HRM textbook

50 PART 1 INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH INSIGHT A study compared the wages of women whose weights ranged
from very thin to average with the wages and salaries of men. The very thin women
received the most severe wage punishment for adding their first few pounds. For
example, for very thin American women, gaining 25 pounds produces an average
predicted decrease in salary of approximately $15,572 per year. For women with
above average weight, gaining that extra 25 pounds costs the women about $13,847.
Conversely, For men, gaining 25 pounds produced a predicted increase in wages of
approximately $8,437 per year at below-average weights and a predicted increase of
approximately $7,775 per year at above-average weights [to the point of obesity]. 86
ARREST RECORDS Unless the job requires security clearance, do not ask an
applicant whether he or she has been arrested or spent time in jail, or use an arrest
record to disqualify a person automatically. There are several reasons for this. Various
racial minorities are more likely than whites to have arrest records. 87 There is always a
presumption of innocence until proven guilty. And arrest records in general are not
valid for predicting job performance. Thus, disqualifying applicants based on arrest
records adversely impacts minorities. You can ask about conviction records. Then
determine on a case-by-case basis whether the facts justify refusal to employ an
applicant in a particular position.
APPLICATION FORMS Employment applications generally shouldn t contain
questions about applicants disabilities, workers compensation history, age, arrest
record, or U.S. citizenship. In general it s best to collect personal information required
for legitimate tax or benefit reasons (such as who to contact in case of emergency)
after you hire the person. 88
DISCHARGE DUE TO GARNISHMENT A disproportionate number of
minorities suffer garnishment procedures (in which creditors make a claim to some
of the person s wages). Therefore, firing a minority member whose salary is garnished
is illegal, unless you can show some overriding business necessity.
Sample Discriminatory Promotion, Transfer,
and Layoff Practices
Fair employment laws protect not just job applicants but also current employees. For
example, the Equal Pay Act requires that equal wages be paid for substantially similar
work performed by men and women. Therefore, courts may hold that any employment
practices regarding pay, promotion, termination, discipline, or benefits that
1. are applied differently to different classes of persons;
2. adversely impact members of a protected group; and
3. cannot be shown to be required as a BFOQ or business necessity are illegally
discriminatory.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE REGULATIONS AND TITLE VII Employees
sometimes file suits against employers dress and appearance codes under Title VII.
They usually claim sex discrimination, but sometimes claim racial or even religious
discrimination. A sampling of court rulings follows: 89
* Dress. In general, employers do not violate the Title VII ban on sex bias by requiring
all employees to dress conservatively. For example, a supervisor s suggestion that a
female attorney tone down her attire was permissible when the firm consistently
sought to maintain a conservative dress style and counseled men to dress conservatively.
However, Alamo Rent-A-Car lost a case when they tried to prevent a Muslim woman
employee from wearing a head scarf.
* Hair. Here, courts usually favor employers. For example, employer rules against
facial hair do not constitute sex discrimination because they discriminate only
between clean-shaven and bearded men, discrimination not qualified as sex bias