HB 307 1st Edition Lecture 4 Fair Employment Practice Laws State and local laws governing equal employment opportunity that are often more comprehensive than federal laws Although Title VII of the Civil Rights Act exempts employers with fewer than fifteen employees many states extend anti discrimination laws to smaller employers with one or more workers Sexual Harassment Sexual Harassment under Title VII Unwelcome advances requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature in the working environment An employer is considered guilty of sexual harassment when The employer knew or should have known about the unlawful conduct and failed to remedy it or to take corrective action The employer allows nonemployees customers or salespeople to sexually harass employees Quid Pro Quo Harassment Occurs when submission to or rejection of sexual conduct is used as a basis for employment decisions Involves a tangible or economic consequence such as a demotion or loss of pay Hostile Environment Occurs when unwelcome sexual conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with job performance or creating an intimidating hostile or offensive working environment These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Dirty jokes vulgar slang nude pictures swearing and personal ridicule and insult constitute sexual harassment when an employee finds them offensive Courts use a reasonable person test for hostile environment Sexual Orientation Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 lists sex gender as a protected class Sexual orientation is not a valid defense against discrimination gender applies to one s sex at the time of birth and not to one s sexual orientation No federal law bars discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender and transsexual individuals Companies in support of their diversity initiatives are fostering gay friendly work places Most companies in the Fortune 500 now offer health benefits to same sex couples Immigration Control and Reform Act 1964 The U S Department of Justice lists five actions that employers must take to comply with the law Having employees fill out their part of Form I 9 Checking documents establishing an employee s identity and eligibility to work Complete the employer s section of Form I 9 Retain Form I 9 for at least three years Present Form I 9 for inspection to an Immigration and Naturalization Service officer or to a Department of Labor officer upon request Emerging Employment Discrimination Issues Weight Discrimination Attractiveness and Discrimination Caregivers and Discrimination Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures Is a procedural document published in the Federal Register to assist employers in complying with federal regulations against discriminatory actions Applies to employee selection procedures in the areas of hiring retention promotion transfer demotion dismissal and referral Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures define discrimination as o The use of any selection procedure which has an adverse impact on the hiring promotion or other employment or membership opportunities of members of any race sex or ethnic group will be considered to be discriminatory and inconsistent with these guidelines unless the procedure has been validated in accordance with these guidelines or certain other provisions are satisfied Validity The requirement that when using a test or other selection instrument to choose individuals for employment employers must be able to prove that the selection instrument bears a direct relationship to job success Proof of validity is established through validation studies that show the job relatedness or lack thereof for the selection instrument under study Forms of Discrimination Adverse Impact The rejection of a significantly higher percentage of a protected class for employment placement or promotion when compared with a non protected class Possibly the unintentional result of an innocent act yet the outcome is still discriminatory Adverse Rejection Rate or Four Fifths Rule Rule of thumb followed by the EEOC in determining adverse impact for use in enforcement proceedings According to the Uniform Guidelines a selection program has an adverse impact when the selection rate for any racial ethnic or sex class is less than four fifths or 80 percent of the rate of the class with the highest selection rate The four fifths rule is not a legal definition of discrimination rather it is used to monitor severe discrimination practices Restricted Policy Disparate Treatment An employer s intentional unequal treatment or evaluation by different standards of protected class members A situation in which protected class members receive unequal treatment or are evaluated by different standards Workforce utilization analysis A process of classifying protected class members by number and by the type of job they hold within the organization Enforcing Equal Opportunity Legislature Composition of EEOC Five members and a general counsel appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate Members serve staggered five year terms No more than three commission members from the same political party General counsel serves a four year term Purpose of EEOC Formulating EEO policy and approving all litigation involved in maintaining equal employment opportunity Retaliation Managers and supervisors must not retaliate against individuals who invoke their legal rights to file charges or to support other employees during EEOC proceedings Title VII of the Civil Rights Act states that an employer may not discriminate against any of his employees because the employee has opposed any unlawful employment practice or because the employee has made a charge testified assisted or participated in any manner in an investigation proceedings or hearing under this Act Preventing Discrimination Charges The foundation to preventing any form of discrimination is having a comprehensive EEO policy Employers that do not have an EEO policy are legally vulnerable A comprehensive EEO training program for managers and supervisors will include The prohibitions covered in the various EEO statutes Guidance on how to respond to complaints of discrimination Procedures for investigating complaints Suggestions for remedying inappropriate behavior Affirmative Action and Diversity Management Affirmative Action Reverse