LEGAL ENVIRONMENT EQUAL EMPLOYMENT

OPPORTUNITY AND SAFETY

2.1 Introduction
Several environmental factors affect an organizations HRM functions, the legal
environment, particularly the laws affecting the management.
One point to make clear aat the outset is that managers often want a list of “dos and
dont’s” that will keep them out of legal trouble. They rely on rules sych as “Don’t ever ask
female applicant if she is married” without understanding the “why” behind these rules.
Clearly, certin practices are ilegal or inadvisable.
Equal employment opportunity refers to the government’s attempt to ensure that all
individuals have an equal chance for employment, regardless of race, color, religion, sex,
age, disability, or national origin. To accomplish this the government has used
 constitutional amendments, legislation, and execute orders, as well as the court decisions
the that interpret these laws.
2.2 Enforcement of Equal Employment Opportunity
Equal Employment – refers to the government’s attempt to ensure that all individuals
have an equal chance for employment, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age,
disability or national origin. To accomplish the government has used constitutional
amendment, legislation and executive orders, as well as court decisions that interprets
laws.

Three Branches of Government

1. Executive Branch
2. Legislative Branch
3. Judicial Branch

One basic corollary in a presidential system of government is the principle of

separation of powers wherein legislations belong to Congress, execution to the Executive
and settlement of legal controversies to the judiciary.

The Legislative branch is authorized to make laws, alter, and repeal them through
the power vested in the Philippine Congress. This institution is divided into the Senate and
the House of Representatives.

The Executive Branch carries out laws. It is composed of the President and the
Vice-President who are elected by direct popular vote and serve a term of six years. The
Constitution grants the President authority to appoint his cabinet. These department form a
large position of the country’s bureaucracy.

The Judicial Branch evaluates laws. It holds the power to settle controversies
involving rights that are legally demandable and enforceable. This branch determines
whether there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of
jurisdiction on the part and instrumentality of the government. It is made up of a Supreme
Court and lower courts.

Major EEO Laws and Regulations

 • Constitutional Amendments

❖ Thirteenth Amendment

❖ Fourteenth Amendment

• Legislation

❖ Civil Right Acts (CRAs) of 1866 and 1871 (as amended)

❖ Equal Pay Act of 1973

❖ Title VII of Civil Right Act

Summary of Major EEO Laws and Regulations

❖ Age Discrimination in Employment Act in 1967

❖ Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973

❖ Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978

❖ Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

❖ Civil Rights Act of 1991

❖ Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994

❖ Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act of 2008

❖ Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Act 0f 1974

• EXECUTIVE ORDER

❖ Executive Order 11246

2.3 Discrimination
Discrimination – the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people
especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex and others.

Discrimination is a multifaceted issue. It is often not easy to determine the extent to

which unfair discrimination affects an employer’s decisions.
Three theories of discrimination

1. Disparate theory exists when individuals in similar situations are treated

differently and the different treatment is based on the individual’s race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, age, or disability status.

If two people with the same qualifications apply for a job and the employer decides
whom to hire based on one individual’s race, the individual not hired is a victim of
disparate treatment. In the disparate treatment case the plaintiff must prove that there was
a discriminatory motive- that is, that the employer intended to discriminate.

Whenever individuals are treated differently because of their race, sex, or the like,
there is disparate treatment.

For example, if a company fails to hire women with school-age children (claiming
the women will be frequently absent) but hires more men with school-age children, the
applicants are being treated differently based on sex. Another example would be an
employer who checks the references and investigates the conviction records of minority
applicants but does not do so far for white applicants.

Why are managers advised not to ask about marital status? Because in most cases, a
manager will either ask only the female applicants or, if the manager asks both males and
females, he or she will make different assumptions about females( such as “She will have
to move if her husband gets a job elsewhere”) and males (such as “He’s very stable”). In
all these examples. Notice that (1) people are being treated differently and (2) there is an
actual intent to treat them differently.

2. Disparate Impact. It occurs when a facially neutral employment practice

disproportionately excludes a protected group from employment opportunities. A
facially neutral employment practice is one that lacks obvious discriminatory content yet
affects one group to a greater extent that other groups, such as an employment test.
 For example, if, for some practical reason, you hired individuals based on their
height, you may not have intended to discriminate against anyone, and yet using height
would have a disproportionate impact on certain protected groups. Women tend to be
shorter than men, so fewer women will be hired. Certain ethnic groups such as those of
Asian ancestry, also tend to be shorter than those of European ancestry. Thus, you facially
neutral employment practice will have a disparate impact on certain protected groups.

This is not to imply that simply because a selection practice has disparate impact, it is
necessarily illegal. Some characteristics (such as height) are not equally distributed across
race and gender groups; however, the important question is whether the characteristic is
related to successful performance on the job.

3. Reasonable accommodation presents a relatively new theory of discrimination.

It began with regard to religious discrimination. Reasonable accommodation differs from
these two theories in that rather than simply requiring an employer to refrain from some
action, reasonable accommodation places a special obligation on an employer to
affirmatively do something to accommodate an individual’s disability or religion. This
theory is violated when an employer fails to make reasonable accommodation, where that
is required, to a qualified person with a disability or to a person’s religious observation
and/or practices.

AVOIDING DISCRIMINATION

• Disparate Treatment

❖ Bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)

• Disparate Impact

❖ Fourth-Fifth Rule

• EEO Policy

• Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination

• Reasonable Accommodation

❖ Religious Accommodation
 ❖ Disability Accommodation

2.4 Current Issues Regarding Diversity and Equal Employment

Opportunity
● Sexual Harassment

Prevention on Sexual Harassment

• Developing a policy that defines and forbids sexual harassment

• Train employees to recognize and avoid this behavior

• Provide a means for employees to complain and be protected

Sexual Harassment refers to unwelcome sexual advance.

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical
contact of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when;

1. Submission of such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term of

condition of an individual’s employment.

2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis

for 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.