Essential Functions © 2017 South University Page 2 of 2 Human Resource Management ©2017 South University 2 Essential Functions Americans With Disabilities Act1 Managing Diversity © 2017 South University Diversity Training Diversity training programs often have three components. Legal awareness is the first and most common component. Here, the training focuses on the legal implications of discrimination. This limited approach to diversity training focuses only on these legal “do's and don'ts.” Through cultural awareness training, organizations hope to build greater understanding of the differences among people. Cultural awareness training helps all participants see and accept the differences in people with widely varying cultural backgrounds. The third component of diversity training—sensitivity training—is more difficult. The aim here is to “sensitize” people to the differences among them and how their words and behaviors are seen by others. Some diversity training includes exercises containing examples of harassment and other misbehaviors. Focusing on behavior seems to hold the most promise for making diversity training more effective. For instance, cultural diversity training that teaches sales representatives and managers how to positively communicate with people from diverse backgrounds should produce positive results. Trainers emphasize that the key to avoiding backlash in diversity efforts is to stress that people can believe whatever they wish, but at work, their values are less important than their behaviors. Dealing with diversity is not about what people can and cannot say. It is about being respectful to others. (Mathis, 2017). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion. Religious discrimination can take many forms, from hostile remarks to refusal to promote individuals because they have different beliefs. Employees should avoid making comments that could be viewed as offensive to someone's religious beliefs. Employment decisions should not be influenced by workers' religious beliefs. Read the following to learn more about managing religious diversity. 2 Managing Diversity Diversity Training Managing religious diversity can be a significant challenge for organizations. The EEOC recommends that employers consider the following reasonable accommodations for employees' religious beliefs and practices: • Scheduling changes, voluntary substitutes, and shift swaps • Changing an employee's job tasks or providing a lateral transfer • Making an exception to dress and grooming rules • Making accommodations related to paying union dues or agency fees • Making accommodations related to necessary prayer, proselytizing, and other forms of religious expression HR staff should also teach employees about diverse religious beliefs and provide managers with proper guidelines about how to make appr ...

1. Essential Functions
© 2017 South University
Page 2 of 2
Human Resource Management
©2017 South University
2 Essential Functions
Americans With Disabilities Act1
Managing Diversity
© 2017 South University

2. Diversity Training
Diversity training programs often have three components. Legal
awareness is the first and most
common component. Here, the training focuses on the legal
implications of discrimination. This
limited approach to diversity training focuses only on these
legal “do's and don'ts.”
Through cultural awareness training, organizations hope to
build greater understanding of the
differences among people. Cultural awareness training helps all
participants see and accept the
differences in people with widely varying cultural backgrounds.
The third component of diversity training—sensitivity
training—is more difficult. The aim here is to
“sensitize” people to the differences among them and how their
words and behaviors are seen by
others. Some diversity training includes exercises containing
examples of harassment and other
misbehaviors. Focusing on behavior seems to hold the most
promise for making diversity training
more effective. For instance, cultural diversity training that
teaches sales representatives and
managers how to positively communicate with people from
diverse backgrounds should produce
positive results. Trainers emphasize that the key to avoiding
backlash in diversity efforts is to
stress that people can believe whatever they wish, but at work,
their values are less important than
their behaviors. Dealing with diversity is not about what people
can and cannot say. It is about

3. being respectful to others. (Mathis, 2017).
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the
basis of religion. Religious
discrimination can take many forms, from hostile remarks to
refusal to promote individuals
because they have different beliefs. Employees should avoid
making comments that could be
viewed as offensive to someone's religious beliefs. Employment
decisions should not be
influenced by workers' religious beliefs. Read the following to
learn more about managing
religious diversity.
2 Managing Diversity
Diversity Training
Managing religious diversity can be a significant challenge for
organizations. The EEOC
recommends that employers consider the following reasonable
accommodations for employees'
religious beliefs and practices:
• Scheduling changes, voluntary substitutes, and shift swaps
• Changing an employee's job tasks or providing a lateral
transfer
• Making an exception to dress and grooming rules
• Making accommodations related to paying union dues or
agency fees
• Making accommodations related to necessary prayer,

4. proselytizing, and other
forms of religious expression
HR staff should also teach employees about diverse religious
beliefs and provide managers with
proper guidelines about how to make appropriate religious
accommodations. They can also
instruct workers about their rights and consider all religious
holidays before scheduling company
activities.
Recent evidence also suggests that religion may not be an
overwhelming challenge for
organizations. In fact, it may be used to create a competitive
advantage. A Workplace Options
survey found that 44% of workers discuss religion and politics
with their colleagues, but only 9%
think that religion is the main cause of workplace conflict.
Further, 17% claimed that the main
cause of conflict involves disagreements over politics, and 52%
pointed to work issues. In an effort
to increase understanding and appreciation—as well as to
enhance the bottom line—companies
such as Tyson Foods and American Airlines are encouraging
religious discussions in the
workplace. These firms have developed chaplain programs and
faith-based educational groups.
(Mathis et al., 2017).
Mathis, R.L., Jackson, J.H., Valentine, S.R. & Meglich, P.
(2017). Human resource management. (15th ed.).

5. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
Page 2 of 2
Human Resource Management
©2017 South University
Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination
Af�rmative action is often described as a quota system where
the employer is forced to hire a speci�c
number of people from races designated as minorities. But the
law does not require organizations to
provide jobs for minorities. Af�rmative action involves taking
proactive measures to increase the
number of women and minorities in the workplace in an effort
to make up for past discrimination. If an
organization is located in an area dominated by Hispanics, it
needs to try and recruit that percentage
of Hispanics. If the organization is located in an area with few
or no Hispanics, it may not need to hire
many or any.

6. Consider the example of a small organization that provides
software services to the Department of
Defense. As a federal contractor the organization should comply
with af�rmative action regulations. If
the organization conducts its business in a small homogenous
town with few minorities, under the
legislation, it may not need to seek out minorities as employees.
On the other hand, if the organization
conducts its business in a community with a high number of
Hispanics, it may need to proactively seek
ways to recruit and retain Hispanic employees.
The legislation does not stipulate that the organization should
hire minorities if they were not quali�ed
or suited for the job, but it does require that organizations
attempt to do so. If another applicant is
more quali�ed the organization may hire the better candidate.
Implementing or conforming to
af�rmative action at times results in the problem of reverse
discrimination. This occurs when two
equally quali�ed candidates apply for a position. If one
candidate is a white male and the other an
Asian female, the organization may offer the position to the
minority, attempting to meet its
responsibility for af�rmative action. Accusations of reverse
discrimination may result.

7. The EEOC provides guidelines to help employers determine
which job functions are essential. To avoid
potential lawsuits, organizations should support lists of
essential job functions with hard evidence
based on the information found in job descriptions and
assessments of typical work duties. (Mathis,
2017, p. 103).
Additional Materials
Essential Functions
(media/week2/SUO_MGT3045_W2%20L3.pdf?
_&d2lSessionVal=F4QPIlxC1x53HRXrSi4mpIFVi&ou=92916)
Managing Diversity
(media/week2/SUO_MGT3045_W2%20L3%20B.pdf?
_&d2lSessionVal=F4QPIlxC1x53HRXrSi4mpIFVi&ou=92916)
https://myclasses.southuniversity.edu/content/enforced/92916-
17109821/media/week2/SUO_MGT3045_W2%20L3.pdf?_&d2lS
essionVal=F4QPIlxC1x53HRXrSi4mpIFVi&ou=92916
https://myclasses.southuniversity.edu/content/enforced/92916-
17109821/media/week2/SUO_MGT3045_W2%20L3%20B.pdf?_
&d2lSessionVal=F4QPIlxC1x53HRXrSi4mpIFVi&ou=92916

8. Reasonable Accommodation
© 2017 South University
ADA
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990,
providing protection against
discrimination on the basis of disability. ADA states:
Equal employment opportunity must be available to anyone with
a defined disability who can do
the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable
accommodation.
Disability: A person in a wheelchair is obviously disabled, but
what about someone who has a
finger missing, nearsightedness or deafness in one ear?
According to the law, only disabilities
that substantially limit one or more major life activities are
covered. The Supreme Court
limited the definition: a disability under ADA limits major work
activities and not life
activities.
Essential Functions: Consider a deaf woman who was hired as a
filing clerk. Although she was
hired to do filing, she ended up handling many customer calls.
She requested a special phone but
was denied the request because the organization was not
required to accommodate beyond the
essential functions for which she was hired. HR must spell out
essential functions in a job
description so there’s no confusion about what an individual is

9. hired to do. A strong job
description states how the employee will be required to sit,
stand, move, and lift objects; it should
specify vision, hearing, and manual dexterity.
Reasonable Accommodation involves making changes that are
financially and physically feasible
for the employer. A small, not-very-profitable firm is not
required to install an elevator. However,
if workspace is available on the first floor, it could be a
reasonable accommodation to adapt the
space for a disabled individual. If the employer would incur
undue hardship (financial difficulties),
it is safe to state no reasonable accommodation can be made.
ADA cases are often decided in
courts.
The key to making reasonable accommodations is identifying
the essential job functions and then
determining which accommodations are reasonable so the
individual can perform the core job
duties. View the chart to learn more about how essential job
functions are determined. Common
2 Reasonable Accommodation
Americans With Disabilities Act
means of reasonable accommodation are shown in the attached
figure.

10. .
Page 2 of 2
Human Resource Management
©2017 South University
EEOC: Facts about Sexual Harassment
© 2017 South University
Page 2 of 3
Human Resource Management
©2017 South University

11. 2 EEOC: Facts about Sexual Harassment
Sexual Harassment
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Facts About Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates
Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and
other
verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual
harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct
explicitly or
implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably
interferes
with an individual's work performance or creates an
intimidating,
hostile or offensive work environment.
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances,
including
but not limited to the following:
• The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man.
The
victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
• The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the
employer,
a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
• The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could
be
anyone affected by the offensive conduct.

12. • Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic
injury to or
discharge of the victim.
• The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.
It is helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that
the
conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use any
employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available.
When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, EEOC
looks at
the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the
sexual
advances, and the context in which the alleged incidents
occurred. A
determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a
case-by-
case basis.
Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the
workplace. Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to
prevent
sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly
communicate to
Page 3 of 3
Human Resource Management
©2017 South University
3 EEOC: Facts about Sexual Harassment

13. Sexual Harassment
employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They
can do so
by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and
taking
immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.
This page was last modified on June 27, 2002.
Sexual Harassment
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 also addressed the issue of sexual
discrimination. This resulted in a series
of lawsuits �led by women to gain protection against sexual
harassment in the workplace. The courts
mostly ruled in favor of these women. Since then, employees
have been able to seek legal relief from
sexual harassment under the protection of the Civil Rights Act.
Sexual harassment is often less about sex and more about
power. The abuse of power results in sexual
harassment. You may be familiar with stories of harassment,
where the male boss pesters a female
subordinate for a date, or promises her a promotio n in exchange
for sexual favors. Men have also

14. become the victims of sexual harassment, either at the hands of
women, or other men. The courts have
found that sexual harassment can occur not only between men
and women, but also between two
women or two men.
There are two kinds of sexual harassment:
Quid Pro Quo refers to promising favorable treatment in
exchange for some kind of sexual favor.
The phrase literally means “this for that.” This type of
harassment is relatively easy to prove in
court. When people talk about sexual harassment, they are
usually referring to quid pro quo.
Hostile Work Environment: Quid pro quo sexual harassment
probably occurs less often than
does another type of harassment—hostile work environment. In
a hostile work environment, the
harasser creates an unfavorable and sometimes distressing
environment affecting an employee's
productivity and behavior.
Companies may avoid liability by taking care to prohibit sexual
harassment. This process is tied into
the af�rmative defense. Important elements of the af�rmative
defense:

15. Establish a sexual harassment policy.
Communicate the policy regularly.
Train employees and managers on avoiding sexual harassment.
Investigate and take action when complaints are voiced.
(Mathis, 2017, p. 100)
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the
regulatory agency that oversees
complaints regarding sexual harassment. What constitutes
sexual harassment as a violation under
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? How is sexual
harassment investigated and prevented in the
workplace? Read the following from the U.S. EEOC.
Additional Materials
EEOC: Facts about Sexual Harassment
(media/week2/SUO_MGT3045_W2%20L2.pdf?
_&d2lSessionVal=F4QPIlxC1x53HRXrSi4mpIFVi&ou=92916)
https://myclasses.southuniversity.edu/content/enforced/92916-
17109821/media/week2/SUO_MGT3045_W2%20L2.pdf?_&d2lS
essionVal=F4QPIlxC1x53HRXrSi4mpIFVi&ou=92916

16. MGT3045 Week 2 Project Rubric
Course: MGT3045-Human Resource Management SU01
Criteria
No Submission
0 points
Emerging (F through D Range)
(6-7)
7 points
Satisfactory (C Range) (7-8)
8 points
Proficient (B Range) (8-9)
9 points
Exemplary (A Range) (9-10)
10 points
Criterion Score
Referencing Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act,
analyzed the two types
of sexual harassment
and which type Martha
is experiencing.
/ 10Did not identify two types

17. of sexual harassment.
Unsupported with
research.
Identified two types of
sexual harassment.
Lacked credible research
support.
Described two types of
sexual harassment.
Weakly supported with
research.
Analyzed the two types of
sexual harassment and
which type Martha is
experiencing.
Sufficiently supported
with research.
Analysis of two types of

18. sexual harassment and
which type Martha is
experiencing was
compelling and well-
considered.
Well-supported by
research.
Criteria
No Submission
0 points
Emerging (F through D Range)
(12-14)
14 points
Satisfactory (C Range) (14-16)
16 points
Proficient (B Range) (16-18)
18 points
Exemplary (A Range) (18-20)
20 points
Criterion Score
Analyzed HRM’s

19. obligation to investigate
and presented steps to
comply with the EEOC.
/ 20Did not identify
HRM’s obligation to
investigate or present
steps to comply with the
EEOC.
Unsupported with
research.
Identified HRM’s
obligation to investigate or
steps to comply with the
EEOC.
Lacked credible research
support.
Described HRM’s
obligation to investigate

20. and steps to comply with
the EEOC.
Weakly supported with
research.
Analyzed HRM’s
obligation to investigate
and steps to comply with
the EEOC.
Sufficiently supported
with research.
Analysis of HRM’s
obligation to investigate
and steps to comply with
the EEOC was in-depth
and compelling.
Well supported by
research.
Criteria
No Submission

21. 0 points
Emerging (F through D Range)
(6-7)
7 points
Satisfactory (C Range) (7-8)
8 points
Proficient (B Range) (8-9)
9 points
Exemplary (A Range) (9-10)
10 points
Criterion Score
Analyzed the likelihood
of John being found
guilty and the options to
remedy the situation
within the workplace.
/ 10Did not identify likelihood
of John being found guilty
and the options to remedy
the situation within the
workplace.

22. Unsupported with
research.
Identified the likelihood of
John being found guilty
and the options to remedy
the situation within the
workplace.
Lacked credible research
support.
Described likelihood of
John being found guilty
and the options to remedy
the situation within the
workplace.
Weakly supported with
research.
Analyzed likelihood of
John being found guilty

23. and the options to remedy
the situation within the
workplace.
Sufficiently supported
with research.
Analysis of the likelihood
of John being found guilty
and the options to remedy
the situation within the
workplace was in-depth
and compelling.
Well supported by
research.
Total / 50
Overall Score
Criteria
No Submission
0 points

24. Emerging (F through D Range)
(6-7)
7 points
Satisfactory (C Range) (7-8)
8 points
Proficient (B Range) (8-9)
9 points
Exemplary (A Range) (9-10)
10 points
Criterion ScoreCriteria
No Submission
0 points
Emerging (F through D Range)
(6-7)
7 points
Satisfactory (C Range) (7-8)
8 points
Proficient (B Range) (8-9)
9 points
Exemplary (A Range) (9-10)
10 points
Criterion Score
Wrote in a clear, concise,
and organized manner;

25. demonstrated ethical
scholarship in accurate
representation and
attribution of sources
(i.e., APA); and displayed
accurate spelling,
grammar, and
punctuation.
/ 10Submission contains no
discernible overall intent
in author’s selection of
ideas.
Errors in basic writing
conventions are
sufficiently numerous to
prevent reader
comprehension.
No attempt at

26. Academic/APA formatting
in presentation
Submission contains
random presentation of
ideas, which prevents
understanding the
majority of author’s overall
intent.
Errors in basic writing
conventions are
sufficiently numerous to
prevent reader
comprehension of majority
of the work.
Academic/APA format is
attempted, but errors are
significant.
Ideas are presented in a

27. way that forces the reader
to make repeated
inferences in order to
identify and follow the
author’s overall intent.
Errors in basic writing
conventions interfere
with, but do not prevent,
reader comprehension.
Academic/APA format is
attempted but errors are
distracting.
The reader can follow the
author’s overall intent as
stated.
The reader noticed a few
errors in basic writing
conventions but these few

28. errors do not interfere
with reader
comprehension.
Using Academic/APA
format, accurately. Errors
are noticeable but minor.
The writer’s overall
argument and language
are clear and tightly
focused, leaving the
reader with no room for
confusion about author’s
intent.
Text is basically error free,
so that a reader would
have to purposely search
to find any errors that may
be present.

29. Using Academic/APA
format proficiently. Text is
basically error free.
No Submission
0 points minimum
Emerging (F through D Range)
35 points minimum
Satisfactory (C Range)
40 points minimum
Proficient (B Range)
45 points minimum
Exemplary (A Range)
50 points minimum
Title VII
Civil Rights Act of 1964
© 2017 South University

30. Page 2 of 2
Human Resource Management
©2017 South University
2 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Equal Employment Opportunity Laws
Equal Employment Opportunity Laws
The issue of equal employment is crucial to the ethical and legal
management of people in any

31. organization. Realization of this fact has resulted in passage of
many equal employment laws in the
past four decades.
The Equal Pay Act was the very �rst law to address the issues
of equal employment in the U.S. It was
the �rst law that required organizations to pay men and women
equally for performing the same job.
This started a landslide of equal employment legislation.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 followed the Equal Pay Act; Title
VII of the Civil Rights Act is what
legislates discrimination in the workplace. The law is often
simply referred to as Title VII by HRM
practitioners.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
(http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm) protects
employees
from discrimination on the basis of race, color, reli gion, gender,
and national origin. It is not
permissible to discriminate against employees in decisions such
as hiring, promotion, compensation, or
termination based on these �ve attributes.
Unlawful discrimination occurs when decisions are made based
on protected characteristics
(https://digitalbookshelf-

32. jigsaw.southuniversity.edu/books/9781337259033/content/id/pr
otectedcharacteristics) , which are
individual attributes such as race, age, sex, disability, or
religion that are protected under EEO laws and
regulations. These factors are not work related and should not
be considered. Under federal, state, and
local laws, employers are prohibited from considering the
following factors in making hiring and other
employment decisions:
Age
Color Disability
Genetic information
Marital status (some states)
Military status or experience
National origin
Pregnancy
Race
Religion
Sexual orientation (some states and cities)
Learn which factor wasn’t protected in the original proposal of
the Title VII Act…

33. http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm
https://digitalbookshelf-
jigsaw.southuniversity.edu/books/9781337259033/content/id/pr
otectedcharacteristics
Additional Materials
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
(media/week2/SUO_MGT3045_W2%20L1.pdf?
_&d2lSessionVal=F4QPIlxC1x53HRXrSi4mpIFVi&ou=92916)
Common Means of Reasonable Accommodation
(media/week2/SUO_MGT3045_W2%20L1%20B.pdf?
_&d2lSessionVal=F4QPIlxC1x53HRXrSi4mpIFVi&ou=92916)
https://myclasses.southuniversity.edu/conte nt/enforced/92916-
17109821/media/week2/SUO_MGT3045_W2%20L1.pdf?_&d2lS
essionVal=F4QPIlxC1x53HRXrSi4mpIFVi&ou=92916
https://myclasses.southuniversity.edu/content/enforced/92916-
17109821/media/week2/SUO_MGT3045_W2%20L1%20B.pdf?_
&d2lSessionVal=F4QPIlxC1x53HRXrSi4mpIFVi&ou=92916
MGT3045 Week 2 Project $12.00

34. Instructions
Case Analysis
Analyze the following situation:
Martha has worked for John for two years. About 6 months ago,
John asked Martha out to dinner. They had a good time together
and agreed that they had some real interests in common outside
of work. The pair dated for two months. Martha initially liked
John, but he was beginning to get annoying. John called her all
the time, was very pushy about her seeing him, and wanted to
control all aspects of her life, both at work and at home. Martha
decided to call it off. When she told John that she did not want
to see him personally anymore, he went crazy on her. He told
her she would be sorry and that he would see to it that she
regretted it.
John began to make life miserable for Martha at work. She
suddenly started to get poor performance evaluations after two
years of exemplary reviews. Even the managers above John
were beginning to make comments about her poor attitude.
Martha decided it was time to act. She was worried she would
be fired, all because John wanted her to continue to date him.
She loved her job and knew she did quality work. She made an
appointment with the HR manager.
Using the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1991, and the two basic
types of sexual harassment as described in our lecture (
quid pro quo and hostile work environment), assess the
type of sexual harassment Martha is experiencing.
Evaluate the obligations of the HR manager once Martha reports
her concerns. If the HR manager investigates and finds Martha
is telling the truth, what steps should be taken to comply with
the EEOC? How does HRM offer an affirmative defense and
prevail in a lawsuit.
Analyze the likelihood that John would be found guilty of
sexually harassing Martha. If found in Martha's favor, what
should the HR manager do to remedy the situation within the
workplace?

35. Submission Details:
· Submit your report in a 4 to 5 page Microsoft Word document,
using APA style.