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
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
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
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
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
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
(CONTINUED)
• Equal employment opportunity may also apply to
grooming rules, physical requirements and
information about an individual’s past (again,
these can have disparate impact on different
groups, e.g., American Airlines and flight
attendants weight rules)
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
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
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)
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
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
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION:
ANOTHER 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
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
Conditions under which “reverse
discrimination” resulting from AA is legal
(1) AA needs to be a formal systematic program
-- employer cannot discriminate against nonminorities on an isolated, ad hoc basis
(2) Must be temporary, until “reasonable”minority
hiring goals are achieved
(3) Program can not completely bar the hiring of
non-minority workers
“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
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
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
“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