Only one-third of labor force entrants between 1990 and 2005 will be white men. Much of the growth in the various racial and ethnic groups is due to immigration from other countries.
Diversity, Equal Employment, and Affirmative Action
Equal Employment Opportunity
Affirmative Action
- Affirmative action is needed to overcome past injustices or elimi-
- Women and minorities have taken the brunt of the inequality in the
- Raising the employment level of women and minorities will benefit
- Properly used, affirmative action does not discriminate against
- Affirmative action promotes long- term civility and tolerance through
- Creating preferences for women and minorities results in reverse
- Affirmative action results in greater polarization and separatism along
- Affirmative action stigmatizes those it is designed to help. The
- Affirmative action penalizes indi- viduals (males and nonminorities)
- Preferences through affirmative action lead to conflicts between
Proponents of affirmative action believe it is necessary because of the historical inequalities that have existed in the United States. If affirmative action helps these minorities, then it is a means of closing socioeconomic disparities. The result of affirmative action is greater polarization and separatism along polarization and separatism along gender and racial lines. Opponents of affirmative action believe that affirmative action creates two groups: women and minorities who are in protected classes, and everyone else.
Affirmative action stigmatizes those it is intended to help. Opponents of affirmative action cite examples in which less qualified women and minorities were given jobs or promotions over more qualified men and non-minorities. Affirmative action punishes individuals (men and non-minorities) and individuals (men and non-minorities) even though they have not engaged in discrimination.
Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1991
Proponents of affirmative action argue that it is a proactive way for employers to ensure that members of a protected class have equal opportunity in all aspects of employment, and that it is actually good management. The authors of this text believe that whether one supports or opposes affirmative action, it is important to understand why its proponents believe it is necessary and why its opponents believe it should be abandoned. At this point, it is important to discuss two major broad-based civil rights acts that cover many areas.
Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Therefore, it is financially sound to establish an organizational culture where compliance with EEO laws and regulations is expected.
Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII
Civil Rights Act of 1991
Under the 1991 Act, compensatory damages do not include back pay or interest on such wages, additional pay, or other damages authorized by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. OTHER PROVISIONS OF THE 1991 ACT The Civil Rights Act of 1991 contained some sections dealing with a variety of other issues. Racial Standardization: The law prohibited adjustment of employment test scores or the use of alternative scoring mechanisms based on the race or gender of test takers.
Government employee rights: In response to criticism that some government employees were excluded from EEO law coverage, Congress extended such coverage to Senate staffers, presidential appointees, and previously excluded government employees. Supreme Court Decisions The 1991 Act negated many of the more "employer-friendly" decisions made by the Supreme Court from 1988 to 1990.
Enforcement Agencies
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)
Enforcement Philosophies and Efforts
BNA: 1892
S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
State and Local Enforcement Agencies
Interpretations of EEO Laws and Regulations
BNA: 1895
The broad nature of the laws has led enforcement agencies to develop guidelines and enforce the actions as they see fit. However, the agency's decisions and the language of those decisions have created confusion and been interpreted differently by employers. The interpretation of ambiguous provisions in the laws also shifts as the agencies' membership changes.
It is left to the legal system to resolve the disputes and provide interpretations of the laws.
When Does Illegal Discrimination Occur?
POOR HANDLING AND DISTRIBUTION OF IMPACT It would appear that the employer's motives or intentions may play a role in determining whether discrimination exists – but that is not the case. It is the outcome of the employer's actions, and not the intent, that will be considered by regulators or courts when deciding whether illegal discrimination has occurred. However, an employer who requires a minimum level of education, such as a high school diploma, must be able to defend this requirement as essential to the performance of the job.
Having a general requirement for a degree cannot always be justified on the basis of the need for a certain level of ability. BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION (BFOQ) Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act specifically states that employers may discriminate on the basis of sex, religion, or national origin if the characteristic can be justified as a "bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business or enterprise.”24 Thus, a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) is a legitimate reason why an employer can exclude persons from consideration on otherwise illegal grounds.
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
BURDEN OF PROOF Another legal issue that arises when discrimination is alleged is determining which party has the burden of proof. At issue is what those filing suit against employers must prove to establish that illegal discrimination has occurred. Once a court finds that a prima facie (preliminary) case has been filed, the burden of proof shifts to the employer. The employer must then demonstrate that the basis for making job-related decisions was specifically job-related and consistent with considerations of business necessity.
To implement the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the interpretations of it based on court decisions, the EEOC and other federal agencies developed their own compliance guidelines and regulations, with each agency having a slightly different set of rules and expectations. . The guidelines apply to most employment-related decisions, not just the initial hiring process.
No Disparate Impact Approach
Disparate Impact Determination
Two main methods of compliance are identified by the guidelines: (1) no disparate impact and (2) work-related validation.
Selection Rate for Men
Selection Rate for Women
EXTERNALITY Employers can check for differential externality by comparing the percentage of employees in the protected class in the organization with the percentage of members of the protected class in the relevant labor market. External comparisons may also consider the percentage of members of the protected class who are employed and applying for jobs to ensure that the employer has selected a "representative sample" from the relevant labor market. Also note that extrinsic charges with varying consequences make up a very small number of EEOC cases.
THE EFFECT OF A NO-DISPERSIVE IMPACT STRATEGY The 4/5 Rule is the standard by which employers can determine whether there is disparate impact among members of a protected class. To meet the 4/5 compliance requirement, however, employers must not have disparate influence at any level or in any job for any protected class.
Job-Related Validation Approach
Validity and Equal Employment
In a sense, then, the current requirements have done management a favor by forcing employers to do what they should have been doing before—using job-related hiring practices.
Content Validity
Criterion-Related Validity
Concurrent validity represents an "at-contemporaneous" approach, while predictive validity represents a "before-the-fact" approach. A high correlation indicates that the test can differentiate between the better performing employees and those with poor results. Also, test takers may not be motivated to perform well on the test because they already have jobs.
Candidates who take the test with no on-the-job experience may score low on the test, but they can learn to do the job well. Obviously, the retail outlet wants to use the test that will best distinguish those who will do well from those who will not.
Construct Validity
Predictive Validity To measure predictive validity, applicants' test scores are compared with their subsequent job performance. A retail chain, Eastern Discount, wants to establish the predictive validity of requiring one year of checkout experience, a test it plans to use for hiring cashiers. In the past, predictive validity has been preferred by the EEOC because it is assumed to yield the strongest link to job performance.
Because a hypothesized construct is used as a predictor in establishing this type of validity, personality tests and tests measuring other such constructs are more likely to be questioned about their validity and utility than other measures of validity. As a result, construct validity is used less frequently than other types of validity in job selection.
Validity Generalization
Summary
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 addressed a number of issues, such as disparate impact, discriminatory intent, compensatory and punitive damages, jury trials, and EEO rights of international employees. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) are the primary federal equal employment enforcement agencies. According to the 1978 guidelines, two alternative compliance approaches are identified: (1) no disparate impact and (2) work-related certification.
Job-related validation requires that tests measure what they are supposed to measure (validity) in a consistent manner (reliability). Construct validity involves the relationship between a measure of an abstract trait, such as intelligence, and job performance.
Review and Discussion Questions
Disparate consequences exist when employment decisions disadvantage members of protected classes, regardless of whether there is discriminatory intent. Employers must be able to defend their management practices based on bona fide professional qualifications (BFOQ), business necessity and job relatedness. Retaliation occurs when an employer takes punitive action against individuals who exercise their legal rights. This is illegal under several laws.
Content validity The approach is growing in use because it shows the job relationship of a measure using a sample of the actual work to be done.
Terms to Know
Using the Internet
Hooters rejected the EEOC's demands and ran full-page ads in multiple newspapers featuring a burly, mustachioed man—wearing a blond wig, short shorts, and tennis shoes. Hooters thought the EEOC was being so unreasonable that it decided to go on the offensive.
Questions
Notes
