Exceptional Proff 600
Introduction
Topics to be covered:
· Legal context of HRM
· Ethical context of HRM
· Employee rights
· Discipline in the workplace
The practice of HRM is subject to various laws and regulations that HRM managers must follow as they deal with personnel issues, including the recruitment, hiring, and firing of employees. In addition to abiding by legal requirements, HRM managers also have an obligation to practice good ethics as they handle an organization’s personnel issues. This includes respecting employees’ rights and ensuring that disciplinary actions comply with legal requirements, as well as ethical considerations. This lesson will discuss the legal and ethical context of HRM. We also will review employees’ rights and the appropriate way to handle discipline in the workplace.
Legal Context of HRM
Over the years, the U.S. federal government has passed various laws intended to combat discrimination in the workplace against both job applicants and employees because of their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, age, disability or genetic information. The laws also make it illegal for employers to discriminate against job applicants or employees if they file a charge of discrimination, participate in a case involving employment discrimination, or simply complain about discrimination in the workplace.
According to Cascio (2010), discrimination broadly refers to providing members of a specific group with an unfair advantage, or disadvantage, in the workplace in comparison to members of other groups. Discrimination typically falls into one of the following categories.
· Unequal treatment : Intentional discrimination that results in disparate actions toward certain individuals based on their personal characteristics.
· Adverse impact : Unintentional discrimination that occurs when standards are applied in the workplace that result in certain groups not meeting minimum qualifications that would allow them consideration in the workplace. For example, if a job has physical fitness requirements that are not necessary to perform the job, but everyone who applies for the job must meet the minimum fitness standards, this may result in certain individuals being discriminated against unintentionally.
Federal laws against discrimination are enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which has the authority to investigate any claim of discrimination made against employers required to follow these laws. This includes most organizations that employ at least 15 people. In addition, labor unions and employment agencies generally are covered since they are involved in hiring employees. These laws are applicable in all work situations, including hiring, training, promoting, and firing employees. In addition, these laws apply when HRM professionals and other organization managers determine the wages and benefits that will be provided to employees as compensation for their work.
If the EEOC investigates a complaint of discrimination, the agency must gather sufficient information to “fairly and accurately assess the allegations in the charge and then make a finding” (EEOC, n.d.a.). If the agency determines that discrimination occurred, they will attempt to settle the claim out of court. If the claim cannot be settled, the EEOC has the authority to file a lawsuit against the offending employer.
Preventing Discrimination
The EEOC strives to be proactive, preventing discrimination before it happens. The agency achieves this by providing training and technical assistance intended to educate employers about employment laws and how to comply with them. The laws that the EEOC monitors and enforces include the following (EEOC, n.d.a.).
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prevents discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex. This Act made it illegal for employers to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual because of his or her personal characteristics.
Sexual and Other Harassment-Title VII of the Civil Rights Act also makes harassment in the workplace illegal. Both men and women may be subject to harassment , which can be defined as: “Harassment is unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. Harassment becomes unlawful where 1) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment, or 2) the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive. Anti-discrimination laws also prohibit harassment against individuals in retaliation for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or lawsuit under these laws; or opposing employment practices that they reasonably believe discriminate against individuals, in violation of these laws” (EEOC, n.d.b.)Legally, behavior that is categorized as harassment is defined as follows: “Offensive conduct may include, but is not limited to, offensive jokes, slurs, epithets or name calling, physical assaults or threats, intimidation, ridicule or mockery, insults or put-downs, offensive objects or pictures, and interference with work performance” (EEOC, n.d.b.) Sexual harassment includes: “unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other sexually laced communications” (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn 2005, p.51). Any form of harassment, including harassment that is sexual in nature, can be directed at both men and women. Both victim and harasser can be a woman or a man, and the victim and harasser involved in a harassment situation can be the same sex.
Equal Pay Act-The Equal Pay Act makes it illegal to pay different rates of salaries and wages to men and women in the same establishment who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility under similar working conditions. Historically, women were often paid lower rates of salaries and wages than their male co-workers. With the passage of the Equal Pay Act, when women perform essentially the same jobs as men, they must be paid the same rate of pay as men.
Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)- Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals who have disabilities if they are qualified to fill a job. Such individuals cannot be prohibited from applying for jobs, and they must be given opportunities for training and promotions, while receiving fair compensation in salaries and benefits. They also cannot be fired from a job because of their disability.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act-The Pregnancy Discrimination Act prevents discrimination of a female job applicant or employee on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Violation of this Act constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII.
Age Discrimination Act-The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age. This Act applies to employers with at least 20 employees, not just 15.
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act-The Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals based on genetic information.
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Other employment laws in the United States are enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). According to DOL’s website, the department’s mission is:
“To foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights” (Department of Labor, n.d.).
One of the employment laws administered by DOL is the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was passed in 1938 and made various changes to the way the workforce was handled in the United States. For example, it ushered in the 40-hour work week and required employers to pay time-and-a-half to many employees for every hour per week that they worked over 40 hours. It also established a minimum wage and made it illegal for employers to use child labor in their operations. Effective July 24, 2009, the current minimum wage established by FLSA is $7.25. States also have minimum wage laws, and they may establish a minimum wage that is higher than the federal minimum wage. But states cannot have a minimum wage that is lower than the federal minimum wage. When an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Another labor law overseen by the DOL is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). It was passed in 1993. FMLA requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons. When employees exercise this right, they are allowed to continue their group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if they had not taken leave.
Termination – In employment, termination refers to the act of dismissing or firing an individual from a job. Generally, employment is one of two types:
· Employment-at-will is a type of employment that allows an employer to dismiss an employee for no reason as long as the employer is not discriminating against that individual based on his or her personal characteristics. Likewise, employees in this type of employment have the right to quit their job at any time, without providing a reason.
· Contractual employment occurs when an employer and employee have a contract, and the employee is not at-will. Instead, the employee is an independent contractor. Generally, an employee is regarded as an independent contractor if the person who hired him or her has the right to control the result of the work but not the methods used to produce the work.
The DOL ensures that individuals’ rights are protected when they lose their jobs. For example, when an individual is terminated, he or she has the right to continue health insurance coverage. In some cases, he or she may have the right to unemployment compensation.
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action refers to an intervention intended to counter an injustice, error, or obvious discrimination that has resulted in unfair treatment of individuals from groups regarded as disadvantaged in the workplace. With affirmative action, organizations actively seek to hire individuals from these groups, such as women and minorities. The DOL oversees affirmative action programs, which must be documented in writing, implemented, and updated annually.
Proponents of affirmative action argue it has been helpful to provide more opportunities to people who might not otherwise be able to obtain jobs and other workplace benefits.
Opponents of affirmative action argue that it has created problems as some groups felt that affirmative action worked against them. In some cases, affirmative action is blamed for reverse discrimination , which refers to bias in the workplace against individuals from groups that are considered to have advantages in the workplace, such as white males.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
The Department of Labor includes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which was created in 1970 with the Occupational Safety and Health Act. OSHA’s mission is:
“to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance” (OSHA, n.d.).
· SAFETY
OSHA covers most private sector employers, requiring them to provide a workplace that is safe and free of hazards for their employees. OSHA has staff who periodically inspect places of employment to ensure that they meet minimum safety standards. When an employer is found in violation of an OSHA requirement, OSHA may impose penalties and sanctions to enforce the law and require the employer to make necessary changes. At times, OSHA does inspections in response to reports from whistleblowers who provide information about possible workplace safety violations. The federal government has enacted laws intended to protect individuals who decide to report employers for OSHA violations.
· WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
Workers’ compensation laws provide protection to employees who are injured while on the job by ensuring that they receive monetary awards to cover their medical and other expenses. In addition, workers’ compensation laws provide benefits to the dependents of employees who are killed as a result of work-related accidents or illnesses. These laws are intended to eliminate the need for litigation to resolve such situations (Legal Information Institute, n.d.).
· PROTECTION FOR EMPLOYERS
In addition to providing protection to employees, workers’ compensation laws also provide some protections for employers by limiting the amount that an employee can collect for a workers’ compensation claim. Workers’ compensation also protects co-workers by eliminating any liability they might have for a co-worker’s accident (Legal Information Institute, n.d.).
· SCOPE AND RESPONSIBILITY
Knowledge Check
Question 1
Joshua recently applied for a job at Organization XYZ. His application was not considered because he did not meet the job’s minimum standards for height and weight. Joshua learned that similar jobs at other organizations do not have minimum standards for height and weight, and small people like Joshua are capable of doing this line of work. Joshua has filed a complaint with the EEOC, arguing that his application was denied unfairly. If the EEOC agrees with Joshua’s complaint, what are they likely to say has occurred in this situation?
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Harassment |
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Discrimination |
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Adverse impact |
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Unequal treatment |
I don't know
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Ethical Context of HRM
In addition to abiding by legal requirements in personnel matters, HRM managers have a responsibility to practice good ethics as they do their work. An important part of this is justice , which:
“refers to the maintenance or administration of what is just, especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments” (Cascio 2010, 548).
Justice provides a foundation for any cooperative action that occurs in organizations, which should be concerned with two types of justice (Cascio, 2010, pp.548-549).
Distributive justice is concerned with whether the outcomes and results of decisions are fair. For example, do decisions regarding the needs of employees who have disabilities result in reasonable accommodations? (Cascio, 2010).
Procedural justice is concerned with whether the policies and procedures that guide decisions are fair. According to Cascio (2010), procedures are fair if they meet the following criteria:
· Must be used consistently from person to person.
· Must be used consistently over time.
· Must be free from bias.
· Must rely on accurate information.
· Must be correctable.
· Must be based on recognizable moral and ethical standards.
According to Cascio (2010), procedural justice is particularly important in an organization because it helps ensure that employees are treated fairly. When this is a priority in an organization, employees tend to experience less stress and greater job satisfaction. This leads to other benefits such as helping employees feel more committed to an organization and have more trust in their managers and co-workers. Employees also are likely to be more productive and produce higher quality work.
Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
Organizations that make procedural justice a priority are also more likely to promote organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) among their employees. OCBs refer to benevolent actions that employees voluntarily perform at work that are not required as part of their job duties and responsibilities. Such actions are intended to assist other co-workers as well as show support for the organization and its goals and objectives. Examples of OCBs include the following (Cascio, 2010):
· Altruism – Actions taken voluntarily to help others at work perform their jobs and accomplish goals and objectives. For example, an employee might handle work for a co-worker who is out of the office because of illness.
· Conscientiousness – Actions intended to ensure the organization’s work is completed with diligence. An example is voluntarily staying late to finish a project.
· Civic virtue – Actions taken voluntarily to promote the organization to the community and present the organization in a positive way. For example, employees might represent their organization at a fundraiser for a community project.
Procedural Justice
Procedural justice has several components that HRM managers should be aware of as they strive to ensure their organization makes procedural justice a priority. To accomplish this, HRM must focus on each component, which include the following: structural justice, interactional justice and informational justice.
Structural justice refers to the process of giving employees the opportunity to provide input into an organization’s policies and procedures. Structure focuses on employee voice , which refers to the process of allowing individual employees and groups of employees to be heard, communicating their interests and concerns upward to the organization’s management. To accomplish this, organizations should have voice systems such as grievance and complaint procedures, open-door policies that provide employees with access to senior managers, participative management systems, staff meetings that solicit employee input, newsletters with question/answer sections, and telephone hot lines that allow employees to report concerns. Voice systems help promote procedural justice by serving the following functions in an organization (Cascio, 2010, p.551):
· Ensure that employees are treated fairly.
· Provide a mechanism that enables employees to appeal if they think they have been treated unfairly.
· Promote and sustain employee loyalty and commitment to an organization.
To be effective, voice systems must be accessible by all employees. HRM managers and others in the organization must respond when employees use the voice system. In addition, employees should not be punished if they use the voice system, and the feedback and response they receive must contain accurate information.
Interactional justice refers to the nature of the interpersonal treatment that employees experience on a daily basis as they perform their work.
· When interactional justice is positive, employees are treated with dignity and respect.
· When interactional justice is negative, employees are subjected to treatment such as deception, invasion of privacy, public criticism, and even abuse.
Informational justice refers to the information and explanations that employees receive regarding an organization’s decisions. For example, if an organization decides to lay off some of its staff, employees should be informed why this is happening.
Ethics as a Priority
Ethics can be challenging because not everyone agrees on how to define ethics or how to practice ethical behavior. Some of the theories and perspectives on ethics that are relevant to HRM include the following.
Deontology is concerned with moral obligations, consistency, principles, and responsibilities to do the right thing. Under this theory others should be treated truthfully, with dignity and respect. With deontology, it is not sufficient to produce the right result. The actions that led to the result also must be principled and morally sound.
Ethical relativism argues that no single ethical standard exists that can be applied to all people in all situations. Instead, ethical standards are relative and what is ethical in a culture, group, or situation depends on the norms for those involved. Ethical relativism falls into two categories Schermerhorn, Hunt and Osborn (2005):
· Social group relativism emphasizes the needs of the group, and decisions are made based on what the group feels is right.
· Cultural relativism is used when decision makers consider societal expectations, and decisions are made based on how they relate to culture, particularly laws. If an action is legal and accepted by society, it is considered to be ethically and morally right. If it is illegal, it is wrong.
Situational ethics argues that all actions should be altruistic in nature and seek to provide the most and best possible help to individuals. Advocates of this approach argue that sometimes, it may be necessary to set aside moral principles in the quest to provide the greatest assistance to others. With situational ethics, moral guidelines should be flexible and each situation is considered on a case-by-case basis. What is morally correct in one situation might not necessarily be morally correct in another situation.
Four Approaches to Ethics
In addition to the various ethical theories, scholars such as Schermerhorn, Hunt and Osborn (2005) have identified the following four approaches to ethics:
· Utilitarian view: Those who subscribe to this view of ethics argue that ethical behavior consists of actions that create the greatest good for the largest number of people.
· Individualism view: Advocates of this approach to ethics argue that ethical behavior is whatever actions generate long-term self-interest for an individual.
· Moral-rights view: Using this perspective, advocates argue that ethical behavior is comprised of actions that respect and protect human rights.
· Justice view: With this perspective, advocates argue that ethical behavior consists of those actions that treat all people equally and fairly.
Regardless of how they define and practice ethics, HRM managers will sometimes find themselves challenged to do the right thing as they experience ethical dilemmas , which can be defined as situations that require individuals to weigh competing values and make choices that are not clearly ethical. Cascio (2010) argues that HRM managers may face ethical dilemmas as they struggle to balance the common good for all members of an organization with each employee’s personal freedom. They also may struggle to balance an organization’s overall needs with those of an employee and his or her sense of dignity. To handle ethical dilemmas, Cascio (2010) recommends that HRM managers should have clearly defined policies and procedures to guide all of their processes, and they should maintain strict adherence to these.
Knowledge Check
Question 1
When Joshua approached Organization XYZ to learn why his application for employment was not considered, he did not feel that he received a satisfactory explanation. In this situation, what type of justice was denied to Joshua?
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Interactional justice |
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Informational justice |
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Distributive justice |
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Procedural justice |
I don't know
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Employee Rights and Discipline in the Workplace
Employees have rights in the workplace. The laws discussed in this lesson are intended to protect those rights. HRM managers further protect those rights by practicing ethical behavior and promoting workplaces that make justice a priority.
At times, employees may need to be disciplined. When this occurs, HRM managers must ensure they mete out the appropriate punitive measures while respecting employees’ rights. Employees should only be disciplined for just cause, which requires employers to provide evidence of an employee’s wrongdoing, give him or her a fair hearing to establish that he or she should be disciplined, and subject the employee to a punishment that is appropriate given the violation.
Some organizations follow a process known as progressive discipline. It begins with an employee receiving an oral warning that his or her behavior is unacceptable. If a second violation occurs, the employee receives a written warning, which may be followed with a suspension if further misbehavior occurs. Ultimately, the offending employee is dismissed if he or she fails to change his or her behavior. To be effective, Cascio (2010) recommends that organizations using progressive discipline should abide by the following rules:
· The disciplined employee should understand what he or she has done wrong.
· The disciplined employee must be provided with instructions on how to correct the situation.
· The disciplined employee should be given sufficient time to make corrections.
· The disciplined employee must understand the consequences that will occur if he or she fails to make corrections.
To be effective, discipline should be immediate following an employee’s wrongdoing, and it must be accompanied by a warning of what will occur if the employee does not correct his or her behavior. Discipline throughout the organization must be consistent, with employees who commit the same infraction receiving the same discipline. In addition, discipline should be impersonal, without regard for whether an employee is a favorite of managers. In addition, when an employee is disciplined, he or she must be given the opportunity to respond to allegations, and he or she must receive sufficient time to make any necessary corrections to his or her behavior. For all disciplinary actions, HRM managers must ensure they carefully document all details of the situation.
Knowledge Check
Question 1
An employee who repeatedly misbehaves in the workplace is given an oral warning that his or her behavior is unacceptable, followed by a written warning and then a suspension before finally being dismissed. What type of discipline did the organization use in this situation?
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Employment-at-will discipline |
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Progressive discipline |
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Adverse impact discipline |
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Affirmative action discipline |
I don't know
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Conclusion
Employers do not have the right to treat employees however they wish. Employees have rights, and those rights must be respected. HRM managers, as well as others in the workplace, are subject to various laws that govern how they can treat employees. In addition, they are expected to practice ethical behavior as they deal with HRM issues, including the discipline of employees who misbehave in the workplace.
Key Terms
ADVERSE IMPACT
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT
CONTRACTUAL EMPLOYMENT
DISCRIMINATION
DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
EMPLOYEE VOICE
EMPLOYMENT-AT-WILL
EQUAL PAY ACT
ETHICAL DILEMMAS
FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT (FLSA)
FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FMLA)
HARASSMENT
INFORMATIONAL JUSTICE
INTERACTIONAL JUSTICE
JUSTICE
ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIORS
PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION ACT
PROCEDURAL JUSTICE
REVERSE DISCRIMINATION
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
STRUCTURAL
TERMINATION
TITLE I AND TITLE V OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990 (ADA)
TITLE II OF THE GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2008 (GINA)
TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT
UNEQUAL TREATMENT
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAWS
Sources
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Equal Pay Act, Pub. L. 88-38, (1963).
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201, et seq. (1938). Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/statutes/FairLaborStandAct.pdf
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 29 C.F.R. Part 825 (1993).
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Occupational Safety and Health Act.29 U.S.C. 15 §§665 et seq. (1970).
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Schermerhorn, J. R. Jr., Hunt, J. G., & Osborn, R. N. (2005). Organizational behavior (9th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Pub. L. 101-336 (1990)
Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), 75 C.F.R. §1635 (2008)
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. 88-352 (1964)
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