1 Human Resource Management Functions, Applications, Ski

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Human Resource Management: Functions, Applications, Skill
Development by Robert N. Lussier and John R. Hendon
Chapter 3
The Legal Environment and Diversity
Management
Development by Robert N. Lussier and John R. Hendon © 2012
SAGE Pub lications, Inc.
The Legal Environment for HRM – Protecting
Your Organization
A primary responsibility of an HR manager is to assist
in avoiding any discriminatory situations that can
create legal, ethical or social problems with employees,
former employees, the community or other
stakeholders.
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Management

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Discrimination vs. Illegal Discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making distinctions, or
choosing one thing over another; in HR, it is
making distinctions among people.
Illegal discrimination is making distinctions that
harm people by inappropriately using a person’s
membership in a protected class as a basis for an
employment decision.
The Legal Environment and Diversity Management
The OUCH Test
Use it to maintain fairness and equity, whenever
contemplating any employment action.

bjective – fact-based and quantifiable.
niform in application – apply the same “tests” in
the same ways.
onsistent in effect – ensure the result is not
significantly different for different groups.
as job relatedness – action MUST relate to the
essential job functions.
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The Legal Environment and Diversity Management
The 4/5ths Rule
Is used by Federal courts, the Department of Labor
and the EEOC to determine whether disparate
impact exists in an employment test.
protected population, then it is not consistent
in effect.
The 6/5ths rule can be used to determine the
possibility of reverse discrimination.
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Management
Major Federal Employment Laws
(Note: State and Local Laws May Be Different)
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2
Management
Equal Pay Act of 1963

Requires that women who do the same job as men
(“equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and
performed under similar working conditions”), in
the same organization, receive the same pay.
seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production,
or any factor other than sex (e.g., shift
differentials, training programs), are legally
allowable.
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Management
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1964
It is illegal for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to
discharge or otherwise discriminate against any
individuals with respect to compensation, terms,
conditions, or privileges of employment, due to race,
color, religion, sex, or national origin;

applicants in any way that deprives them of
employment opportunities, or otherwise adversely
affects their employment status due to race, color,
religion, sex, or national origin.
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Management
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1964
Applies to organizations involved in interstate commerce,
with 15 or more employees who work 20+ weeks a year.
Qualification (BFOQ).

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Management
Types of Discrimination Addressed by Title VII
- when an employee
is intentionally treated differently based on his/her
membership in a protected class.
– when an officially
neutral employment practice disproportionately
and unintentionally excludes members of a
protected group.
- when an employer engages in
actions over time that intentionally deny the rights
provided by Title VII to a member of a protected
class.
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Management

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Management
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of
1967 (ADEA)
Prohibits discrimination against employees age 40
or older in organizations that have 20 or more
workers.
have higher salaries, from being fired so
employers can replace them with younger
workers who make significantly less money.
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3

Management
Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance
Act (VEVRAA) of 1974
Employers with Federal contracts/subcontracts of
$100,000 or more must provide equal opportunity
and affirmative action for Vietnam era veterans,
special disabled veterans, and veterans who served
on active duty during a war, campaign or
expedition.
were discriminated against because U.S. public
opinion was strongly opposed to the war.
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Management
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA)
Under Title VII, it requires employers to treat
pregnant women the same as they treat any

employee with a medical condition with respect to
employment-related purposes.
lowering their health insurance costs by
excluding pregnancy from their policies.
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Management
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
of 1990 as Amended in 2008
Prohibits discrimination based on disability and
applies to virtually all employers with 15 or more
employees.
accommodation" to individuals with disability, if
they are otherwise qualified to perform the
“essential functions” of the job, unless it imposes
an “undue hardship” on the organization.
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Management

Civil Rights Act of 1991
Corrects major omissions of the 1964 CRA and
overturns several U.S. Court decisions.
when intentional or reckless discrimination is
proven.
iminatory use”, also called race-
norming, of test scores.
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Management
The Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA)
Insures civilian reemployment rights of military
members who were called away from their non-military
jobs by U.S. government orders.
The Veteran’s Benefits Improvement Act of 2004
(VBIA)

Extends employers’ requirement to maintain health
care coverage for up to 2 years for employees serving
on active duty, and requires employers to post a notice
of benefits, duties, and rights under USERRA/VBIA.
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Management
Title II of the Genetic Information
Nondiscrimination Act of 2008
Prohibits the use of genetic information in employment
and the intentional acquisition of genetic information
about applicants and employees, and imposes strict
confidentiality requirements.
genetic tests to discriminate against applicants and
employees when their test results indicate they may
contract a certain disease or disorder in the future.
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Management

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (LLFPA)
Adds a provision to amend Title VII that extends the
period of time in which an employee is allowed to
file a compensation discrimination lawsuit to within
180 days after “any application” of a discriminatory
compensation decision.
long as the discrimination is continuing.
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Management
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952
(INA)
Allows employment of immigrant workers in certain
specialty occupations such as engineers, teachers,
computer programmers, medical doctors, and
physical therapists.

employment and annual limits to the number of
workers who can apply for work visas in these
specialty occupations.
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Management
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of
1986 (IRCA)
Requires that employers only hire individuals who
are authorized to work legally in the U.S.
undocumented workers and requires employers
to verify each employee's eligibility for
employment.
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Management

The Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC)
The federal agency that enforces Federal Equal
Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws.
through either conciliation or litigation.
rs and compiles statistical information on such
complaints.
constitutes illegal discrimination.
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Management
Employee Rights under EEOC
employer by filing a complaint with the EEOC.
vestigation, hearing
or other proceeding without threat of
retaliation.

complaint.
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Management
Employee Rights under EEOC
are protected by EEOC laws whether they work for a
U.S. or foreign employer.
employer, or a foreign company controlled by an U.S.
employer, are protected by Title VII, the ADEA, and
the ADA unless adherence violates a law of the
country where the workplace is located.
company in a country other than the U.S., the laws of
that country apply.
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Management
Employer Prohibitions under EEOC
an EEOC action.
results in the employee quitting or resigning from
the company because continued employment
becomes intolerable (constructive discharge).
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Management
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Management

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance
Programs (OFCCP)
Monitors and enforces Executive Order (EO) 11246,
Section 503 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the
1974 VEVRAA.
contractors who receive more than a certain
dollar value in contracts from the federal
government per year to provide equal
opportunity and take affirmative action toward
protected class individuals.
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Management
Diversity in the Workforce
Diversity is the existence of differences.
place because:

divergent thinking, so to exclude qualified
people because they are “different” is
counterproductive to business success.
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Management
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Management
Sexual Harassment
“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.” – EEOC

Quid Pro Quo; Hostile Work Environment
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Management con’t
Quid Pro Quo
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“If you do something for me, I will do something
for you, or conversely if you refuse to do
something for me, I will harm you.”
Management con’t

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Hostile work environment means harassment
that occurs when someone’s behavior at work
creates an environment that makes it difficult
for someone to work in that environment.
Management
Religious Discrimination
Employers generally need to make reasonable
accommodation of employees’ religion-based
requests to wear certain types of dress or observe
religious holidays or days of worship that are not in
keeping with the normal workday practices of the
organization, unless the requests prevent the
employee from carrying out the essential functions
of his/her job, or create an undue hardship
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Running head: BUSINESS STRATEGY

BUSINESS STRATEGY
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Student 1: Linda Michel
Cigna International is a healthcare firm committed to
establishing a better and extremely sustainable health care
system. The company seeks to attain this core objective by
enhancing health equity, lowering health risks, improving health
status, and promoting preventive health interventions.
Furthermore, this healthcare firm is inclined towards meeting
specific care delivery models and has the flexibility to work
things out in meeting the needs of stakeholders at anytime and
anywhere they are located. The three major areas of focus by
Cigna company towards improving the health status of the
community are health and well-being, the environment, and
engaging in responsible and inclusive business (Hanway, 2006).
The organizational structure of Cigna international is
hierarchical, beginning from the chief executive officer to the
employees working in various departments. The chief executive
officer for Cigna international is David Cordani, while the other
leaders occupy positions as board members. Some of the board
members that influence the direction of Cigna international
include William DeLaney, Eric Foss, Elder Granger, Neesha
Hathi, mark McClellan, John Partridge, and Kimberly Ross
(Hanway, 2006). This organizational structure signifies the
diversity in the workforce of Cigna healthcare Company.
Cigna international embraces democratic and transformative
leadership styles in its healthcare services. Cigna's leadership
development philosophy is anchored in its values and purpose
for providing healthcare services to patients. Therefore, the
company equips its leaders with the necessary resources to
deliver for their patients, customers, and communities in
general. The company thus avails leadership-development
opportunities for employees working at various management
levels that include both broad and targeted solutions that follow
the organizational mission, values, and purpose (Hanway,

2006). Furthermore, under the transformative leadership style,
the company drives business results by developing complete
packages of leaders by creating a conducive environment that
permits leaders to stay, contribute, and grow their careers
(Hanway, 2006).
The leadership training program within Cigna international has
successfully been adopted to keep up with the changing needs of
employees across the globe. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the
company-sponsored 10,000 of its leaders to attend formalized
leadership-development programs and learning sessions to
foster their knowledge, skills, and competencies (Daniels,
2007).
The vision of Cigna Healthcare Company is to provide patients
with comprehensive health care coverage with “no surprises.”
On the other hand, the company’s mission is to improve the
health, well-being, and peace of mind of individuals it serves by
making healthcare services simple, affordable, and predictable.
Cigna international has gone out of its way to make the care
services easy for clients to access by providing them with the
opportunity to choose when, how, and where they want to
access these services. The services are made affordable by
permitting patients to use their insurance covers that cater to all
of their healthcare needs with low or no incidences of surprise.
These vision and mission statements guide the working of all
the 74,000 stakeholders in serving customers, clients, and
communities in general.
Cigna International has five core values that drive it towards
achieving its set goals and objectives. The first value is that it
cares deeply about its customers, patients, and coworkers.
Under this value, the firm addresses the physical, financial,
emotional, social, and environmental aspects of the well -being
of all the stakeholders it collaborates within various activities
(Chu, 2004). Secondly, the firm also partners with viable
individuals, collaborates, and keeps its side of the promise. For
instance, the firm successfully partnered with over 1 million
providers and reduced opioid use among customers by 27

percent (Chu, 2004). The third value is that the company can
innovate and adapt better healthcare services to improve
healthcare quality, affordability, and experience. Finally, the
company works in unison for a sustained future and implements
timely responses for individuals facing the challenges of a
disaster.
In my own economic life, strategic planning may be
advantageous in various aspects. For instance, strategic
planning could benefit me by being proactive rather than
reactive. It enables me to foresee the future and prepare
accordingly for future occurrences instead of reacting to
occurrences that may seem costly because certain activities
must be undertaken. I could also benefit from strategic planning
by setting a clear direction for my economic lifestyle. A
strategic plan will offer a much-needed foundation for me to
grow economically by evaluating my successes, rewarding my
efforts, and establishing boundaries for an informed decision-
making process.
References
Chu, M. (2004). Cigna settles with health care providers.
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 32(1), 177-180.Retrieved
on 31st January 2022,
fromhttps://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-law-
medicine-and-ethics/article/cigna-settles-with-health-care
providers/7A7FAC00AEDCDBFB8201DD266DD72AB0
Daniels, S. E. (2007). Six sigma at Cigna. Quality progress,
40(5), 43.Retrieved on 31st January 2022,
fromhttps://www.smartersolutions.com/orl/71_Quality_Progress
_Six_Sigma_at_Cigna.pdf
Student 2: Hillary Ziolkovski
Strategic planning is the ongoing organizational process of
using available knowledge to document a business's intended
direction. This process is used to prioritize efforts, effectively

allocate resources, align shareholders and employees on the
organization’s goals, and ensure those goals are backed by data
and sound reasoning (Noto & Noto 2018). It establishes future
goals and targets and describes the strategies it will implement
to reach them.
SouthState Bank’s strategic plan focuses on the future and the
prospect of success. The bank has an active, diverse and
engaged board which provides the management team with
advice, counsel and effective challenge to help ensure strong
governance over strategy and decision-making. They have a
superior management team which operates within a healthy
culture. Their board consists of 16 members, 10 of which are
independent. The directors stand for election annually. The
leadership team is made up of 65 executives that operate in all
areas including, operations, mortgage sales, commercial and
consumer banking (SouthState Corporation 2022).
The bank fosters building a strong culture based on the core
values of remarkable experiences, local market leadership, and
meaningful and lasting relationships, and an environment where
employees feel respected, included and heard. SouthState’s
workforce is the highest asset, and their success is a direct
reflection of the talent and tireless efforts of our people. With
the focus on people, SouthState should focus on being open to
hearing from their workforce and allowing them to be involved
in the decision-making process. The bank has gone through
multiple mergers and acquisitions that can impact the work-life
quality for their employees. The mergers and acquisitions
caused stress for personnel and therefore, leadership should
understand and recognize the hard work of their employees.
SouthState has implemented a range of initiatives targeted
toward sustainability and reducing operating expenses, which,
in turn, benefits their stakeholders and the greater community.
In this regard, they have implemented many day-to-day energy-
efficient practices, including various power-saving capabilities,
a host of paperless solutions, and certain recycling programs.

SouthState has a mission to focus on the customer by operating
in excellent markets that continue to have resultant economic
activity which promotes further growth.
Strategic Planning-Personal Economic Life
There are benefits of strategic planning that can be used
in personal economic life. The major benefit of planning is to
focus on a forward vision. Creating a personal goal allows you
to focus on what the outcome will be while making adjustments
in everyday life. Once the how and why of the goal is chose, it
creates an increased sense of responsibility. Taking part in the
strategic planning process forces you to examine and explain
why you’re making each decision and back it up with data.
Reference
Noto, G., & Noto, L. (2018). Local strategic planning and
stakeholder analysis: Suggesting a dynamic performance
management approach. Public Organization Review, 19(3), 293–
310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-018-0403-0
South State Corporation. AnnualReports.com. 2022, from
https://www.annualreports.com/Company/south-state-
corporation
Assignment #3 – Chapter 3
Please answer these questions to the best of your ability using
the information that you gathered from

reading the chapter, along with information from your own work
experience.
1. Give me three reasons why it is important to know about HR-
related laws even if you are not
going to be a human resource manager yourself? Explain your
answers.
2. Please go to Google News (http://news.google.com) and
search for EMPLOYMENT
DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT.
a. Please summarize one of the stories that you found where an
employee has sued an employer for
discrimination. Please include a reference for the article.
b. From what you know form reading the case and what you
read in the story, do you think the
plaintiff(s) have a valid case of discrimination against the
organization they are suing? Why or why
not? What HR-related law would back-up your decision? How
would the law apply?
http://news.google.com/

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