Chapter 12 Assignment Template For Workforce Reduction

The process of establishing if an action/policy is discriminatory can be very challenging. However, a number of theories seek to differentiate actions that constitute discrimination and those that do not. Disparate treatment Theory is amongst the most commonly used theories that have been used to ascertain whether an act or policy amounts to discrimination or not. The theory argues that one is subject to discrimination if they are treated less favorably than others are in similar situations (Bent, 2011).

According to Bennett-Alexander & Hartman (2015), disparate impact is defined as “treating similarly situated employees differently because of prohibited Title VII or other employment discrimination law factors” (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2015, p. 64). It can be considered to be intentional discrimination, on the basis that the employee or perspective job applicant can demonstrate a difference in treatment by the employer without appropriate justification (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2015). If an employee or perspective job applicant decides to file a lawsuit, then under McDonnell Douglas case, the employer must set up a legal test to consider all relevant factors, if the questions were answered and there is still no suitable justification then the only factors left to consider are age, color, gender, religion, national origin, or other protected category (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2015).

Disparate impact is neutral employment practices or procedures that often unintentionally, result in unequal treatment.

Disparate treatment is the unlawful treatment of individuals that violates Title VII rights. The Different treatment of a plaintiff relies on direct, comparative, and circumstantial evidence to meet their burden of persuasion (Roberts, 2010). When individuals complain, they have been treated differently due to their protected class. They are claiming the organization has discriminated against them. For instance, this employee may state the firm only hires males at this facility. Upon investigation, the employer learns that the ratio of workers who are men is greater than women. At this point, the company may explain why the reason for hiring males is higher since women cannot perform these tasks as it may affect their well-being. Nevertheless,

The disparate treatment doctrine requires that any plaintiff must demonstrate that an employer has treated some group of people less favorably than others because of any protected classification to include their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. According to Walsh, “Three provisions required to prove disparate treatment are (1) the plaintiff must establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination; (2) the employer must articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory

Disparate impact refers to policies, practices and rules that appear to be neutral and yet result in a disproportionate impact on protected groups on merits such as race or religion. Disparate treatment, on the other hand, is intentional. For example, deliberately testing one race and not any others for a particular skill is disparate treatment. Testing all applicants of all races and getting results from that test that eliminate one particular race disproportionately is disparate impact.

By using the principle of utility I would manipulate the financial statement by overstating the overall profit; as a result, all employees can keep their job. As principle of utility means choosing the alternatives that creates the most happiness for all the people being affected.

2. Evaluate Gordon Biersch's organizational alternatives to realize its growth ambitions. Recommend a course to follow?

4. How do you think attitude assessment does or should impact on an organisation’s performance evaluations, its recruitment and selection processes and on any training programs that might be implemented?

For many businesses, this meant that letting go of employees, was one of their top priorities. Therefore HR would have had to carry out their task as quickly as possible, with most efficiency, as the business at the time were in need of their best employees, as they were the ones who could bring up the sales. If HR were to just look at the employee’s qualifications, and base their decisions on that, it would have a great effect on the business, as their best employees may have not had the best of qualifications.

In the case of Headrest & Associates, there is a legal issue as a result of this case. The legal issue of this case is disparate impact, which occurs in the case as a result of the company terminating one or more positions. When a rise of positions get terminated, will result in a rise of disparate impact discrimination if the decision is believed to be arbitrary. The employees that will be terminated is said to be either the oldest or the second oldest employees in each department. Although, the company is experiencing a major decrease in revenues and high cost which is taking a huge toll on the company. As a result the company decided to leave the idea of firing the oldest and second oldest employees to each unit supervisor. However there

[68 – 76]: Shaw was also involved with all decisions for hiring and firing. Shaw question in regards to employees was always related to business and internet presence. Not once did he ask about age in regards to decision

Have you ever faced a time when making payroll was difficult? That is a common occurrence in many small businesses. Cash is not flowing as expected. Too much money is tied up in inventory. There are tons of accounts receivable pending. But, there is not enough cash to pay the employees. Factoring is one way to make payroll when money is tight.

“Sketchy evidence that older workers experience discrimination because of their age is easy to find. The popular press includes many stories of individual employees who have been replaced by younger workers, sometimes just before they become eligible for lucrative retirement benefits. Older workers (in the past) were forced by mandatory

Hinrich had no intention of laying workers off to meet bottom line numbers. Although this was partially driven by the difficulty in laying workers off imposed by the union, he also felt that it would cause a decrease in moral and even further hurt the plants productivity. Instead of utilizing denominator management Hinrich chose to use numerator management and meet budget goals by improving processes, decreasing production costs and improving efficiency. This is a much harder approach for managers to take when trying to increase revenues and meet budgetary goals, but it was what Hinrich felt needed to happen.