HR Chpt. 3

Has enacted a number of laws governing HR activities

• -responsible for enforcing the laws
• -includes the regulatory agencies that the president oversees

• 1)interprets the law
• 2)supreme court is court of final appeal
• 3)its decisions are binding

• condition in which all individuals have an equal chance for employment, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin.
• -federal govt. efforts in this area are: -constitutional amendments, legislation, executive orders, court decisions

• -abolished slavery in the U.S.
• -has been applied in cases where discrimination involved the symbols and incidents of slavery

• 1)forbids states from taking life, liberty, or property without due process of law
• 2)prevents the states from denying equal protection of discrimination
• 3)applies to the decisions or actions of the govt. or private groups

• 1866- granted all persons the same property rights as white citizens
• 1871- granted all citizens right to sue in federal court if they feel they have been deprived of some civil right

• -men and women in an organization doing the same work must be paid equally
• -Equal is defined in terms of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions

• -Prohibits employers form discriminating based on: race, color, religion, sex, national origin
• -applies to organizations that employ 15 or more people

• -prohibits discrimination against workers who are over 40
• -age discrimination complaints make up a large % of the complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision (EEOC)

• -covered organizations must engage in affirmative action for individuals with disabilities
• -employers are encouraged to recruit qualified individuals with disabilities and to make reasonable accommodations to them

• -requires federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action toward employing veterans of the Vietnam War
• -covers veterans who served between August 5th, 1964 - May 7, 1975

• -defines discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related form of medical condition to be a form of illegal sex discrimination
• -benefits including health insurnace, should cover pregnancy and related medical conditions in same way as other medical conditions

• -Protects individuals with disabilities form being discriminated against in the workplace
• -prohibits discrimination based on disability in all employment practices
• -employers must take steps to accomodate individuals covered by the act

• -adds compensatory and punitive damages in cases of discrimination under Title VII and ADA
• -amount of punitive damages is limited by the act and depends on the size of the organization with discrimination

• -employers must reemploy workers who left jobs to fulfill military duties for up to 5 years
• -shoudl be in the job they would have held if they had not left to serve in military

• -employers may not use genetic information in making decision related to the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment
• -includes a perons genetic tests, genetic test of the persons family members, and family medical histories
• -forbids unintentional collection of this data
• -forbids harrassment of employee because of genetic information

• -prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin
• -employers whose contracts meet minimum size requirements must engage in affirmative action

• -requires federal govt. to base all its employment decisions on merit and fitness
• -covers organizations doing at least $10,000 worth of business with federal govt.

• 1)responsible for enforcing most of the EEO's laws
• 2)complaints must be filed within 180 days of incident
• 3)EEOC has 60 days to investigate complaint

• 1)responsible for enforcing executive orders that cover companies doing business with federal govt.
• 2)audits govt. contractors to ensure they are actively pursuing the goals in their affirmative action plans
• 3) three basic components: utilizing analysis, goals and timetables, action steps

differing treatment of individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, race, or disability status

• -necessary qualification for performing a job
• -supreme court ruled that BFOQ's are limited to policies directly related to a workers ability to do the job

condition in which employment practices are seemingly neutral yet disproportionately exclude a protected group from employment opportunities

• -rule of thumb that finds evidence of discrimination if an organization hiring rate for a minority group is less than 4/5 the hiring rate for the majority group.
• EX: hire 40 of 200 black applicants (20%) and 60 of 100 white applicants (60%) so .2/.6=.33 < .8 ...so rule is not satisfied

an employers obligation to do something to enable an otherwise qualified person to perform a job. may need to adjust work schedules or dress codes, making workplace more accessible, or restructuring jobs

refers to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature

person makes (or punishment) contingent on an employees submitting to (or rejecting) sexual advances

verbal or physical behavior that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment