To help ensure that there are no age discrimination claims, management may feel that they have limited flexibility to manage their workforce. What are some steps managers can take to assure maximum flexibility in the management of the workforce? How does this help ensure that the company is still obeying both the spirit and letter of Age Discrimination laws? Class, no doubt, we are getting older. Our society is aging, our workforce is aging and more and more seniors look at themselves as a protected group. Even the aging Supreme Court is joining the discussion by its holding in Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing (2000) that seniors can sustain age discrimination claims by demonstrating that the employer justification was simply a pretext. (NOTE: The full Supreme Court opinion is worth reading:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=530&invol=133 ).
As human resource leaders, how will you make certain that your company is both age discrimination free, and also has the ability to make business and employment decisions even if they adversely impact senior workers?
What if one person’s right to practice religion conflicts with another person’s right to be free from the influence of the first person’s religious practice? What are some practical rules that can be set regarding religious observations in the workplace? How can we best organize our workplace so that we can accommodate religious practices that require certain time off, religious garb, or even facial hair? Title VII defines “religion” to include “all aspects of religious observance and practice as well as belief.” http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/religion.html If there is a conflict with another person’s right, then one party must ifnore it. If not, then a big argument can erupt. This is why people say not to discuss religion at work. Everyone has their own beliefs and opinions. One rule that can be set is for an employee to not go around always discussing their religion. If that is what they practice, then fine. There is no reason to bring religious beliefs to the workplace.
An incident once happened in my organization based on this. A young lady worked there that didn’t celebrate holidays. So during each holiday our organization had food. For Thanksgiving, we had a luncheon. Of course this lady didn’t eat any of the food because it would of been like she was celebrating. So another co-worker insisted she just get one plate because she didn’t think that eating any of the food violated her religious beliefs. Needless to say, they got into an argument because the co-worker felt like this young lady wasn’t eating because she didn’t want food that had been cooked by others. That wasn’t the case of course. I think that’s why discussing your religion should be kept to oneself.
We can best organize our organization by letting the Human Resource department and any managerial staff know up front what days should be observed specifically. I’ve had jobs with all types of cultures who have their own religious beliefs. It was never a problem if they needed to be off for any of them I just don’t think it should be publicly discussed
