week
1
Scenario
Summary
Karen is a human
resources consultant at a local utility. Originally, the work requested was
project based. Karen was asked to develop training materials for an upcoming
session on diversity. Cynthia, the human resources manager, was very happy with
the work that Karen did and asked her to work on some additional projects. Before
everyone knew it, Karen had been working at the utility for five years.
Karen has been paid
a monthly base salary of $10,000 per month. Karen has received a 1099 for her
wages over the past five years, but has not received a W-2. Karen was not offered
any benefits, but when she was hired, she did not need them, as she was happily
married. However, Karen’s husband recently passed away and she asked Cynthia
about receiving benefits. Cynthia has denied Karen’s request. Karen’s title,
when she started, was Human Resources Temporary, but her new title evolved into
Human Resources Consultant to be more consistent with others in the department
who are doing work similar to hers. Karen does have a contract with the
utility.
Karen has had other
limited clients over the years. She had one client for an approximately 40-hour
project two years ago, and she currently has another client that keeps her on a
retainer basis.
Since she was
denied benefits, Karen has contacted the IRS to ask them to determine her
status.
Your
Assignment
Key
Players
Cynthia is the
human resources manager at ABC Utility, as well as Karen’s supervisor.
Karen is an
individual who has been working at ABC Utility. You will look at her employment
relationship to determine if she is an employee or an independent contractor.
You decide!
You
Decide Activity
Your role is to
decide if Karen is an independent contractor or an employee.
After reading this,
please return to the Week 1 Discussion area, and answer the first two questions
there about Karen. Your instructor will return with further questions
throughout the week.
Note
Homework
2
As noted in the
EEOC tutorial (located in this week’s lecture), candidates for the Director of
HR position of the newly merged company, ZAB, are being asked to prepare a
presentation about Title VII, as it pertains specifically to disparate impact
and disparate treatment policies that should be implemented to avoid liability
for potential Title VII violations. Do research to prepare for your
presentation, and write a brief set of answers to the following questions:
- the difference between a disparate impact and
a disparate treatment claim; - the complaint procedure for a disparate impact
and a disparate treatment claim as it pertains to the EEOC; - the defenses available to the company should a
disparate impact claim and/or a disparate treatment claim be lodged
against ZAB; and - suggestions for avoiding potential EEOC claims
and complaints.
Your assignment
should be between 500-750 words in length. You must also properly cite your
sources using APA format.
Submit your
assignment to the Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on
how to use the Dropbox, read these step-by-step instructions.
See the Syllabus
section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date
information.
Homework
3
Review the Sexual
Harassment tutorial, which is found in the lecture. After viewing the Sexual
Harassment tutorial, completing the reading, and reviewing the lecture notes in
conjunction with the TCO, answer the following questions about the tutorial
scenario and facts.
- Based upon the scenario, does the employee
have a legally viable claim for quid pro quo sexual harassment and/or
hostile environment sexual harassment? What is the likely outcome? - Analyze the legal factors for the potential
claim(s) in the context of the employee pursuing legal action against the
employer. - Let’s shift gears. Using the same scenario,
assume that you are in the HR Department of your organization, and that
you were just presented with the scenario as an example used to explore
policies and procedures that will avoid sexual harassment liability. Your
boss has asked you to make preliminary suggestions (which will be
presented to the legal counsel) regarding sexual harassment protocol that
will avoid potential liability. What would your top five suggestions be
and why?
Your assignment
should be between 500-750 words in length. You must also properly cite your
sources using APA format.
Submit your
assignment to the Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on
how to use the Dropbox, read these step-by-step instructions.
See the Syllabus
section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date
information.
Homework
5
After viewing the
tutorial located in this week’s Lecture tab, complete the reading and review
the Lecture notes. Answer the following questions relating to ADA expanded by
the ADAAA.
If such a situation
occurred in your workplace and you were the Director of Human Resources:
- Would you deem Karina disabled under the
ADAAA? If so, what reasonable accommodations would you offer to her? - From an ADA policy standpoint, what would your
ideal be in terms of an employer ADAAA policy? What would your ideal be as
to what the employee (Karina) should be told by the HR Department in
regards to her rights and obligations pursuant to the ADAAA? From the
employer policy perspective, focus on identification of reasonable
accommodation requirements under applicable law, application of the legal
requirements for this scenario, determinations as to whether reasonable
accommodations can be made, and steps that can be taken to make specific
accommodations if requested.
Your assignment
should be between 500-750 words. Properly cite your sources using APA format.
Submit your
assignment to the Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on
how to use the Dropbox, read these step-by-step instructions.
See the Syllabus
section “Due Dates for Assign
Homework
6
After viewing the
FLSA tutorial located in this week’s lecture, complete the reading and review
the lecture notes in conjunction with the TCO. Address the following statements
relating to FLSA.
- Determine whether or not the employee has a
potential FLSA claim. - Explain the legal basis for your conclusion.
- From an HR perspective, list, explain, and
analyze five things that an employer can do to ensure compliance with FLSA
and avoid claims.
Your assignment
should be between 500-750 words. You must also properly cite your sources using
APA format.
Submit your
assignment to the Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on
how to use the Dropbox, read these step-by-step instructions.
See the Syllabus
section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date
information.
devry hrm593 week 4 Midterm Exam
week 1 Employment-at-Will Exceptions and
Liability (graded)
Review the 10 cases presented for
consideration in Question 2 (letters a – j) of the Chapter-End Questions in
Chapter 2 (pp. 80-81 of the eBook). For your first post, prepare a detailed
response for one of the ten scenarios, explaining your conclusion regarding
whether the scenario constitutes a violation of public policy or a breach of a
covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Support your conclusion with legal
analysis and reasoning. Explain whether any of the scenarios give rise to
potential employer liability and what steps should have been taken to avoid the
exposure. Then, comment and expand on the posts of the other class members.
Your instructor will respond with more ideas for discussion throughout the
week.
week 2 Recruitment of Employees (graded)
Let’s begin our discussion on recruitment by
using a fact pattern from a litigated case. Cone Mills Corporation had several
recruiting procedures that gave preferential treatment to applicants who either
had family members or friends working for the company. One of these procedures
was to give priority to applicants who had family members employed by the
company. The other procedure entailed having an unwritten policy that walk-in
applicants had to have renewed every two weeks. This created a situation where
only those walk-in applicants who had friends or family in the company would
renew their applications because they would be the only ones informed of the
informal rule, which was not presented in any manual or policy. These recruiting
procedures were challenged as being discriminatory towards blacks in general,
especially black women, because the informal network responsible for recruiting
new employees was unavailable to them. The company claimed that the procedures
were not designated to be discriminatory, but rather, to create a loyal family
atmosphere within the plant (Lea v. Cone Mills Corp., 3001 F. Supp. 97). Should
employers be able to recruit through employee referrals and word-of-mouth? Does
the law allow for such a recruitment technique? What specific restrictions does
Title VII place on an employer’s ability to recruit and hire? As part of this
discussion, refer to the cases of EEOC v. Chicago Miniature Lamp Works and EEOC
v. Consolidated Service System in Chapter 4. This section lists options that
can be used to view responses.
week 3 Sexual Harassment and the Law (graded)
What
have sexual harassment laws accomplished in the workplace? Have the advances in
sexual harassment law resulted in women being denied meaningful access to
senior management mentors, who are most often male? Does every civil rights
gain in the workplace also carry with it an unintended cost? week 4 Age
Discrimination and the Workforce (graded) Baby boomers typically possess more
work experience and are older than the next generation. Does an employer have
the right to refuse to hire candidates who are overqualified, such as baby
boomers? Substantiate your response.
week 5 ADA Protections (graded)
On September 25, 2008, President Bush signed
the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) into law, overturning a series of
decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court under the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) and expanding the scope of medical conditions protected by the law. What
do these changes mean for employers and employees in conjunction with
protection against discrimination based on disability in the workplace? What
will employers need to do to comply?
week 6 FLSA (graded)
College sophomore, Suzy Smart, works part-time
in the Handi Mart convenience store near campus. The store manager requires
that each clerk arrives 15 minutes prior to the start of the shift so that the
clerk going off-duty can review the sales figures and cash status with
replacements before leaving. The clerk going off-duty punches the timecard
after this review, but the incoming clerk is not allowed to punch in until the
review is completed and they have agreed that the sales and cash figures are
accurate. Sometimes, this exercise takes more than 15 minutes, and no matter
how long it takes, the clerk coming on-duty may not punch the timecard and
start earning wages until the process is completed. Suzy, who completed a
course on labor and employment law, realizes that the store manager is
violating the FLSA by not allowing the incoming clerk to punch the time clock
upon arrival. She brings this issue up with the store manager, who tells her
that Handi Mart’s parent corporation does not allow the store to compensate two
clerks for the same period of time, no matter how brief, since this is
classified by the corporation as a single coverage store. Furthermore, he adds
ominously, if Suzy complains to the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL, he will
probably be forced by the company to lay Suzy off, along with other
part-timers, and cover the store himself for the evening shifts. He states,
“You may get everyone a few dollars in back pay, but you’ll also cost
everybody their jobs. Remember, some of your co-workers are single parents who
need this extra income to make ends meet.” Has the store manager violated
FLSA? Explain? Explain how you would address this scenario as an HR
professional.
week 7
Employment Law in Action (graded) Retaliation
has been the number one filed EEOC complaint now since 2010, surpassing racial
and sexual harassment and discrimination for the first time then, and since
then. Often, disciplinary actions result in EEOC filings. Discipline is an area
of Human Resources that can certainly create the potential for legal liability
for employers. What are some good guidelines to follow? What are some pitfalls
to avoid? How might valid policies be structured and investigations be handled
to ensure that retaliation complaints do not result from disciplinary actions?
This section lists options that can be used to view responses.
