Download Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

Human Resource Management:
Gaining a Competitive Advantage
Chapter 03
The Legal Environment:
Equal Employment Opportunity
and Safety
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
U.S. Legal System
Legislative
Branch
Judicial
Branch
Executive
Branch
3
Branches
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Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
 EEO– the government's attempt to ensure that all
individuals have an equal chance for employment,
regardless of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
 EEOC- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
 OFCCP- EEOC) is a division of the Department of Justice
responsible for enforcing most of the LEO laws.
 Constitutional Amendments:
 13th Amendment - abolished slavery
 14th Amendment – provides equal protection for all citizens and
requires due process in state action.
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Congressional Legislation
 Civil Rights Acts (1866 and 1871)
 Equal Pay Act of 1963
 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
 Age Discrimination in Employment Act of
1967
 Rehabilitation Act of 1973
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Congressional Legislation
Vietnam Era Veteran’s Readjustment Act of
1974
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
Civil Rights Act of 1991
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
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Disability
According to EEOC, a disability is a physical
or mental impairment that
 “substantially limits one or more major life
activity;
a record or past history of such an impairment;
 and/or being ‘regarded as’ having a disability
by an employer whether you have one or not,
usually in terms or hiring, firing or demotion
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Disparate
Impact
Disparate
Treatment
Reasonable
Accommodation
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Reasonable Accommodation
Reasonable Accommodation - places a
special obligation on an employer to affirmatively
accommodate an individual’s disability or
religion.
 Religion and Accommodation
 Disability and Accommodation
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Retaliation
for Participation and Opposition
Title VII states that employers cannot retaliate
against employees for either "opposing" a
perceived illegal employment practice or
"participating in a proceeding,” related to an
alleged illegal employment practice.
Employees do not have an unlimited right to talk
about how racist or sexist their employers are.
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Diversity and EEO ISSUES
Sexual Harassment
Affirmative Action
and
Reverse Discrimination
Outcomes of Americans
with Disabilities Act
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Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment -unwelcome sexual advances, requests for
sexual favors, and other verbal or physical contact of a sexual
nature constitute sexual harassment when
1. Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly
a term or condition of an individual’s employment,
2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is
used as the basis or employment decisions affecting such
individual, or
3. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably
interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an
intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
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Affirmative Action and
Reverse Discrimination
 Affirmative Action was conceived of as a
way of taking extra effort to attract and retain
minority employees.
 Imposed quota programs
 The entire debate over affirmative action
continues to invoke attention.
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Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Outcomes
Under ADA, a firm must make "reasonable
accommodation" to a physically or mentally disabled
individual unless doing so would impose "undue
hardship.”
Consequences of ADA:
 Increased litigation
 Cases being filed do not reflect Congressional intent
 Act was passed to protect people with major disabilities
 The law has not resulted in a major increase in the
proportion of people with disabilities who are working.
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Employee Safety
Employee safety is regulated by both
federal and state governments.
The Occupational Safety and Health
Act (OSHA)
General Duty Clause
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Summary
 One of HRM’s major challenges is the legal
constraints imposed by the government.
 HR and line managers need to understand
legal requirements and prohibitions to
manage their businesses in ways that are
financially and ethically sound, and in so
doing will also have a competitive advantage.
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