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Chapter 3
Providing Equal Employment Opportunity and a Safe Workplace
This chapter provides an overview of the ways governmental bodies regulate equal employment
opportunity and workplace safety and health. It introduces major laws affecting employers in
these areas as well as the agencies charged with enforcing those laws. The text also discusses
ways organizations can develop practices that ensure they are compliant with the law. This
chapter will provide guidance on avoiding certain illegal or inadvisable practices and introduces
ways to think more creatively and constructively about fair employment and workplace safety.
Students do not always find laws the most riveting of topics, and so instructors should be aware
that the material may seem dense as it discusses important topics students should know.
Instructors may wish to explain the legal environment first—as part of the external environment
and a necessary part of external analysis. This approach may help connect the topic to previous
conversations, as well as demonstrate the importance of understanding the law for both business
and HR professionals. The need to stay apprised of developments and changes within the legal
landscape may also be a point to emphasize when connecting the material.
Chapter Outline
Regulation of Human Resource Management
• HRM is regulated by the three branches of government:
• Legislative branch develops and enacts laws.
• Executive branch and its regulatory agencies implement the laws.
• Judicial branch hears cases related to employment and interprets the law.
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing
most EEO laws. It investigates and resolves complaints, gathers information, and issues
guidelines.
• Major federal laws requiring EEO include:
• Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1871
• Equal Pay Act of 1963
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964
• Age Discrimination in Employment
Act
• Vocational Rehabilitation Act
of 1973
• Vietnam Era Veteran’s Readjustment
Act of 1974
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act of
1978
• Americans with Disabilities Act
(1990)
• Civil Rights Act (1991)
• Uniformed Services Employment
and Reemployment Act (1994)
• Constitutional Amendments:
• Thirteenth Amendment
• Fourteenth Amendment
• Some major Executive Orders are:
• Executive Order 11246 • Executive Order 11478
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The Government’s Role in Providing for Equal Employment Opportunity
• The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Procedures (OFCCP) is responsible for
enforcing executive orders that call for affirmative action by companies that do business
with the federal government.
Businesses’ Role in Providing for Equal Employment Opportunity
• Employers can avoid discrimination by avoiding disparate treatment of job applicants
and employees, as well as policies that result in disparate impact.
• Organizations can prevent sexual harassment by communicating a policy that defines
and forbids it, training employees to recognize and avoid this behavior, and providing a
means for employees to complain and be protected.
Occupational Safety and Health Act
• Under Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), employers have a
general duty to provide employees a place of employment free from recognized safety
and health hazards.
Employer-Sponsored Safety and Health Programs
• Besides complying with OSHA regulations, employers often establish safety awareness
programs designed to instill an emphasis on safety.
Learning Objectives
LO 3-1: Explain how the three branches of government regulate human resource management.
LO 3-2: Summarize the major federal laws requiring equal employment opportunity.
LO 3-3: Identify the federal agencies that enforce equal employment opportunity, and describe
the role of each.
LO 3-4: Describe ways employers can avoid illegal discrimination and provide reasonable
accommodation.
LO 3-5: Define sexual harassment, and tell how employers can eliminate or minimize it.
LO 3-6: Explain employers’ duties under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
LO 3-7: Describe the role of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
LO 3-8: Discuss ways employers promote worker safety and health.
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Society for Human Resource Management Body of Competency &
Knowledge
This chapter contains content, which may be identified within the following content areas:
• U.S. Employment Law & Regulations
• Talent Acquisition & Retention
• Employee Engagement
• Employee Relations
• HR in the Global Context
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Risk Management
• Corporate Social Responsibility
Human Resource Certification Institute’s A Guide to the HR Body
of Knowledge
This chapter contains content, which may be identified within the following content areas:
• Business Management & Strategy
• Workforce Planning and Employment
• Human Resource Development
• Compensation and Benefits
• Employee and Labor Relations
• Risk Management
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Question Guidance to Vignettes and Discussion Questions
HRM Social
Using Social Media in Hiring Poses Discrimination Risk
1. Explain how the findings of the Carnegie Mellon study provide an example of disparate
impact.
unintentional impact.
2. For the employee characteristics protected by EEO laws, which could you avoid
revealing on a social-media career site such as LinkedIn? Which would be difficult or
impossible to avoid disclosing?
HR Oops!
Disability Inclusion Still Falls Short
1. What are some advantages to an employer of accommodating employees who have
disabilities but otherwise are qualified to perform a job?
2. What might cause the high unemployment rate for persons with disabilities?
Best Practices
Accenture’s Diversity Policies Welcome LGBT Workers
1. How would you summarize the business rationale for Accenture’s policy of diversity and
inclusion?
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Copyright © 2020 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-
Hill Education.
then it has a better shot to attain and retain the most highly skilled employees across the
world. Additionally, analyzing employee satisfaction once they are employed by
Accenture is of high importance as well.
2. Do Accenture’s measure to promote diversity and inclusion also place less value on
heterosexual employees? Why or why not?
HR How To
Providing Safety from Gun Violence
1. Describe a situation where an employee with a gun could make a workplace safer. Then
describe a situation where allowing an employee to have a gun could pose a safety risk.
2. Suppose you run the HR department of an advertising agency in a town that has recently
experience gun violence. Employees are worried about their safety at work. Which of the
listed ideas would you implement first? Why?
Did You Know?
Top 10 OSHA Violations
1. How can an organization’s HR department support the organization in preventing safety
violations such as the ones below?
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End of Chapter Questions and Cases
Thinking Ethically
Is It Ethical To Discriminate Against the Unemployed?
1. If an employer’s hiring policies give preference to those who are already employed, what
is the impact on (a) the company’s performance, (b) workers seeking jobs, and (c) the
communities where a company operates? Based on the impact of these policies, would
you say they are ethical? Why or why not?
2. Apply the ethical value of fairness to these policies: is it fair to discriminate against the
long-term unemployed? Is it fair not to let employers choose employees with a track
record of holding a job? What hiring policy best achieves fairness?
Answer: Students should discuss a wide range of impacts on society and how employers
Review and Discussion Questions
1. What is the role of each branch of the federal government with regard to equal
employment opportunity? (LO 3-1)
2. For each of the following situations, identify one or more constitutional amendments,
laws, or executive orders that might apply. (LO 3-2)
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a. A veteran of the Iraqi conflict experiences lower-back pain after sitting for extended
periods of time. He has applied for promotion to a supervisory position that has
traditionally involved spending most of the workday behind a desk.
b. One of two female workers on a road construction crew complains to her supervisor
that she feels uncomfortable during breaks, because the other employees routinely tell
off-color jokes.
c. A manager at an architectural firm receives a call from a local newspaper. The
reporter wonders how the firm wishes to respond to calls from two of its employees
alleging racial discrimination. About half of the firm’s employees (including all of its
partners and most of its architects) are white. One of the firm’s clients is the federal
government.
3. For each situation in Question 2, what actions, if any, should the organization take? (LO
3-4)
4. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that employers make reasonable
accommodations for individuals with disabilities. How might this requirement affect law
enforcement officers and firefighters? (LO 3-4)
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 8e Instructor’s Manual
5. To identify instances of sexual harassment, the courts may use a “reasonable woman”
standard of what constitutes offensive behavior. This standard is based on the idea that
women and men have different ideas of what behavior is appropriate. What are the
implications of this distinction? Do you think this distinction is helpful or harmful? Why?
(LO 3-5)
6. Given that the “reasonable woman” standard referred to in Question 5 is based on
women’s ideas of what is appropriate, how might an organization with mostly male
employees identify and avoid behavior that could be found to be sexual harassment? (LO
3-5)
7. What are an organization’s basic duties under the Occupational Safety and Health Act?
(LO 3-6)
8. OSHA penalties are aimed at employers, rather than employees. How does this affect
employee safety? (LO 3-7)
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9. How can organizations motivate employees to promote safety and health in the
workplace? (LO 3-8)
10. For each of the following occupations, identify at least one possible hazard and at least
one action employers could take to minimize the risk of an injury or illness related to that
hazard. (LO 3-8)
a. Worker in a fast-food restaurant
b. IT specialist
c. Truck driver
d. House painter
Answer: The student responses given for this question will vary. However, all answers
Taking Responsibility
Keeping Subcontractors Safe
1. What responsibility do you think Sprint has to the employees of subcontractors working
on its communications towers? How well is it meeting that responsibility?
2. Beyond the steps Sprint says it has taken what else could it do to meet or exceed OSHA
requirements to protect worker safety at its communication towers?
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Managing Talent
Google’s Search for Diverse Talent
1. Which problem do you think is more serious at Google: possible racial discrimination or
possible reverse discrimination? Why?
2. Suggest two ways Google could improve how it provides equal employment opportunity
and manages it talent objectives.
HR in Small Business
Airbnb Continues to Address Diversity Challenge
1. What legal problems could a company such as Airbnb experience as a result of hiring and
promoting only small percentages of women and minorities?
2. If you were an HR manager at Airbnb, what other measures would you recommend the
company take in order to comply with the law and meet strategic goals for diversity?
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Recommended Connect Activities
Determining Discrimination
Learning Objective: 03-04 Describe ways employers can avoid illegal discrimination and
provide reasonable accommodation.
Activity Summary: The case analysis provide students with an understanding of the legal
protections against discrimination enacted in the United States of America.
Follow-Up Activity: Students should apply the various legislative acts against the facts
presented in this case to determine if any laws were being broken. Next, students should
determine the best course of action for Gloria/her employer moving forward.
Ensuring Worker Safety
Learning Objective: 03-07 Describe the role of the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration.
Activity Summary: The case analysis provides application of real-world scenarios to OSHA
legislation.
Follow-Up Activity: Working in small groups, have students visit OSHA online to learn more
about the stakeholders that exist in this space. Group work should include searching the OSHA
database for violations, help provided to employers, worker rights, and new legislation. By
representing numerous stakeholders, students will learn how OSHA has a wide-ranging impact.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Learning Objective: 03-04 Describe ways employers can avoid illegal discrimination and
provide reasonable accommodation.
Activity Summary: The case analysis gives students the basic understanding of the legislation
passed to promote fair and equitable hiring practices.
Follow-Up Activity: Several instances of “reverse discrimination” have made national headlines
over the past few years. Have students investigate these stories to apply course content to real-
life scenarios.
Discrimination at The Cross Company
Learning Objective: 03-02 Summarize the major federal laws requiring equal employment
opportunity.
Activity Summary: The case analysis allows students to improve their knowledge of
employment legislation.
Follow-Up Activity: This case sets up very well for small group work based on the four steps
outlined for Mr. White and Mrs. Jackson. Have all groups focus their research/strategy on one
company, such as a real-life version of The Cross Company (Ronald McDonald House
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Charities). Another option would be for students to study the best practices of each of the four
outlined steps.
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Classroom Exercises
Students may benefit from exercises that illustrate the concepts of the chapter. Use these along
with CONNECT activities.
1. EEO Discussion
Instructors may engage students in a general discussion concerning discrimination and
equal employment opportunity. To facilitate conversation, instructors may use Table 3.1,
then transition into Review and Discussion question #2. After discussing the scenarios,
students may then be asked to respond to Review and Discussion question #3. Students
could be asked to discuss as individuals or within groups.
2. Employment and Disabilities.
Students may be asked to consider the impact disabilities have on employment. This may
be facilitated using the HR Oops! vignette. After discussing the vignette, the instructor
may then ask students to respond and discuss Review and Discussion question #4.
3. Work Hazards
Review and Discussion question #10 could help students better understand both work
safety regulations, and the steps employers may take to mitigate risks while also meeting
compliance. After discussing the question, instructors may ask students to reflect on their
previous or current employment and consider the question within their own employment
context. Additionally, the Did You Know? vignette may help facilitate the reflection.
Students may then be asked how to improve conditions or facilitate initiatives to improve
safety.
4. HRM Career Considerations
Instructors may wish to have students identify components in Chapter 3 within both the
Society for Human Resource Management Body of Competency & Knowledge and the
Human Resource Certification Institute’s A Guide to the HR Body of Knowledge.
Discussion could be focused on how these chapter concepts are important to the
development of their careers and potential certification.
5. Vignette Discussions
Any of the vignettes (see above), may be employed for classroom discussion. Students
could be asked to respond as individuals or placed into groups for discussion. Individuals
and/or groups may then be asked to defend their responses and rationale when comparing
and contrasting other responses.