Transcript Chapter 11

Chapter 11
Complying with Workplace Justice
Laws
Gaining Competitive Advantage
• Marriott’s Open Door Policy—”Guarantee
of Fair Treatment” to handle employee
complaints
– Bring complaint to supervisor, next to the
supervisor’s boss, and finally the individual
further up the managerial ladder
– Not working—large number of discrimination
complaints
Marriott
• Solution—to Implement a Peer Review
Process
– Surveyed employees
– Conducted focus groups—”What
characteristics should a complaint resolution
system include?”
– Employees wanted impartial listeners who
would promptly follow up
– Utilize open-door policy and then they had the
option of bringing it to the peer review panel
Marriott
• Employees feel panel is fair and objective
• Managers sees the panel as an
opportunity to reinforce and clarify its
corporate policy and rules
• What about bottom-line results?
– First year EEO charges dropped by 50% and
by 83% in the second year
Linking Workplace Justice to
Competitive Advantage
• Workforce justice laws deal with the fairness of
organizational practices that dictate the day-today treatment of employees
• How do we gain a competitive advantage?
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Lower litigation costs
Positive ee attitudes and behavior
Excellent company image
How do we gain a competitive advantage?
• 70% all employment claims result in monetary awards—
average is $1.5 million
Linking Workplace Justice to
Competitive Advantage
• If an ee perceives unjust treatment they normally
respond by engaging in activities that will harm a
company’s competitive advantage
– Lawsuits
– Staging protests
– Become less committed to the organization
– Poor organizational citizens
Topic is critical today due to growing diversity in
organizations
Linking Workplace Justice to
Competitive Advantage
• Promote a favorable company image it
helps with recruiting efforts (fair treatment
of ees)
• Best companies to work for—diversity is
embraced
Workplace Justice & Employment
Discrimination
• Sexual harassment has been a long standing problem
and really came to light in the mid 1970s
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
--charges rose from 6,127 in 1990 to over 15,000 in
2001
--87% all charges filed by women
• What types of problems does this cause employers?
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Turnover
Absenteeism
Low morale
Lack of effective teamwork
Poor productivity
Stress and/or psychological problems
Workplace Justice & Employment
Discrimination
• Forms of sexual harassment?
– Quid Pro Quo—”this for that” –”if you do this
for me, I’ll do that for you.” (sexual favors in
order to be hired, promoted, granted a pay
raise, or allowed to keep a job
– Hostile environments are those in which ees
are subject to unwelcome, intimidating
working conditions
Discuss Taking a Close Look At—11-1 page
344
Workplace Justice & Employment
Discrimination
• How does one prove a hostile environment
case?
– Ee has to prove that the disputed behavior was
unwelcome, based on gender, and abusive
– To be considered sexual harassment, the challenged
behavior must be gender based
– Challenged behavior must be severe or abusive
(severity of acts, frequency, and the total number of
days they have been occurring)
Workplace Justice & Employment
Discrimination
• How should an employer deal with sexual
harassment?
– Establish a written sexual harassment policy
– Provide supervisory training that focuses on the legal
definition of sexual harassment
– Establish investigative guidelines that maintain ee
confidentiality
– Establish a committee composed of both men and
women to investigate sexual harassment claims
– Establish a means of detecting unreported instances
of sexual harassment
Discuss Exhibit 11-1 EEO Guidelines page 347
Workplace Justice & Employment
Discrimination
• Pregnancy Discrimination—Pregnancy
Discrimination Act
– May not discriminate on the basis of pregnancy,
childbirth, or related medical conditions
– Need to be treated the same way as ees who are
temporarily disabled for other reasons
• FMLA of 1993 (50 or more ees)-grant workers
up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for the
care of a newborn child, an ill family member, or
their own illness
Workplace Justice & Employment
Discrimination
• How does it protect employers?
– Allows employers to exempt ees with the
highest earnings
– Requires ees to reimburse the employer for
insurance premiums paid during the leave if
they are able to return to work, yet choose not
to do so.
Employee Misconduct
• Misconduct occurs when an ee commits an
infraction of workplace rules
• Procedures are spelled out regarding the
process to follow
• Effective policies encompass the notions of just
cause and due process
– Just cause—that the cause of action should be a fair
one
– Due process—means the ee should be informed of
the charges against them and be given an opportunity
to defend themselves
Employee Misconduct
• Progressive Discipline System—each step
increases in severity:
– Oral warning—ee informed of the incorrect behavior
and how to correct it
– Written warning
– Probation
– Suspension
– Termination (move to this step due to theft, drug use,
or sabotage
Progressive Discipline process varies based on
organization culture and philosophy
Poor Performance
• Workers may be discharged for poor
performance
• When the charge is legally challenged a
company must prove that the charge was
performance-based and not discriminatory
• Key is a solid performance appraisal system
– Set clear performance standards
– Needs to be communicated to ee
– Managers need to know how to complete ratings
Poor Performance
• What else would help the employer’s case?
– Notes, memos, records of customer complaints, or
eye witness testimony of poor performance
– Records that show the discharged individual has
been treated similar to others in organization with
similar performance problems
– Evidence manager had coached the employee to
improve substandard performance
Layoffs & Discrimination
• Most frequent challenge to layoffs is age
discrimination—employer purges organization of older
workers (save money)
• How can organizations justify layoffs?
– Lagging sales
– Growing inventory
– Depressed economy
• What else should an organization due prior to a layoff?
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Transferring ees to vacant positions
Place in newly created part time positions
Work a shorter workweek
Remove all contractors and temporary workers
Pay Cuts
Layoffs & Discrimination
• Claims of discrimination can also be refuted by
utilizing statistics—showing that the workforce
stayed the same with respect to age, sex, race,
etc., after the layoff.
• Companies may offer voluntary early retirement
in conjunction with a layoff—incentives should
be more generous than would occur in a layoff
• Could backfire—when a retiree later states it
was age discrimination and that they were
coerced into retirement
Layoffs & Discrimination
• Firm may avoid such charges by having
early retirees sign written waivers of their
right to sue under the Age Discrimination
in Employment Act. The waivers must
meet minimum requirements under Older
Workers Benefit Protection Act
(OWBPA)
Workplace Rules
• Employers impose rules to restrict certain types
of behaviors (i.e., theft, insubordination, drug
use, or horseplay
– Courts have recognized the need for workplace rules
Controversial rules set by employers
--No smoking rules
--well being of non-smokers
--financial—higher insurance rates for
smokers
Workplace Rules
• Rules governing romantic relationships
– Relationships with competitors—protect trade
secrets
– Bar managers from having relationships with
non-management personnel (favored ee
would be more likely to be granted rewards)
• Misconduct outside the workplace:
– Suspend or discharge ees who have been
arrested, jailed, and/or convicted of a crime
Wrongful Termination &
Employment-At-Will
• Employment-At-Will—legal doctrine that
permits an employer to discharge an ee
for any reason, even an unfair one
• U.S. only industrialized nation in the world
that does not protect all workers from
wrongful termination
Discuss Exhibit 11-5 page 360
Exceptions to the Employment-AtWill Doctrine
• Public policy—any doctrine that serves the
needs of society; if public policy is violated,
society will suffer harm
• What are some examples?
– Serving on jury duty
– Exercising his or her right to file a worker’s
compensation claim
– Whistle blowing (Enron)
– Participating in a legal proceeding contrary to
employer’s wishes
Exceptions to the Employment-AtWill Doctrine
• What else?
– Refusing to commit perjury
– Refusing to commit an unlawful act, like
fudging tax returns
– Refusing to steal secrets from a company’s
competitors
– Implied contract– guarantee of long term
employment in an interview or employee
handbook
Preventing Wrongful Termination
• Include an at-will statement on the application form, such
as the following one:
I understand that my employment may be terminated,
with or without cause, at any time, at the option of either
the company or myself
• Place a disclaimer in the employee handbook, stating
that the document is not to be interpreted as a contract—
that it is provided as a matter of information only
• Train interviewers to avoid making comments to
applicants that imply long-term job security
One must always document to ensure their discipline
and discharge policies are fair