Student as Teacher Project
Employment Law (MGT 434) is built around some core material in the field of Human Resource Law. The course requires classroom participation. We suggest that you read chapters 5, 13, and 17 in the text. Focus on the main points of each chapter and make notes on the most important ideas and concepts that relate to Affirmative Action, The American Disabilities Act and The Family Medical Leave Act. It is important that you develop a general understanding of the laws that apply to these chapters and how they apply to the workplace. To solidify your understanding of your reading you can discuss the concepts in your Learning Teams.
Affirmative Action
Main Points: Affirmative Action is probably the single most misunderstood concept in employment law. (Bennett-Alexander, 2001). On a statutory basis, affirmative action is supposed to be defined as the "intentional inclusion of women and minorities in the workplace based on a finding of their previous exclusion". Further, the provision is only mandatory for companies who are engaged in government contracting. Public disagreements and various interpretation of the law have caused the objectives of affirmative action to become distorted. Employers witnessing this ambiguity, even those without contracting issues, took the "safe" approach and determined they must hire specific groups to avoid lawsuits. Qualifications became secondary to gender and race considerations. Thus, it appeared to be a law against qualified white males instead of one designed to assist Title VII in eliminating discrimination.
Most Important Ideas: The most important idea related to affirmative action is that it is not a quota system forcing employers to hire a set number of female and black employees re ...