Workplace Justice

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Workplace Justice
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Workplace Justice

• Workplace justice laws
• Deal with the fairness of organizational
  practices that dictate the day-to-day treatment
  of employees
• Competitive advantage can come from
• Lower litigation costs
• Positive employee attitudes and behavior
• An excellent company image

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Employment Discrimination

• Discrimination in the day-to-day treatment of
  employees
• Sexual harassment
• Pregnancy discrimination
• Family and medical leave
• Fetal protection policies
• Discharge and discrimination
• Layoffs and discrimination
• Early retirement and discrimination

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Sexual Harassment

• Sexual harassment
• Affecting a large percentage of workers,
  especially women
• A form of sex discrimination and violates Title
  VII of the Civil Rights Act
• Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual
  favors, and other verbal or physical contact of a
  sexual nature

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Sexual Harassment

• Problems caused by sexual harassment
• Increase in employee turnover
• Increase in absenteeism
• Decrease in employee morale
• Lack of effective teamwork
• Poor productivity
• Employee stress and/or psychological problems
• Costly

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Forms of Sexual Harassment

• Forms of sexual harassment
• Quid pro quo
• Latin for this for that
• Refers to a situation in which an employee or
  applicant must provide sexual favors in order to
  be hired, promoted, granted a pay raise, or
  allowed to keep a job
• Hostile environment
• Employees are subjected to unwelcome,
  intimidating working conditions

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When is an employer responsible?

• Responsible for the acts of its agents and
  supervisory employees with respect to sexual
  harassment regardless of whether the employer
  knows or should have known of their occurrence.
• Responsible if the employer knows or should have
  known of the conduct, unless it can show that it
  took immediate and appropriate action.
• An employer is responsible for the acts of
  nonemployees, if
• It knows or should have known of the conduct
• It fails to take immediate and appropriate action
• It has the ability to control the conduct of
  nonemployees

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Steps Employer Should Take

• Step 1 Establish a written sexual harassment
  policy
• Step 2 Provide supervisory training
• Step 3 Establish investigative guidelines that
  maintain employee confidentiality
• Step 4 Establish a committee to investigate
  claims
• Committee should consist of both men and women
• Step 5 Establish a means of detecting unreported
  cases of sexual harassment
• Examplesattitude surveys and exit interviews

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Family and Medical Leave Act 1993

• Includes all employers of 50 or more employees
• Requires the employer to grant workers up to 12
  weeks of unpaid leave per year
• FMLA may be used to care for a newborn child, an
  ill family member, or the employees own illness

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Fetal Protection Policies (FPPs)

• Exclude women of childbearing age from jobs that
  could cause potential reproductive hazards
• ExamplesJobs involving toxins and those that can
  cause sterility, infertility, sperm abnormality,
  stillbirth, miscarriage, birth defects, or damage
  to sexual organs
• Also excludes all women regardless of marital
  status, use of birth control, or childbearing
  intention
• Women are exempt only if they can show proof of
  surgical sterilization.
• FPPs put management between a rock and a hard
  place.

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Discharge and Discrimination

• Employee misconduct
• Just cause
• The cause of action should be a fair one.
• Due process
• Employees should be informed of the charges
  against them and be given an opportunity to
  defend themselves.
• Progressive discipline system
• Discipline is enforced in increasingly severe
  steps.

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Discharge and Discrimination

• Poor performance
• Last resort
• Discharge was performance based
• Non-discriminatory
• Employer must provide adequate documentation
• An effective performance appraisal system is
  crucial

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Layoffs and Discrimination

• Most frequent legal challengeage discrimination
• Employer must demonstrate that the layoff was not
  simply a guise for discrimination.
• Companies must provide adequate documentation to
  justify decision.
• Companies must implement layoff in a
  nondiscriminatory manner, and be able to produce
  documentation.
• Claims of discrimination can also be refuted by
  statistical evidence.

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Early Retirement

• Potential age discrimination suits
• A firm can avoid such charges by asking early
  retirees to sign written waivers of their right
  to sue under the Age Discrimination in Employment
  Act (ADEA).
• Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA)
• Enacted in 1990
• Written waivers must meet the standards
  stipulated by the OWBPA.

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Employee Privacy Rights

• Intrusions on an employees privacy can cause
• Resentment
• A climate of fear and suspicion
• Low morale
• Increased turnover
• Increased absenteeism
• Reduced productivity
• Expensive lawsuits

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Employee Privacy Rights (cont.)

• Four privacy-related practices that are legally
  regulated
• Information collection and use
• Search
• Surveillance and monitoring
• Enactment of workplace rules

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Employee Privacy Rights (cont.)

• Information collection and use
• Employees may justifiably lodge an invasion of
  privacy claim if the information collected by an
  employer is irrelevant to the employers business
  needs.
• According to the Privacy Act of 1974, public
  sector employees have the right to
• Determine what information is being kept on them
  by their employers.
• Review that information.
• Correct erroneous information.
• Prevent the information from being used for a
  purpose other than that for which it was
  collected.

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Freedom of Information Act 1966

• Aims to make most government records available to
  the public
• Any individual may gain access to these records
  with proper authorization.
• Exceptions exist for personnel files and medical
  information.
• The public may still be given access to this
  information if its right to know outweighs the
  individuals right to privacy.
• In the private sector, when releasing information
  about an employee, the employer must ensure that
• The information is given in good faith.
• No malice is intended.
• The receiving party has a legitimate reason for
  wanting the information.

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Searches

• Employers behavior in this area is regulated by
  the common law of intrusion upon seclusion.
• A persons privacy rights are violated when the
  intrusion upon his or her private concerns would
  be considered highly offensive to a reasonable
  person.
• Criteria an employers search must meet
• Company must have a reasonable basis for
  conducting the search.
• A set of written guidelines, issued by the
  company, should inform employees of its search
  policy.
• The person conducting the search should take all
  precautions to ensure the search is not conducted
  offensively or abusively.

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Surveillance and Monitoring

• Methods include
• Monitoring phone calls, e-mail, and Internet use
• Watching employees through closed-circuit
  televisions
• Using private investigators to watch employees
  outside the workplace

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Recommendations

• Implementing surveillance and monitoring
  practices
• Let employees know that they are subject to
  surveillance and monitoring.
• Explain to employees why surveillance/monitoring
  is taking place and how it will be implemented.
• Make sure that these activities are conducted for
  a job-related reason.
• Do not monitor restrooms or lounges unless there
  is a legitimate need to do so.
• Let employees participate in developing
  monitoring and surveillance policies.

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Controversial Workplace Rules

• No smoking rules
• Rules governing romantic relationships
• Employee misconduct outside the workplace

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Wrongful Termination and Employment-at-Will

• Employment-at-will
• Employers are free to discharge their employees
  for any reason, even an unfair one, unless the
  discharge is limited by contract by federal or
  state statutes.

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Wrongful Termination

• Statutes prohibiting wrongful termination
• Antidiscrimination laws
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act
• Fair Labor Standards Act
• OSHA
• National Labor Relations Act
• Consumer Credit Protection Act
• Whistle-Blowers Protection Act
• The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the
  Constitution

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Employment-at-Will

• Exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine
• The public policy exception
• Any doctrine that serves the needs of society if
  public policy is violated, society will suffer
  harm.
• The implied contract exception
• Statements written in an employee handbook or
  made during a job interview can imply contractual
  agreements.
• The good faith and fair dealing exception
• Occurs when there is no implied contract between
  the employer and employee but an implied promise
  of good faith and fair dealing.

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Preventing Wrongful Termination

• Avoid making any statements that promise
  long-term employment
• Include an at-will statement on the application
  form
• Place a disclaimer in the employee handbook
• The handbook is provided as a matter of
  information and is not to be interpreted as a
  contract.
• Train interviewers
• Ensure that discipline and discharge practices
  are fair.
• Make sure the fairness of any discharge can be
  proven through documentation.