Chapter 3 - Providing Equal Employment Opportunity and a Safe Workplace Flashcards
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
condition in which all individuals have an equal chance for employment, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, age, disability or national origin
13th amendment
abolished slavery
14th amendment
- forbids states from taking life, liberty, or property without due process of law
- prevents states from denying equal protection of discrimination
Civil Rights Act of 1866
granted all persons same property rights as white citizens
Civil Rights Act of 1871
granted all citizens right to sue in federal court if they feel they have been deprived of some civil right
Equal Pay Act of 1963
men and women in an organization doing the same work must be paid equally
Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964
- prohibits employers from discriminating based on:
- > race, color, religion, sex, national origin
- applies to organization that employ 15 or more
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
prohibits discrimination against workers who are over the age of 40
Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- covered organizations must engage in affirmative action for individuals with disabilities
- employers are encouraged to recruit qualified individuals with disabilities and make reasonable accommodations to them
Vietnam Era Veteran’s Readjustment Act of 1974
- requires federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action toward employing Vietnam War veterans
- covers veterans who served between Aug. 5th, 1964 and May 7th, 1975
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
- defines discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related form of medical condition to be a form of illegal sex discrimination
- benefits, including health insurance, should cover pregnancy and related medical conditions same as others
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
- protects individuals with disabilities from being discriminated against in the workplace
- prohibits discrimination based on disability in all employment practices
- employers must take steps to accommodate individuals covered
Compensatory Damages
being compensated for something you lost
Punitive damages
intended to punish
Civil Rights Act of 1991
- adds compensatory and punitive damages in cases of discrimination under Title VII and ADA
- amount of punitive damages is limited by the act and depends on size of organization charged
Uniformed Services Rights Act
- employers must reemploy workers who left jobs to fulfill military duties for up to five years
- should be in the job they would have held if they had not left to serve in military
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)
- employers may not use genetic information in making decision related to terms, conditions, or privileges of employment
- includes a person’s genetic tests, genetic test of person’s family, and family medical histories
- forbids unintentional collection of this data
- forbids harassment of employee because of genetic information
Executive Order 11246
- prohibits federal contractors/subcontractors from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
- employers whose contracts meet minimum size requirements must engage in affirmative action
Executive Order 11478
- requires federal government to base all its employment decisions on merit and fitness
- also covers organizations doing at least $10,000 worth of business with federal government
EEOC complaints…
- must be filed within 180 days of incident
- 60 days to investigate complaint
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Procedures (OFCCP)
- responsible for enforcing executive orders that cover companies doing business with feds
- audits government contractors to ensure they are actively pursuing goals in their affirmative action plans
3 steps of affirmative action
- Utilization Analysis - comparing your workforce to the population of the area in which you recruit to determine full utilization
- Goals and Timetables
- Action
Disparate Treatment
differing treatment of individuals based on the individuals’ race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability status
Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)
- necessary qualification for performing a job
- Supreme Court has ruled that BFOQ’s are limited to policies directly related to a worker’s ability to do the job
Disparate Impact
condition in which employment practices are seemingly neutral yet disproportionately exclude a protected group from employment opportunities
Four-Fifths Rule
rule of thumb that finds evidence of discrimination if an organization’s hiring rate for a minority group is less than four-fifths the hiring rate for the majority group
Reasonable Accommodation
employer’s obligation to do something to enable an otherwise qualified person to perform a job
Undue hardship
when a company cannot accommodate a disability because it will be too much of an expense to the company to be reasonable
Types of Sexual Harassment
- Quid Pro Quo: if you do this for me, I’ll do this for you
- Creating a hostile work environment: make it difficult for a person to work at a company…
- > making inappropriate jokes
- > sending inappropriate pictures of oneself
Organizations prevent sexual harassment by…
- developing and communicating a policy that defines and forbids it
- training employees to recognize and avoid this behavior
- providing a means for employees to complain and be protected
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
- authorizes feds to establish occupational safety and health standards for all places of employment engaging in interstate commerce
- responsible for…
- > inspecting employers
- > applying safety and health standards
- > levying fines for violation
OSHA General Duty Clause
each employer has a general duty to furnish each employee a place of employment free from recognized hazards that cause or are likely to cause death/serious physical harm
OSHA Specific Duties
- employers must keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses
- employers must post an annual summary of these records from Feb. 1st to April 30th in the following year
Employee Rights under OSHA
- Request an inspection
- Have a representative present at an inspection
- Have dangerous substances identified
- Be promptly informed about exposure to hazards and be given access to accurate records regarding exposure
- Have employer violations posted at work site
Enforcement of OSHA
- OSHA responsible for inspecting businesses, applying safety and health standards, and levying fines for violations
- OSHA regulations prohibit notifying employers of inspections in advance
Job Hazard Analysis Technique
safety promotion technique that involves breaking down a job into basic elements, then rating each element for its potential for harm or injury
Technic of Operations Review (TOR)
method of promoting safety by determining which specific element of a job led to a past accident
Reinforcing Safe Practices
- implementing a safety incentive program to reward workers for their support of and commitment to safety goals
- start by focusing on monthly or quarterly goals
- encourage suggestions
Promoting Safety Internationally
- cultural differences make this difficult
- laws, enforcement practices, and political climates vary from country to country
- companies may operate in countries where labor standards are far less strict than in the US
