Abstract
The Civil-Rights Act prohibits favoritism against workers based on color, religion, race, national origin, or sex. The regulation applies to companies with fifteen or more workers on their payroll, every day for over twenty weeks in the current or previous calendar. The law prohibits employers from dismissing, not hiring, or in any way discriminating against employees based on the above reasons. The bill also prohibits employers from retaliating to employees who make a charge of discrimination under the act. Workers claiming job place favoritism falling under the provisions of the equal employment have to report the claimed bias to the relevant authorities or one of the government-level fair placement branches that are in each area. The authorities have the mandate to check alleges of favoritism or to conduct checks by themselves. In many instances, the authorities will try to come up with a good working solution with the company in question, which may or may not admit guilt. If the move does not work, the authorities also have the provision to bring a “class-action” favoritism lawsuit against the company in place of the worker who has claimed to suffer from favoritism. The civil-rights act brought a safe haven for the protected group.
Keywords; favoritism, workplace, civil-rights act
Civil-Rights Act
Impact on HR Functions
Sound employment policies form the basis of the drafted anti-discrimination laws to curb biases in companies. The idea to create the HR department in a company may depend on the type and number of workers that are employed and whether the workforce has a union. However, several laws, such as the anti-discrimination law, shape the HR functions and establish the degree of expertise required for handling activities and strategies (Jamrog & Overholt, 2004). For instance, if the discrimination is aligned with the hiring, even if the workers’ count is below the required threshold, the HR functions have to develop required employment policy. This helps the company to attract qualified applicants and exhibit sound business principles. Curbing biases through enactment of good employment policies has led to a conducive environment in workplaces.
Records and requirements for the law pose a challenge to many businesses.For administrative requirement and record-keeping required by the anti-discrimination law, the companies are supposed to have an HR functional support even if it does not have a proper HR department. This forces new businesses to outsource HR functions as a way of resolving this challenge. The company may also be prompted to join a professional employer organization to provide the required resources such as retirement and health benefits (Act, 1964). While the law seems to cater for equal treatment at the workplace, affirmative action needs the employers to apply some effort when hiring and promoting people who belong to the protected group. This includes undertaking certain actions formed to remove the past and present effects of discrimination. The law requirements have forced many business to act in line with the given provisions.
Changes in Work Environment
Workplaces should be an extension of the home environment as enacted by the law. Workplace discrimination is still a critical issue to follow and be informed about even in the current era. This involves becoming aware in general on how to prevent discrimination and by far to know what to do if at all it happens. To avoid biases scenarios, companies have been forced to standardize performance management and hiring practices at their workplaces (Wiecek & Hamilton, 2013). This has been assisted by the use of sophisticated HR software that makes it easy to store information for employees on individual personnel files. Sex discrimination at the job place has been a perennial challenge affecting the women and men, and this has made most companies be on the lookout for any discontentment from the employee caused by management. Workers should feel at home even while at work and the act ensures that.
References
Act, C. R. (1964). Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII, Equal Employment Opportunities.
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Jamrog, J. J., & Overholt, M. H. (2004). Building a strategic HR function: Continuing the evolution. Human resource planning, 27(1).
Wiecek, W. M., & Hamilton, J. L. (2013). Beyond the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Confronting structural racism in the workplace. La. L. Rev., 74, 1095.