Employment Practices

“Employment Practices” Please respond to the following:

Using the first e-Activity, provide an example of two (2) of the following techniques or methods that you or someone that you know has endured or witnessed: unfair recruitment, employment application, and interview process. Investigate the extent to which the chosen technique or method left room for prohibited employment practices. Next, recommend key corrective actions that an organization could take in order to mitigate prohibited employment practices.

Interview Process: About 3 years ago a friend of mine was entering the 3rd trimester of her pregnancy. For about 3 months she was the company’s manger in training program. As she was nearing the end of the program, now qualified for the position she applied and was extended an invitation to interview. She walks into the interview and the very first thing the HR manager said to her was “I didn’t know you were pregnant. You cannot interview for this position pregnant.” When asked why she responded by saying “Pregnant women cause too many problems with staffing needs, come back and apply after you return from maternity leave”. Of course my friend was hurt because she had been with the company well over 5 years and she was the most qualified.

Key Corrective Actions: This employer should ensure that every staff member of the human resource department is knowledgeable on employment laws and that they are exercising them. Maybe quarterly training and testing to ensure each employee knows the liability that prohibited employment practices place on the employer.

Employment Application: I remember filling out an employment application a few years ago and seen a question that stopped me dead in my tracks. The question read: “Are you an active member of the LGBT community” and “Are you in a same sex relationship”. Keep in mind the position I was applying for was the Director of Human Resource for a non-profit organization. This application you could tell was created by an in house employee, however, violates the sexual orientation discrimination laws. The founder of the organization was a religious individual so I naturally assumed why it was listed. However, when the opportunity was presented I did offer my edits and was hired to rebuild the entire HR function.

Key Corrective Actions: As a business owner it is important that you hire individuals who are knowledgeable in their key functions. The HR function is where it all begins; it is the face of the company legally. Take the time to hire a subject matter expert or hire an attorney to double check all documents to ensure they are compliant with state and federal employment laws.

Using the second e-Activity, select two (2) employment opportunities with which you are currently familiar, and classify two (2) types of background checks that would be acceptable. Justify your response.

At my current place of employment, we have several available employment opportunities. Below are two with the most pressing need to fill.

Operations Manager – The type of background check that we will conduct for this position will be credit, education, professional references, criminal and work experience. The two that are most important are criminal and professional references. We focus on the criminal background screening because we are able to gain insight into the thought process of the individual. It helps us sort through those individuals who has taken the time to maintain a polished image versus those who stumbled on a few hurdles along the way. In a management role, you are hiring an individual who you are trusting to groom the future of your workforce. It must be given to a person who is responsible. Professional references are also important in this role because we are looking to see how effective the candidate was in previous management/leadership roles in running the operations of a company.

Supply Chain Supervisor – The type of background check that we will conduct for this position will be credit, criminal and work experience. The two that are most important are criminal and work experience. As stated prior criminal is important because it shows a level of responsibility and for a management position that is important. Work experience is important in this role because it is a management role over a specific function. When parsing the resume, the thing we are looking for is how much experience the individual has with supply chain management. This is not a position where we can offer training above our process, the technique and understanding the concept must be gained in prior experience.