GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF THE WORKPLACE: Background

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GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF THE WORKPLACE
Background

• Employees are the most important resource for
  most firms in the Virtual State
• Management needs to build cooperative environment
  at the workplace to ensure customer service and
  high value-added work
• in service industries and manufacturing firms
• .. the two factors above are strongly
  affected by workplace practices, employee rights
  and ethical issues in the workplace

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TOPICS/ISSUES WE WILL REVIEW

• (1) EMPLOYEE RIGHTS -- HISTORY LAWS
• (2) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
• Nearly 1/4 of all workers are minorities, 1/2
  are women
• 85 of new workers 1990-2005 will be female or
  minority
• (3) SEXUAL HARRASMENT
• (4) AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
• (5) PARADIGMS OF MANAGING DIVERSITY

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EMPLOYEE RIGHTS U.S. LAWS

• Courts focus on fairness and implied
  obligations of employment
• In addition to legal standards, moral standards
  govern the employment relationship
• Workplace rules and regulations are an example of
  how moral and ethical standards can become law

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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

• TITLE VII OF THE 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT
• Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis
  of race, color, gender, religion or natural
  origin
• Applies to employers with more than 15 employees
• Meant to prevent employment policies with
  disparate impact on particular protected groups

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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
  --prohibits age discrimination against
  individuals who are 40 years or older
• Title 1 of the American Disabilities Act of 1990
  prohibits employment discrimination against
  qualified individuals with disabilities

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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY(CONTINUED)

• Equal employment opportunity may also apply to
  grooming rules, physical requirements and
  information about an individuals past (again,
  these can have disparate impact on different
  groups, e.g., American Airlines and flight
  attendants weight rules)

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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

• RELEVANT INSTITUTIONAL ARENAS
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• -- enforces the federal laws that prohibit
  employment discrimination
• --files cases (lawsuits) against companies
  brought to their attention
• --requires reporting on employment by race, sex
  and national origin
• -- monitors firm compliance

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INSTITUTIONAL ARENAS(continued)

• Courts --hear and decide cases
• State Commissions, e.g., MA Commission against
  discrimination, NH Human Rights Commission
• -- remedies include mandated changes in
  practices and penalties including damages
  punitive awards
• Federal class action lawsuits have more than
  doubled in last 4 yrs (e.g., Publix, Mitsubishi)
  --since 1991 fed law allowed for punitive awards
  and made discrimination easier to prove

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FIRM DEFENSES IN TITLE VII(EQUAL EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITY)

• (1) Business Necessity --bona fide occupational
  qualification
• (2) Practice a result of seniority system
• -- courts have held up right of seniority (an
  example of potential conflict over rights)

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SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• Form of unlawful sex discrimination that are made
  a condition of employment, that interfere with
  work performance, or that create a hostile work
  environment
• Includes --unwelcome sexual advances
• --requests for sexual favors
• --verbal or physical conduct
• Employers are responsible for maintaining a
  workplace free of sexual harassment and they are
  liable for the unlawful conduct of employees

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SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASES IN THE NEWS

• ASTRA USA 10m to settle a sexual harassment
  lawsuit by EEOC. ASTRA maintained a sexually
  hostile work environment and retaliated against
  employees who reported such behavior,including
  quid pro quo harassment.
• MITSUBISHI --Court ruled that EEOC could bring
  class action sexual harassment suit against the
  company
• UNH --Professor Silva belly dancing is like
  Jello on a plate with a vibrator under the plate
  -- ordered to apologize and undergo counseling
  --sued and won, as court claimed UNH violated his
  1st ADM rights
• WIDE DIFFERENCES IN INTERPRETATIONS AND
  OPINIONS ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT

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AFFIRMATIVE ACTIONANOTHER CONTROVERSIAL AREA OF
EMPLOYMENT LAW

• PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON 1965, SIGNED EXECUTIVE
  ORDER 11246 WHICH
• Requires employers doing business with the
  Federal Government to develop affirmative action
  plans to assure equal employment opportunity
• Applies to Federal Government contractors,
  suppliers, grantees (e.g., UNH)
• Affirmative Action is a conscious attempt to
  realize equal opportunity

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AFFIRMATIVE ACTION(continued)

• Includes steps to remedy the effects of past
  discrimination and allows preferential treatment
  for individuals in protected classes
• Affected firms must adopt recruiting policies
  that ensure that minorities and females are
  included in the pool of job candidates
• Two ethical bases for affirmative action
• compensatory justice (for past injustices)
• equality of opportunity

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Conditions under which reverse discrimination
resulting from AA is legal

• (1) AA needs to be a formal systematic program
• -- employer cannot discriminate against
  non-minorities on an isolated, ad hoc basis
• (2) Must be temporary, until reasonableminority
  hiring goals are achieved
• (3) Program can not completely bar the hiring of
  non-minority workers

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REVERSE DISCRIMINATION(continued)

• (4) Must be based on either past discrimination
  or simply under-utilization of minorities or
  women in the workplace (e.g., UNH)
• (5) Can not force employer to hire or promote
  unqualified workers

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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LAW SCHOOL HOPWOOD V. TEXAS
CASE (96)

• US fifth district court ruled that law school
  could not use race as a factor in admission
• Case filed by 4 whites who had been denied
  admission
• Fall 1997 class of 800 students admitted, only 6
  are Black and 18 Mexican-Amer. compared to 65 and
  70 fall 1996
• To ensure diversity Texas University System is
  now using economic status and class rank in
  undergraduate admission

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ISSUES -- EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND AFFIRMATIVE
ACTION

• (1) DIFFERENT PERCEPTIONS ON ISSUE
• 60 of whites feel that people of color have same
  opportunities as whites, while 70 of blacks feel
  that people of color do not have same
  opportunities
• (2) REVERSE DISCRIMINATION
• less than 100 cases
• (3) GLASS CEILING
• white men 43 of workforce, but 95 of senior
  management, only 6 of directors of the top 500
  corporations are female

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PARADIGMS FOR MANAGING DIVERSITY

• FAIRNESS -- compliance with laws, color and
  gender blind ideal practiced, assimilation, treat
  all employees the same
• ACCESS -- acceptance of differences, match the
  demographics of the organization to those of
  critical consumer or constituent groups, use
  diverse workforce to champion niche marketing
  (LEVI STRAUSS EXAMPLE)
• LEARNING -- create safe places for diverse
  employees to be themselves and contribute to the
  organization in unique ways, recognize and
  benefit from differences among employees