Racial discrimination
continues to be the leading basis of charges
filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC). Of the charges filed in 2006,
more than a third (36%) alleged some form of
racial discrimination. In February of this year
the agency launched a program called ‘E-RACE’ to
provide guidance to assist employers in efforts
to reduce race and color based discrimination in
the workplace. E-RACE, which stands for
Eradicating Racism and Collorism from
Employment, focuses on the way employers
hire and promote minorities. Particular emphasis
will be placed on how employers use names,
criminal records, credit reports and employment
and personality tests in hiring and promotion
decisions. The agency also plans to study how
technology and the increased use of online video
resumes may disparately impact minorities.
Employers can use the issues raised in
the E-RACE initiative to evaluate their own
employment practices and avoid the increasing
pitfalls that lead to costly discrimination
charges. Some suggested questions that each
employer should ask about its own practices
include:
To what extent are objective performance
criteria used in hiring and promotion decisions?
Are job opportunities openly posted and
available to all applicants?
Are structured employment interviews
regularly practiced as a basis of employment and
advancement?
The best defense is almost
certainly a good offense when dealing with
discrimination in the workplace and the best
offense is to continually build a best practices
model to guide your company’s employment
environment. The EEOC believes that companies
that can answer ‘yes’ to the above questions are
moving in the right direction. To get and stay
ahead of the curve you should make self-audits a
regular part of your HR management practices and
the evaluation process should extend to all
protected classes not just
race. |
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It is illegal to
discriminate in pay under Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. The Act requires that
charges of discriminatory employment decisions
be filed within 180 days of the alleged
discrimination event. The U.S. Supreme Court has
ruled that workers must file charges of pay
discrimination within 180 days of the pay
change alleged to be discriminatory or lose
their right to sue the employer. This ruling
dramatically limits potential suits for pay
discrimination from what has been accepted in
the past. In Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and
Rubber Co. the Court’s interpretation
focuses on the meaning of ‘event’ when applying
the 180 day rule. The plaintiff’s suit claimed
that she had received lower pay increases over
her 20+ years of employment based upon sexual
discrimination. Therefore, she argued that each
pay check over that period represented a new
‘event’ for application of the 180 day filing
requirement. The Court did not agree with this
argument ruling that the early dates of
discrimination were well beyond the 180 day
provision for filing claims and thus barred the
suit against her employer.
Where is this
going to take us? Both plaintiff and employer
law firms see the possibility of a wave of pay
discrimination charges to establish timely
filing under this new standard. The Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission reports that
4,905 pay discrimination claims were filed in
the 2006 fiscal year under various statutes,
including 2,308 based on sex, 2,038 based on
race and 577 based on national origin. If
workers are forced to make quick decisions about
whether a pay increase is discriminatory, these
numbers could increase dramatically.
|
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| ANSWERS
FROM THE
HELPLINE |
HOW TO COMPLY WITH THE ONE DAY OF
REST IN SEVEN ACT
Q. Can
employers schedule their employees to work 7
days in a row?
A. An employer needs
to look at the Sunday – Saturday calendar week
when scheduling employees in order to comply
with the One Day of Rest in Seven Act.
This act requires one 24-hour period off within
the Sunday – Saturday calendar week (even though
employers may use a different workweek for
payroll purposes). An employer can actually work
an employee 12 days in a row and still be in
compliance with this act. For example, an
employee can work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The
employer is in compliance because the first week
the employee has Sunday off, and the second week
the employee has Saturday off. While this type
of schedule is not advised, it is an
illustration of how the act works.
Q.
What if I have employees that want to work
Sunday through Saturday without a day off?
A. If an employer deems it necessary to
work employees on their scheduled day of rest,
they may do so if the work assignment is
voluntary and the employer obtains a permit from
the Fair Labor Standards Division of the
Illinois Department of Labor.
Q. How
do I get a permit?
A. You can send a
notice stating that you intend to work
approximately ______ number of employees, on a
voluntary basis, on their designated day of
rest, in the following occupations ________ for
the calendar week(s) of _______ through
__________.
Send
the notice to:
Fair Labor
Standards Division
IDOL
160 N. LaSalle
Street, Suite C 1300
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone (312)793-2804
Fax (312)814-1210
Attn: ODRIS
Q. How long
can I typically get a permit for?
A.
You can get a permit for up to eight weeks
without having to prove any special need to work
employees on their scheduled day of rest.
Permits for more than eight weeks in any one
calendar year may be granted by the Department
of Labor if it is found that the necessity for
such work cannot be remedied by increasing the
number of employees or by adjusting production
schedules, and that no employee with those
skills is currently laid off.
Q. Are there
any other exemptions under the One Day of Rest
in Seven Act that would allow my employees to
work on their scheduled day off?
A.
Yes, exemptions from the One Day of Rest in
Seven Act are as follows:
• Executives,
administrators, professionals and outside
salespersons – exempt employees as defined by
the Fair Labor Standards Act
•
Supervisors, as defined by the National Labor
Relations Act
• Part-time employees
working less than 20 hours per week
•
Employees required in emergencies, due to
breakdown of machinery or equipment or other
unexpected difficulty requiring prompt attention
to prevent injury to persons, damage to
property, or suspension of necessary operations.
This refers to a sudden, urgent, unforeseen
occurrence requiring immediate action
•
Employees in coal mining and agriculture
• Seasonal canning and processing or
perishable agricultural products (not more than
20 weeks a year)
• Watchmen or security
guards |
| |
The results of a
recent study of the incidence of coronary
problems in the workplace says that the risk of
a cardiac incident is 55% greater among those
who feel that their boss is unfair. Those
workers who reported a high degree of perceived
unfairness tended to be smokers, obese,
sedentary and non-drinkers. Women reported the
highest incidence of perceived unfair treatment
by their bosses. The findings of the study
adjusted for these biases. Those who perceived
‘moderate-not-high’ unfairness were associated
with the greatest risk for poor physical
performance. As an employer, it's hard to know
what to do with information like this. Is it
just another area of future liability or can
studies such as this be used to develop
affirmative programs for a healthy workforce? Click
here for more information on this study.
|
| |
There are an estimated
50 million Americans with physical or mental
disabilities. When they enter the workplace they
are protected by the provisions of the Americans
with Disabilities Act which says that an
employer must make reasonable accommodations to
assist the disabled employee in his or her job.
Taken together - the large number of persons
with disabiliies and the required accommodations
- it would seem that the overall workplace cost
attributable to disabilities would be
staggeringly high. Fortunately, however,
employers report that they only have to make an
accommodation for about 24% of their workers
with a disability. They also report the cost of
reasonable accommodation is frequently not high.
But employers should be aware of a
larger problem with the remaining workforce that
can sometimes result from implementing
accommodations. This can occur in cases where
flexible work scheduling and telecommuting are
allowed for an employee with a disability but
not for others. Employers should be aware of
this secondary effect on their general workforce
and they should rationalize their policies to be
seen as ‘fair-minded’. When the disabled are not
viewed as the beneficiaries of some unfair
advantage, the potential negative impact on
morale and productivity is often eliminated
entirely. |
| |
June 21, 2007
Holiday
Inn Mart Plaza,
Chicago
The Illinois
Chamber presents the most important healthcare
conference to be held in Illinois in 2007! The
featured speaker will be the former governor of
Florida, Jeb Bush. Governor Bush’s appearance is
sponsored by CIGNA. Agenda topics include:
- The Future of the Healthcare Marketplace in
Illinois
- Latest Trends in Consumer-Driven Healthcare
- Cost and Quality Concerns for Employers and
Healthcare Providers
- Wellness Programs and Their Return on
Investment
- How Technology is Changing Healthcare
- Healthcare Costs and Employers’ Legal Rights
- The Role of Supplemental Benefits in
Employee Compensation
Register Now
Online |
| |
| Knowing what you can
and can't do will help you prevent costly
mistakes. Call our staff of HR experts. Let Pam
Holleman help you deal with problems safely and
avoid disputes. You can reach the Helpline
toll-free at 800-322-4722. |
| |
| Your membership in the
Illinois Chamber pays! We offer valuable
programs and services to our members at special
discounts. Click
here for our growing list of outstanding
seminars, workshops and programs that will help
you with your everyday business needs.
|
| |
| The Chamber urges all
Illinois employers to recognize their Guard and
Reserve employees by signing and displaying the
ESGR Statement of Support. To get yours, simply
complete an online form and you will receive a
personalized certificate that demonstrates your
support. Also visit the SBA Veteran's Business
Development web site for assistance to small
business owners that have employees activated in
the Guard or Reserves. |
| |
The
HR Exec - Copyright © 2007 The Illinois
Chamber
Wood
S. McComb, Editor
Pam
Holleman, Manager, Human Resource
Information
|
