Major American employment-related laws and regulations - Case Study Example

Download file to see previous pages Harassment in the workplace is any form of discrimination that violates Age discrimination in employment Act 1967, American with Disabilities Act of 1990, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Equal Pay Act of 1963, Pregnancy Discrimination Act and other regulations that aim at prohibiting harassment in workplace (Hemphill & Haines, 1997). Covey (2007) asserts that harassment is unwelcome conduct that is based on color, race, religion, sex, national origin, pregnancy, disability or age and leads to discrimination and unequal opportunities in employment matters. Harassment is outlawed when enduring the offensive conduct is a condition for employment or when the conduct creates a hostile work environment that is considered as intimidating, abusive and hostile to the employee (United States Department of Labor, 2013). Sexual harassment in the workplace includes ‘quid pro quo’ harassment that occurs when employment decisions or treatment is based on submission to unwelcome sexual conduct or hostile work environment that leads to unwelcome sexual conduct of customers, supervisors, and contractors (Dale, 2005). Some behaviors that perpetuate unlawful sexual environment include commenting on the physical attributes of the employee, unnecessary touching, discussing sexual activities and displaying of sexually suggestive pictures.  In this case, the Department of Labor (DOL) policy prohibits all forms of harassment in the workplace and the employer must implement a harassment policy. that facilitates reporting and investigation of instances of the unlawful behaviors that contribute to harassment (LeMoncheck & Hajdin, 1997). Harassment hinders employee productivity through increased turnover and absenteeism. In addition, harassment negatively affects the organizational reputation and may lead to costly legal suits (Weizer, 2002). Pamodoro Ltd must ensure the workplace is free from any materials that are sexually offensive such as graffiti and nude posters. The management must implement a strong anti-harassment policy and provide training to the employees, customers and suppliers. The policy must prohibit sexual jokes, comments on person’s body or sex life, sexually demeaning comments, sexually suggestive gifts, touching or patting in a sexual manner, or blocking a co-workers movement (Badgett & Frank, 2007).
According to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2013), the management must pr ...Download file to see next pagesRead More