Assisgnment: Preventing Workplace Discrimination:
Prepare a paper in which you and answer the following questions:
Question 1: What are some measures a company may take to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities, or those with a known drug abuse problem.
Question 2: Should factors like personality, attitude toward work, and future upward mobility be considered when hiring? Explain why or why not.
Question 3: Can Title VII override the employment environment and conditions detailed in a written employment contract between an employer and an employee? Explain why or why not.
PLEASE put your response on a Word document and cite ALL your referances in APA
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION QUESTION FOR WEEK 3
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Affirmative Action originated in Executive Order 11246 (1966), which provided that employers who contract to furnish the federal government with goods and services of $10,000 or more (federal contractors) must agree not to discriminate in hiring and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act does not directly impose affirmative duties on employers; however, as part of remedies provided under Title VII, courts may order affirmative action to rectify underrepresentation.
Underrepresentation: is defined in Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) regulations as “Having fewer minorities or women in a particular job group than would reasonably be expected by their availability. “Availability” is based upon the availability of qualified women and minorities.
Essential Elements of a Plan:
• It does not unnecessarily trammel male employees’ rights or create an absolute bar to their advancement.
• It sets aside no positions for women and expressly states that its goals should not be construed as quotas to be met.
• It unsettles no legitimate, firmly rooted expectation of employees.
• It is only temporary in that it was for purposes of attaining, not maintaining, a balanced workforce.
• There is minimal intrusion into the legitimate, settled expectations of other employees.
Reverse Discrimination: Using as an example an affirmative action plan structured to remedy an underrepresentation of women, an employer can institute plan using gender as a factor in promotion if it:
• Does not unnecessarily trammel male employees’ rights or create an absolute bar to their advancement;
• Sets aside no positions for women;
• Expressly states that its goals should not be construed as quotas which must be met;
• Unsettles no legitimate, firmly rooted expectation of the plaintiff;
• Is only temporary and for the purpose of attaining, not maintaining a balance workforce; and
• Causes minimal intrusion into the legitimate, settled expectations of other employees
LABOR LAW:
“Labor law” basically refers to the law governing union/management relations, whereas “employment law” basically refers to employee/employer relations.
See Table 5-3 at page 305 in the paper Text and page 797 in the eText for the Federal laws that form the basis of labor law and unionization. For a very good site with explanations of most topics of employment law and links to labor and employment related sites, see the Department of Labor’s site at www.dol.gov.
The four most important federal statutes in the filed of labor law are the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932, The Wagner/National Labor Relations Act of 1935, the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, and the Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959.
Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 was a big step forward in the labor movement. It endorsed collective bargaining as a matter of public policy, curbed the power of courts to intervene in labor disputes, did not directly outlaw yellow dog contracts, but declared them inconsistent with public policy and not enforceable in courts. Yellow dog contracts were agreements not to join unions. They are now illegal as an unfair labor practice.
Wagner/National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA): Established the right of employees: to form unions, bargain collectively, and strike. Prior to the Act, it was criminal for employees to join together in an effort to collectively bargain with employers. The Wagner Act established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and empowered it to conduct hearings and take corrective action in cases of unfair labor practices, see below.
Taft-Hartley Act of 1947: This was enacted as amendment to NLRA to curb excesses by unions by making it an unfair labor practice for a union to:
• Refuse to bargain in good faith
• Coerce employees to join, or not to join
• Charge discriminatory dues and entrance fees
• Engage in jurisdictional or secondary boycotts
• Case an employer to pay for goods or services that are not provided, or
• Restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of rights or employers in the selection of representatives for collective bargaining
Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 (Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act): This Act establishes basic ways of unions operating to ensure a democratic process including:
• Bill of rights for union members
• Election procedures including
o Voting for officers by secret ballot
o Elections at least every three years
o Candidates right to see lists of voters
o Provisions for having election declared improper
• Safeguards to protect union funds.
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) The NLRB was established as an independent agency of the U.S. government in 1935 to administer the Wagner Act, above. The NLRB has jurisdiction over any business “affecting commerce;” however, there is an exemption for the following employers and employees:
o Employees of federal and state governments
o Employees of political subdivisions of the states
o Persons subject to the Railway Labor Act
o Independent contractors
o Individuals employed as agricultural laborers or domestic servants in a home
o Individuals employed by their spouse or a parent
As a practical matter the NLRB has restricted its exercise of jurisdiction to specific industries and to businesses with gross sales of over specified amounts. See Table 5-4 on page 309 of the paper Text and page 807 of the eText.
Once employees show sufficient interest in unionization, the NLRB conducts elections to determine what union is to represent the employees. It also decertifies unions that the that employees no longer wish to have represent them, issues labor regulations, hears unfair labor practice cases, and generally administers the NLRA, above.
The NLRB Web site is at www.nlrb.gov. There you have access to their rulings, regulations, forms, publications, procedures and help on many aspects of labor and employment law.
Unfair labor practices by management: The following are unfair labor practices by management:
o Refusal to bargain in good faith
o Engaging in activities that would tend to attempt to control or influence the union or interfere with its affairs
o Promise or give benefits, or reduce them, in an effort to discourage unionizing efforts
o Discriminating against employees who join or assist unions
o Discriminating against employees who seek to enforce their Wagner Act rights
o Agreeing with a labor organization to engage in a secondary boycott.
Unfair labor practices by unions: The following are unfair labor practices by unions:
o Restraining or coercing an employee to join a union or an employer in selecting representatives to bargain with the union
o Causing or attempting to cause the employer to discriminate against an employee who is not a union member, unless there is a legal union-shop agreement in effect
o Refusing to bargain in good faith
o Striking, picketing, or engaging in secondary boycotts for illegal purposes
o Charging new members excessive or discriminatory initiation fees when there is a union-shop agreement
o Featherbedding--causing an employer to pay for work not performed