how do title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended and the Americans wi
ID: 1093461 • Letter: H
Question
how do title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended and the Americans with Disabilities Act as amended affect human resouce management specifically? For example, what impact does Title VII of the Civil Rights Act have on recruitment, selection, and training? What impact does the Americans with Disabilities Act as amended have on compensation and benefits? Assess the impact of both laws mentioned in this question on at least two major human resource functions, such as development or compensation.
Explanation / Answer
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one of the most influential laws affecting employment in the United States. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 amended some of its provisions. In this lesson, you'll learn about how each Act applies to HR Management.
Overview Of Civil Rights Act Of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one of the great pieces of 20th century legislation. The Act prohibits discrimination based upon race, color, sex, religion, and natural origin in public forums. These are often referred to as protected classes. Its scope is broad and applies to not only employment but also education, housing, public accommodation, and programs that receive federal assistance. We'll focus our discussion on Title VII of the Act, which relates to employment. Title VII generally applies to private sector employers who employ at least 15 employees and state and local government agencies employing at least 15 employees.
Title VII
Title VII is one of the most important laws that an HR professional needs to know because it regulates pretty much every type of employment action in the employee-employer relationship. Let's take a look at how Title VII affects the daily activities of Beth, a human resource specialist.
Beth is in the process of hiring a new group of production workers. Title VII prohibits Beth from discriminating against job applicants based upon their race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. She cannot use any of these characteristics as a hiring criteria. During interviews, Beth is not permitted to ask questions about an applicant's race, color, religion, or national origin. Beth also can't give different rates of pay or types or quality of benefits based on these protected classes.
There is an important exception to this rule. If the characteristic is a bona fide job qualification, then normally prohibited criteria can be used. For example, a synagogue that wants to hire a Rabbi can require that the person hired be a member of the Jewish faith, because Jewish religious faith is a necessary qualification for the job.
A supervisor seeking permission to terminate an employee has approached Beth. She asks him why he wants to fire the employee. The supervisor tells her that customers just don't want to deal with Middle Eastern Muslims. He doesn't have a problem with the employee, but customers feel uncomfortable around him. Beth tells the supervisor that firing an employee because of his race or religion is absolutely a violation of Title VII and this is the case even if the problem is with the customer not wanting to deal with an employee. Title VII, Beth explains, doesn't let an employer discriminate just because its customers want to do so.
On a brighter note, Beth has to help a manager select an employee for a promotion. One of the contenders is a male, and the other is a female. Beth knows that the decision on a promotion cannot be based on sex, color, race, religion, or national origin. Neither can one be demoted for any of these reasons. Beth also needs to prepare for a training session tomorrow. She cannot exclude anyone from training based on any of the Title VII protected characteristics.
In summary, Beth and her company cannot discriminate based upon race, color, national origin, religion, or sex concerning hiring, pay, benefits, firing, promoting, demoting, training, and any other term or condition of employment.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed July 26, 1990 as Public Law 101-336 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq ) and became effective on January 26, 1992. The ADA is landmark federal legislation that opens up services and employment opportunities to the 43 million Americans with disabilities. The law was written to strike a balance between the reasonable accommodation of citizens' needs and the capacity of private and public entities to respond. It is not an affirmative action law but is intended to eliminate illegal discrimination and level the playing field for disabled individuals.
The law is comprised of five titles that prohibit discrimination against disabled persons within the United States. Titles I and II are the primary sections that affect local governments.
Title I prohibits employers, including cities and towns, from discriminating against qualified job applicants and workers who are or who become disabled. The law covers all aspects of employment including the application process and hiring, training, compensation, advancement, and any other employment term, condition, or privilege.
Title II prohibits state and local governments from discriminating against disabled persons in their programs and activities. Title II also sets forth the applicable structural accessibility requirements for public entities.
Title III prohibits private enterprises who provide public accommodations and services (e.g., hotels, restaurants, and transit systems) from denying goods, services and programs to people based on their disabilities. Title III also sets forth the applicable structural accessibility requirements for private entities.
Title IV makes available telecommunications devices and services for the hearing and speech impaired. These regulations spell out certain mandatory minimum standards telephone companies must maintain to be in compliance with the ADA.
Title V includes some miscellaneous provisions that relate to the construction and application of the ADA, including alternative dispute resolution.
A Human Resource Perspective on Implementing the ADA
How should I go about developing and implementing a plan?
The information presented here focuses on the steps needed to ensure compliance with the ADA. More importantly the information focuses on implementation strategies for the short-term and long-term. The key in any implementation program plan is to maximize employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. While most of the suggestions might work better in medium-sized or large companies, smaller organizations can develop similar models given their own resources and culture. It may seem that the provided suggestions are expensive, but they need not be. Use the talents, expertise and resources within your organization. Seek out agencies in the community that have additional expertise and are ready to help
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