Bandag Automotive Case Notes: This case highlights some of the challenges a growing company faces, in particular when there is a change in leadership. Bandag Automotive is a family-owned business that has recently shifted leadership from Jim’s father to Jim. Jim’s focus on the bottomline ignores some of the long-term costs of poor human resource (HR) management practices. In the absence of a leader with HR expertise, Jim faces several employmentrelated legal challenges including those involving the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act. Jim also cut benefit offerings in the interest of cost savings without exploring the impact on the organizational culture and employee performance. sh is ar stu ed d vi y re aC s o ou urc rs e eH w er as o. co m Questions: B-1. Given Bandag Automotive’s size, and anything else you know about it, should we reorganize the human resource management function, and if so, why and how? With over 300 employees, Bandag Automotive should have one or more full-time HR professionals to manage HR practices. Many of the organization’s legal challenges have occurred because of a lack of expertise in understanding potential liability issues. Further, some expertise in employee benefits could assist Bandag in evaluating the value and utilization of employee benefits and making appropriate recommendations. Compensation expertise could also contribute to cost efficiency in salary administration. Finally, if employees had an HR professional to share concerns with, the company might be able to avoid some potential challenges. Students may come up with a variety of structures that involve the additions of 2 or 3 professionals. Hiring internal HR staff will likely provide significant cost savings over the current outsourcing of practices. Th B-2. What, if anything, would you do to change and/or improve upon the current HR systems, forms, and practices that we now use? There are several opportunities for change or improvement in the company’s current HR processes. Some possible examples: • Customizing the HR forms used to Bandag’s needs instead of using generic forms. • A more formalized process to evaluate the external competitiveness of salary. The company could establish formal salary grades to ensure more effective salary administration. • A formal review of benefits offered to ensure benefits, such as time-off and flexibility, are meeting employee needs without unnecessary costs to the company. • A centralized HR manager to review HR-related decisions for consistency and to reduce legal liability. https://www.coursehero.com/file/20309748/Bandag-Case-Notes/ sh is ar stu ed d vi y re aC s o ou urc rs e eH w er as o. co m B-3. Do you think that the employee whom Jim fired for creating what the manager called a poisonous relationship has a legitimate claim against us, and if so, why and what should we do about it? It was noted that the employee possibly had a mental illness, and thus, could have a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The company should have determined if the employee’s illness would be considered a disability under the ADA. If it was a disability, then Jim should have determined if they could reasonably accommodate the disability. There is the possibility that the company would not be able to reasonably accommodate the employee’s disability if it did result in the mistreatment of co-workers. Allowing the behavior to continue if it disrupts the workplace significantly could be considered an undue hardship. If the company were to have carefully evaluated the situation before terminating the employee, the company could have reduced the possibility of the employing taking legal action. B-4. Is it true that we really had to put Gavin back into an equivalent position, or was it adequate to just bring him back into a job at the same salary, bonuses, and benefits as he had before his leave? The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires that employees be returned to the same or equivalent positon. The courts have generally held that an equivalent position does include the same pay and benefits, but also has the same terms and conditions of employment. Generally this has been interpreted to include the prestige or the responsibility of the position. While pay is important, other components of the job should be the same as well. Th B-5. Miriam, the controller, is basically claiming that the company is retaliating against her for being pregnant, and that the fact that we raised performance issues was just a smokescreen. Do you think the EEOC and/or courts would agree with her, and, in any case, what should we do now? The case does not note if Miriam had any history of performance problems, but it suggests that she did not. If she was terminated without any warning about her performance, there is a strong likelihood that the EEOC and the courts may agree with her given the timing of her termination after her leave and request for a flexible work schedule. For defense against this claim, the company should be ready to provide documentation on the performance deficiencies that led to her termination. However, it is important to establish and follow a progressive disciplinary system in order to defend the company against future claims. B-6. An employee who is deaf has asked us to be one of our delivery people and we turned him down. He’s now threatening to sue. What should we do, and why? https://www.coursehero.com/file/20309748/Bandag-Case-Notes/ The company needs to go through a process of considering the employee for the position. While the employee does have protection under the ADA because he is deaf, the company needs to determine if he is qualified to do the job with or without a reasonable accommodation. The company cannot automatically bar the candidate because he is deaf. They need to evaluate him individually to see if his hearing impairment would create an undue hardship for the company by creating a safety concern. Th sh is ar stu ed d vi y re aC s o ou urc rs e eH w er as o. co m B-7. In the previous 10 years, we’ve had only one equal employment complaint, and now in the last few years we’ve had four or five. What should I do about it? Why? Clearly Jim’s new approach to management is creating some of the legal problems the company is now facing. Implementing more formal HR policies and practices will help the company avoid future legal liability. Further, hiring a trained HR professional will ensure that decisions are made with appropriate consideration of legal liabilities. https://www.coursehero.com/file/20309748/Bandag-Case-Notes/ Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
