1:  These are all good points Brhianna, management must have some type of feedback to see what their staff is thinking. How does the staff feel about the job they are doing and the opportunities that they may have before them. Meetings are good but only if you can really be honest without fear. Developing teams can be a good way to accomplish things and to have employees become apart of something that is beyond just a paycheck. It is a very competitive business environment. Companies must make profits and have to have the best employees while offering something more than just a job to keep and acquire the best talent, and maximize the ability of that talent once acquired while all along cutting cost. Not easy to do. 

2: Roger,Often training needs are recognized when deficiencies exists.  How can this be accomplished without tying these to deficiencies as much as development to take on more responsibility?

3: 

Dr. Woodlin,

In order to begin the design for a training module for someone in the automotive field I would first need to research the most important components of the automotive field.  After research, I would pinpoint the main learning objectives. Since there are a significant number of different automobile manufacturers and designs, I would have to narrow the training down to basic fixes and diagnosis of common issues.  For a field like automotive, videos would be a great start to the learning process but there will be a great need for a ton of hands on learning in order to ensure the employees are able to implement the training and knowledge that has been provided to them.

4: Good Point I like this as well. Another way I like is to have some type of interactive learning and role playing. Perhaps some type of computerized training program that is then reinforced with team activity and role playing. Then the employee can take what he or she has learned and transfer it to their particular job. I also believe there should be some time of reinforcement during this process to allow the employee to know how they are coming along, obviously positive reinforcement is the way to go but allowing the employee to learn at their own pace as we all have different thresholds. 

For this week’s topic I chose to answer the question, how does diversity affect the organization’s work/life balance, and what ethical considerations exist that may drive the organization to be more work/life balanced? 

Diversity in the workplace consists of having people from different races, cultural backgrounds, religions, and sexual orientation working harmoniously together and having mutual respect for each other’s differences. When it comes to work/life balance, HR managers must be mindful of these differences and how they can impact individuals ability to work, a need for time off of work, or a special accommodation for religious reasons.

Sometimes these unique differences can be the very thing that an individual may identify themselves with or it can be what keeps them motivated. For instance, a person’s background or pride in their heritage may be the one thing that inspires them to achieve their best. When employers don’t celebrate or even recognize these differences, employees might feel undervalued or unworthy which can ultimately decrease their performance.

Having an inclusive culture allows everyone to feel that they are valued, respected, and have equal access to all organizational opportunities (DeCenzo, Robbins, & Verhulst, 2016). Also with the aging workforce, millennials are set to make up 40% of the workforce which means HR Managers must create or consider the following ethical considerations:

*Part-time

*Work-From-Home

*Flex Time

*Employee Involvement/Empowerment

Overall, it will continue to be a challenge for HR Managers to accommodate the rapid changes in the global economy as well as diversity within the workforce. It is essential to continue being trained and to offer diversity and inclusion trainings to all employees so when ethical decisions impacting work/life balance need to be made – everyone is on the same page. Besides, all ethical decisions should be made with integrity and the right intent.

reply to the students response in 150 words minimum and provide 1 reference

question

Jason works for a car rental agency. Part of his religious observance is to pray several times per day.  He approaches Supervisor Jan with a request for two additional 10-minute breaks per day in order to engage in prayer.

Student response

In analyzing this case the federal statues and/or theories of law that are applicable in this matter is Title VII of the civil right act of 1964. The definition of religion in the context of the federal statues includes “all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief.” (page 544). Even though religion is a protected class under title VII there are some specifications and/or limits on the accommodation of this class when it comes to employment. According to Bennett-Alexander, D. & Hartman L. P. (2019) “Unlike the other categories included in Title VII, there is not an absolute prohibition against discrimination on the basis of religion. Rather, under Title VII, we see for the first time a category that has built into it a duty to reasonably accommodate the employee’s religious conflict unless to do so would cause the employer undue hardship.”(Page 541) A reasonable accommodation in relation to this situation refers to; after an employee/s notifies the employer the need for a religious accommodation, the employer is obligated to accommodate the religious practice. In terms of undue hardship,  an employer has the right to refuse to accommodate if it causes “more than de minimis cost” and the employer can prove this. Some examples that may cause undue hardships include; Violating a seniority system, causing lack of the necessity’s of staffing, compromising health and or security, or costing the employer more than a minimal amount. Another statute that is also applicable to this case is the United States constitution’s 1st amendment free exercise clause. The First Amendment states; “The Free Exercise Clause reserves the right of America Citizens to accept any religious belief and engage in religious rituals. Free-exercise clauses of state constitutions which protected religious opinion, expression of opinion and practice were all expressly protected by the Free Exercise Clause.” In doing more research I have found that the Free-Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause may be contradicting because the establishment clause prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion” which seems very interesting. 

The legal issues that exist in this case is that Jason took it upon himself to approach his co-workers in the lunch room everyday with bible versus while asking them to join him in reading the bible keeping in mind that there is a no-solicitation policy. After several employees complaining, the supervisor told Jason to cease this practice, Jason told her it was part of his religious observance. Even though Jason has the right to practice his religion he does not have the right to continue to harass his co workers every day with bible verses and asking him to join him in reading the bible. Also highlighting that the retail department store has a no-solicitation policy and even though Jason may feel like he is exercising his religious freedom he may be imposing other’s religious beliefs by soliciting his own. The elements of the law is that although Jason has the right to practice his religion he is doing so by causing undue hardship to the employer; Therefore he may be in violation of the no solicitation policy and could be subject to termination.  This is a hypothetical, who knows how the others are feeling and or what they believe, but respect has to be exercised at all times. Reasonable accommodation can come into play in this scenario by finding other solution for Jason to continue his practice, which may be limited but the effort may go a long way. Based off this case it doesn’t seem like Jason expressed his religious belief and expressed an need for an accommodation to conduct this practice. At this point due to receiving multiple complaints from other employers, this seems to be causing undue hardship to the company if these employees decide to quit; therefore it could cause lack of necessities of staffing, the cost seems far more greater here than the reasonable accommodation.

One case that I felt was on point with this scenario is Chalmers V. Tulon Company of Richmond (Page 565). “The supervisory employee sued for religious discrimination and failure to accommodate after being terminated for sending employees letter at home about their personal and religious lives. One employee received the letter while at home ill on leave after delivering a baby out of wedlock, and the other employee’s wife opened the letter and became distraught because she thought their reference in the letter meant her husband was having an affair. The court held that there was no duty to accommodate the terminated employee’s religious practice of sending such letters.” The comparison between these two cases/scenarios is that both Jason and Chalmers took it upon themselves to practice their religion and impose on other’s without asking for an accommodation first and harassing co workers with their practices and beliefs. In both cases it seems as though that upper management is not going to accommodate due to the fact that they are practicing their religion on others with no permission and are in turn violating policies themselves. The difference between the two cases is that Chalmers seem to be more aggressive in sending criticizing letters to her co workers pertaining to their personal lives that does not align to her religion. Jason was not as aggressive as he was approaching others with bible versus and asking them to join in reading although it is still not right to do as he was also imposing on other’s beliefs and personal space. I feel that both of these individuals have invaded privacy and damaged work relationships which in turn cause more harm than a benefit to an organization. 

The actions that supervisor Jan could take is to ask him to stop and highlight the no solicitation policy as well as educating him on his rights, the reasonable accommodation and undue hardship. The immediate assumption is that Jason is correct he does have the right to practice his own religion as he pleases but this is where Jan could come in and explain that they could talk through some possible accommodations but if these recommendations are not realistic than he will need to stop. One idea that came to mind is asking co workers if they are comfortable with this practice and those who are, Jason could then continue to approach those individuals while avoiding those who are not comfortable. If this continues to become an issue she would then need to explain the undue hardship it may be causing the company and the other employees. If for some reason Jason refuses to stop, Jan has the right to terminate because this is not only causing lack of necessities of staffing by making others quit but it is also violating other employee’s beliefs and privacy. Jan must exhaust all ideas and accommodations for Jason before making the decision to terminate. 

REFERENCES

Bennett-Alexander, D. & Hartman, L.P, (2019) Employment Law for Business. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

First Amendment. (n.d) Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/first_amendment.