HRM – Proficiencies , Ethics & Legislative Environment

Tehzeeb Sakina Amir

HRM-session 3

Spring 2011-MBA

HR Manager’s Proficiencies

• HR proficiencies

• Business proficiencies

• Leadership proficiencies

• Learning proficiencies

Managing within the Law

Managing Ethics

HRM- Managing Ethics

• Ethics – standards of conduct/behavior.

• Involves morality

• Organizations with codes of ethics & corporate governance e.g. fake financial reporting– Codes are from top to bottom

• Workplace safety, security of employee records, employee theft, privacy rights etc.

Labor Laws Pakistan

• Labor legislation is the responsibility of both Federal and Provincial governments

• Total labor force in Pakistan– 37.15 million people

• 47% agriculture sector• 10.5 % in manufacturing• 42.5% in various other professions

(source: labourunity.org)

Labor Laws Pakistan - articles

• Article 11 of the constitution prohibits child labor, forced labor and slavery

• Article 17 right to exercise freedom of association and unions• Article 18 right to enter any lawful profession, occupation, business• Article 25 prohibits discrimination on basis of gender• Article 37 (e) provision for just and humane work conditions• Laws of hiring & firing• Laws of working hours (7hrs/day. 42 hrs/week – factories act)• Leaves paid• Child labor (below 14 years)• Strikes and Lock-outs

Laws related to wages

• Minimum wages • Wages must be paid without any discrimination• Exempted workers like executives, professionals, small

farm employees, fishermen, etc• Overtime laws – 1 or 1.5 of workers’ normal rate of pay

or ‘hourly wage’• Certain employment related activities are not

compensable– Waiting time– On-call time– Rest and meal breaks– Training programs, lectures, meetings etc

Laws related to safety, health…

• Factories are approved, licensed and registered under Factories Act

• Appointment of welfare and safety officer at the factory site (# of work force)

• Factory workers are protected yet under some conditions there are obligations also to abide by the rules of safety, health & welfare… non complying get punished

Laws related to social security

• Workmen Compensation Act– Employers pay compensation to workers affected by

injury, partial or total disablement.– ‘out of’ or ‘in course of’ employment

• Insurance Act (medical benefits)– Financial relief in cases of sickness, maternity,

disablement, funeral, general medical benefits to workers and their dependents

– Employers & employees contribute in the scheme– Benefits are paid in cash

Laws related to social security

• Provident Fund Act– Contributions from employer and employees– Provides security to employee at the time of

need

• Gratuity Act– Relief to employee

Laws related to social security

• Handling sexual harassment– No legislation but NGOs & civil society have

worked and formed some norms– Employers are bound to take actions against

those who have found to be guilty– Complaint mechanism – committee,

counselor, support services– Confidentiality must be ensured– Government or NGO representative & women

role in committee

Equal Opportunity Employment

• Discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex or national origin

• Article 38 aims at achieving equality• Equal Pay Act – no gender discrimination• Age discrimination Act (40+)• Vocational Rehabilitation Act• Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Equal Opportunity Employment

• Civil Rights Act puts more responsibility on EMPLOYERS– Burden of proof – proof that discrimination is business

necessity or some kind of proof which negates the charges

– Money damages• Compensation damages

– Mixed motives (low performance output)

Defenses against discrimination

Adverse Impact – The overall impact of employer practices that result in significantly higher percentage of members of protected

group being rejected for employment, placement or promotion.

• Disparate treatment – intentional discrimination• Disparate impact – neutral employment policy

creating an adverse impact. (college degree requirement). Not intentional.

Defenses against discrimination

• Adverse Impact can be shown through:– Disparate rejection rates – (4/5th rule or 80%) – discrepancy

between rates of rejection of protected group members & others– Restricted policy (which is obvious)– Population comparison (organization and market comparison)– Mc-Donnell-Douglas Test used for intentional discrimination –

four rules:• Person belongs to protected group

• He applied and is qualified

• Despite being qualified, he is rejected

• After rejection, the position remained vacant, open and employer seeking applications

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification

• BFOQ - requirement that an employee be of a certain religion, gender, age or national origin which is necessary for organization’s functioning

Business Necessity

proof that there is an overriding business purpose for the discriminatory practice and

should therefore be acceptable

Some common discriminatory practices

• Recruitment– Word of mouth– Misleading information– Help wanted ads

• Selection standards– Educational requirements– Tests– Preference to blood relations– Height, weight and physical characteristics– Criminal records– Application forms

Some discriminatory practices

• Existing employees– Promotions– Transfers– Layoffs

• Personal appearance– Dress– Hair/beard– Uniforms

EEOC enforcement• EEOC enforcement process

– File charge– Charge acceptance– Serve notice– Investigate fact finding conference– Cause/no cause– Conciliation– Notice to Sue

Voluntary mediationan informal process where a neutral third party assists

the opposing parties to reach a negotiated resolution of a charge of discrimination

Management Guidelines

• During the EEOC investigation– Three principles

• Demonstrate lack of merit• Limit the information supplied• Get as much information as possible about the

claim

– Meet with employee– EEOC authority – diplomatic and careful– Submitting documents– Position statement

Management Guidelines

• During the Fact-Finding Conference– The Records– Attorney– Information– Witnesses

• During the EEOC Determination– Review carefully– Conciliate prudently

Handling discrimination charges

• Good intentions are no excuse!!

• Can not hide behind collective bargaining

• Agreement may be the best option…

Measuring HRM

• Metrics – a set of quantitative performance measures HR managers use to assess their performance– Absence rate– Cost per hire (ad cost (etc)/No. of hires)– HR expense factor (HR expense/total

operating expense)– Time to fill– Turnover rate (# of separations during

month/avg no. of employeesx100)

Measuring HRM

• Managing with HR Scorecard Process– It is a concise measurement system– Link metrics used to measure HR activities

and emerging employee behaviors and finally linking these to organization’s outcomes

– More meaningful picture!