or physical conduct
that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion
toward an individual because of his or her race,
color, religion, gender, national origin, age or
disability, or that of his/her relatives,
friends, or associates, and that 1. has the
purpose or effect of creating an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive working
environment. 2. has the purpose or effect of
unreasonably interfering with an individuals
work performance or 3. otherwise adversely
affects an individuals employment
opportunities.
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Do You Have a Hostile Work Environment?

• The Supreme Court listed these questions to help
  judges and
• juries decide whether verbal and other
  nonphysical behavior
• of a sexual nature create a hostile work
  environment.
• How frequent is the discriminatory conduct?
• How severe is the discriminatory conduct?
• Is the conduct physically threatening or
  humiliating?
• Does the conduct interfere with the employees
  work
• performance?

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Number of U.S Sexual Harassment Charges from
1992-1998
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Reducing Potential Liability for Sexual Harassment

• Establish a written policy prohibiting
  harassment.
• Communicate the policy and train employees in
  what constitutes harassment.
• Establish an effective complaint procedure.
• Quickly investigate all claims.
• Take remedial action to correct past harassment.
• Make sure that the complainant does not end up in
  a less desirable position if he or she needs to
  be transferred.
• Follow up to prevent continuance of harassment.

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Principal EEOC Regulations
Sex discrimination guidelines Questions and
answers on pregnancy disability and reproductive
hazards Religious discrimination
guidelines National origin discrimination
guidelines Interpretations of the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act Employee
selection guidelines Questions and answers on
employee selection guidelines Sexual harassment
guidelines Record keeping and reports
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Principal EEOC Regulations (cont.)
Affirmative action guidelines EEG in the federal
government Equal Pay Act interpretations Policy
statement on maternity benefits Policy statement
on relationship of Title VII to 1986 Immigration
Reform and Control Act Policy statement on
reproductive and fetal hazards Policy statement
on religious accommodations under Title
VII Disability discrimination guidelines
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Strategies for Addressing EEO Complaints

• Litigation
• Employment discrimination claims constitute the
  largest number of civil rights suits filed
  annually in federal courts
• Arbitration
• Less costly
• Arbitrators not bound to abide by prevailing laws
• Internal Dispute Resolution
• Less costly
• Handled by entities within the company (up the
  chain of control)

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Resources for further information

• EEO Office
• 1-800-669-4000
• www.eeoc.gov
• Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
  (OFCCP)
• http//www.dol.gov/elaws/ofccp