Research Paper on "Legal Issues in HR"

Research Paper 4 pages (1172 words) Sources: 4

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Legal Issues in Human Relations

A good human relations officer has to have skills far beyond being able to help find good candidates to fill any openings at his or her company. She must also be able to help guide managers and others who have hiring and firing capacities to abide by all laws that apply to them. This can sometimes be a complex role for the human relations officer, for the people who have the responsibility to hire, promote, and fire workers rarely have significant training in human relations and may well not have up-to-date information on their legal obligations. This paper examines some of the legal restrictions that human relations officers are responsible for helping their company to understand and comply with.

Sometimes the laws that govern human relations decisions are counterintuitive. Consider, for example, the following exchange in the middle of a job interview:

Manager: I see that you have listed on your resume a great deal of charity work for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. I find that very admirable, that level of commitment. Does it come from personal experience with the disease?

This might seem to be a perfectly natural and even laudable comment, demonstrating that the manager has taken the time to read the interviewee's background, is being supportive of an individual's commitment to improving her community, and is expressing concern for the possibility that she may have a chronic and terrible disease.

However, while the above assessments are certainly true, no manager should in fact travel down this path because it might well bring the company into a legal conflict with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA requires that businesses make reasonable accommodations for individuals with recognized disabilities, of which Type I diabetes (which is the term now used for Juvenile Diabetes) is such a recognized disability. If this candidate were to be denied the job, then she might well bring a suit against the company on the grounds that she had been denied employment because of her medical condition.

This might or might not have had anything to do with her not receiving the job; indeed it is entirely possible that her condition had nothing at all to do with her being passed over for the job. However, by having introduced the topic into the interview, the manager has allowed the company to become potentially vulnerable to suffering financial losses and loss of status (Jolls & Prescott, n.d.).

In general, human relations personnel should train managers not to elicit personal details from subjects being interviewed since such private details are not relevant to a job in most cases. This is something that it may be difficult for managers to understand since quite often -- indeed, probably most of the time -- managers bring up such personal details out of a genuine, friendly interest in others as well as in an attempt to put the candidate at ease.

It is true, however, that in some cases it is permissible for hiring managers to ask personal questions. Another hypothetical example may be helpful here. Let us return for a moment to the case above. After the manager in the example cited praises the candidate for her volunteer work, he then adds that he hopes that she is not in favor of stem-cell research since it is a violation of his Catholic beliefs. He then asks her if she too is Catholic.

If the workplace is not specifically and explicitly religiously affiliated, then the manager has once again made a serious… READ MORE

How to Reference "Legal Issues in HR" Research Paper in a Bibliography

Related Research Papers:

Legal Management the Legal Issues Book Review

Legal Management

The Legal Issues of Management: Case Scenarios

Chapter 2-Case #1: The scenario described by the case in question offers a clear-cut case of sexual harassment. An individual who… read more

Book Review 4 pages (1230 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Law / Legal / Jurisprudence

---

Process and Standard for Performance Appraisals Essay

Standard for Performance Appraisals

Performance management is a systematic process of continually monitoring employee performances to set expectations for employee within a workplace. On the other hand, performance appraisal is… read more

Essay 6 pages (2067 words) Sources: 6 Topic: Career / Labor / Human Resources

---

Ethical and Legal Issue Associate With Termination Essay

Termination

Legal Ethical Issues Termination

Employee termination: Ethical, social, and legal issues to keep in mind

The downturn in the economy has made life worse for many Americans, particularly those… read more

Essay 3 pages (1085 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA Topic: Career / Labor / Human Resources

---

HR Management Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems Essay

HR Management

Alternative dispute resolution systems are dispute resolution systems that fall outside of the prescribed judicial process. Within an organization, there may be a small set of rules governing… read more

Essay 1 pages (329 words) Sources: 1 Style: APA Topic: Law / Legal / Jurisprudence

---

Business Management -- Human Resource Issues Plan Essay

Business Management -- Human Resource Issues

Plan for Disciplinary Meeting

The disciplinary meeting must address all three issues in their relative order of importance. Specifically, the disciplinary meeting will address… read more

Essay 2 pages (566 words) Sources: 1 Topic: Career / Labor / Human Resources

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>