lu 1 introduction to human resource management

8/14/2019 LU 1 Introduction to Human Resource Management

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LU 1 Introduction to Human Resource Management

I. What is Human Resource Management and Why it is Important TheManagement process involves the following functions: planning, organizing, staffing,leading, and controlling. The people or personnel aspects of management jobs

involve conducting job analyses; planning labor needs and recruiting job candidates;selecting job candidates; orienting and training new employees; managing wagesand salaries; providing incentives and benefits; appraising performance;communicating; training and developing managers; building employee commitment;being knowledgeable about equal opportunity, affirmative action, and employeehealth and safety; and handling grievances and labor relations.

A. What Is Human Resource Management? The management process includesseveral functions: planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. Humanresource management is the process of acquiring, training, appraising, andcompensating employees, and attending to their labor relations, health andsafety, and fairness concerns.

B. Why Is HR Management Important to All Managers? Managers dont want tomake personnel mistakes, such as hiring the wrong person, having theircompany taken to court because of discriminatory actions, or committing unfairlabor practices. HRM can improve profits and performance by hiring the rightpeople and motivating them appropriately. It is also possible you may spendsome time as an HR Manager, so being familiar with this material is important.

C. Line and Staff Aspects of HRM Although most firms have a human resourcedepartment with its own manager, all managers tend to get involved in activitieslike recruiting, interviewing, selecting, and training.

D. Line Managers HR Duties Most line managers are responsible for linefunctions, coordinative functions, and some staff functions.

E. Human Resource Managers Duties Human Resource Managers also haveline, coordinative, and staff functions. However, they exert line authority onlywithin the HR department. They have implied authority with line managers due tothe fact that they have the ear of top management on many important issuescontributing to organizational health.

II. The Trends Shaping HR Management - Human Resource responsibilities havebecome broader and more strategic over time in response to a number of trends. Therole of HR has evolved from primarily being responsible for hiring, firing, payroll, andbenefits administration to a more strategic role in employee selection, training, andpromotion, and an advisory role to the organization in areas of labor relations andlegal compliance.

A. Globalization and Competition Trends Globalization refers to the tendency offirms to extend their sales, ownership, and/or manufacturing to new marketsabroad. Globalization of the world economy and other trends has triggeredchanges in how companies organize, manage, and use their HR departments.The rate of globalization continues to be high, and has several strategicimplications for firms. More globalization means more competition, and morecompetition means more pressure to lower costs, make employees moreproductive, and do things better and less expensively.


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B. Indebtedness (Leverage) and Deregulation In many countries, governmentstipends stripped away rules and regulations. In the United States and Europe,for example, the rules that prevented commercial banks from expanding into newbusinesses, such as stock brokering, were relaxed.

C. Technological Trends Virtual online communities, virtual design environments,and Internet-based distribution systems have enabled firms to become morecompetitive. HR faces the challenge of quickly applying technology to the task ofimproving its own operations.

D. Trends in the Nature of Work Jobs are changing due to new technologicaldemands. Dramatic increases in productivity have allowed manufacturers toproduce more with fewer employees. Nontraditional workers, such as those whohold multiple jobs, contingent or part-time workers, or people working inalternative work arrangements, enable employers to keep costs down.

E. Workforce Demographic Trends The labor force is getting older and moremulti-ethnic. The aging labor force presents significant changes in terms ofpotential labor shortages, and many firms are instituting new policies aimed atencouraging aging employees to stay, or at re-hiring previously retired

employees. Growing numbers of workers with eldercare responsibilities and highrates of immigration also present challenges and opportunities for HR managers.

1. Demographic Trends The U.S. Workforce is becoming older and moreethincally diverse. Demographic Trends are also making finding and retainingquality employees more challenging.

2. Generation Y Born between 1977 and 2002, these employees want fairand direct supervisors and aim to work faster and better than other workers.

3. Retirees Organizations must deal with the large number of people leavingthe workforce. In many cases the number of younger workers entering theworkforce is not enough to fill all of the vacated positions.

4. Nontraditional Workers These workers may hold multiple jobs and may becontigent or part-time employees. Technology is facilitating these alternatework arrangement.

5. Workers from Abroad This is one way that organizations are trying toovercome the large number of retirees, but the option is sometimes met withopposition as unemployment increases.

E. Economic Challenges and TrendsAll of these trends are occurring in a contextof challenge and upheaval. In Figure 1-5, gross national product (GNP) ameasure of the United States of Americas total output boomed between 1940and 2010.


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THE EMPLOYMENT LAWS

I. Equal Opportunity 1964-1991

The Fifth Amendment (ratified in 1791) states, no person shall be deprived of life,

liberty, or property, without due process of the law. The Thirteenth Amendment(ratified in 1868) outlawed slavery, and courts have held that it bars racialdiscrimination.

A. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

1. Background

a. The act says it is unlawful to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge anindividual or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respectto his/her compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment,because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

b. The act says it is unlawful to limit, segregate, or classify his/heremployees or applicants for employment in any way that would depriveor tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities orotherwise adversely affect his/her status as an employee, because ofsuch individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

2. Who does Title VII Cover? It covers: a) all public or private employers of 15or more persons; b) all private and public educational institutions; c) federal,state, and local governments; d) public and private employment agencies; e)labor unions with 15 or more members; and f) joint labor-managementcommittees.

3. The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) was establishedbyTitle VII. It consists of five members (serving five-year terms), appointed

by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The EEOCinvestigates job discrimination complaints and may file charges in court.

F. Executive Orders by various presidents have expanded the effect of equalemployment laws in federal agencies. Johnsons administration (1963-1969)issued Executive Orders 11246 and 11375, which requires contractors to takeaffirmative action (steps taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effectsof past discrimination) to ensure equal employment opportunity.

G. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (amended in 1972) made it unlawful to discriminate inpay on the basis of sex when jobs involve equal work, equivalent skills, effort andresponsibility, and are performed under similar working conditions.

D. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 made it unlawful todiscriminate against employees or applicants for employment who are between40 and 65 years of age.

E. The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires employers with federalcontracts over $2500 to take affirmative action for the employment ofhandicapped persons.


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F. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978, an amendment to Title VII ofthe Civil Rights Act, prohibits sex discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth,or related medical conditions.

G. Federal Agency Guidelines are uniform guidelines issued by federal agenciescharged with ensuring compliance with equal employment federal legislation. Theguidelines explain highly recommended employer procedures regarding matterslike employee selection, record keeping, pre-employment inquiries, andaffirmative action programs.

I. Early Court Decisions Regarding Equal Employment Opportunity

1. Griggs v. Duke Power Companywas a case heard by the Supreme Court inwhich the plaintiff argued that his employer's requirement that coal handlersbe high school graduates was unfairly discriminatory. In finding for theplaintiff, the Court ruled that discrimination need not be overt to be illegal,that employment practices must be related to job performance, and that theburden of proof is on the employer to show that hiring standards are jobrelated if they have an unequal impact on members of a protected class.

2. Albemarle Paper Company v. Moodywas a Supreme Court case in which itwas ruled that the validity of job tests must be documented, and thatemployee performance standards must be unambiguous.

II. Equal Employment Opportunity 1990-91 - Present

A. The Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1991 places burden of proof back on employers andpermits compensatory and punitive damages.

1. Burden of roof was shifted back to where it was prior to the 1980s with thepassage of CRA 1991. Thus, the burden is once again on employers to showthat the practice (such as a test) is required as a business necessity. Forexample, if a rejected applicant demonstrates that an employment practice

has a disparate (or adverse) impact on a particular group, the employer hasthe burden of proving that the challenged practice is job related for theposition in question.

2. Money DamagesSection 102 of CRA 1991 provides that an employee whois claiming intentional discrimination (disparate treatment) can ask for 1)compensatory damages and 2) punitive damages, if it can be shown theemployer engaged in discrimination with malice or reckless indifference tothe federally protected rights of an aggrieved individual.

3. Mixed Motives CRA 1991 states: An unlawful employment practice isestablished when the complaining party demonstrates that race, color,religion, sex, or national origin was a motivating factor for any employment

practice, even though other factors also motivated the practice. Employerscannot avoid liability by proving they would have taken the same action such as terminating someone even without the discriminatory motive.Plaintiffs in such so-called mixed motive cases recently gained anadvantage from a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Desert Palace Inc. vs.Costa where the court decided that the plaintiff did not have to provideevidence of explicitly discriminatory conduct but could provide circumstantialevidence.


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B. The American with Disabilities Act requires employers to make reasonableaccommodations for disabled employees, and it prohibits discrimination againstdisabled persons. AIDS The EEOCs position is that the ADA prohibitsdiscriminating against people with HIV/AIDS.

1. Mental Impairments and the ADA Mental disabilities now account for thegreatest number of claims brought under the ADA. Mental impairmentincludes any mental or psychological disorder, such as emotional or mentalillness.

2. Qualified Individual The ADAt prohibits discrimination against those who,with or without a reasonable accommodation, can carry out the essentialfunctions of the job.

3. Reasonable Accommodation If the individual cannot perform the job ascurrently structured, the employer is required to make a reasonableaccommodation, unless doing so would present an undue hardship.

4. Traditional Employer DefensesADA complaints are flooding the EEOC andthe courts. However, 96% of federal court decisions in a recent year were for

the employer.

5. The New ADA In 2008 amendments were made to the ADA. Thesechanges will make it easier for employees to show their disabilities arelimiting.

lu 1 introduction to human resource management

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