Sexual Orientation, Religious Discrimination, and National Origin Discrimination
1.A. Are there sufficient protection in the workplace against religious discrimination?
Key legislation and corporate guidelines provide a framework for employers to govern their actions and protect them from legal action; however, the typical employee with limited resources and the need to remain employed will frequently accept discriminatory action in fear of retribution or retaliatory acts. Critics argue that discriminatory practices still exist though they are more discreet. Cite one or more Internet sources in your initial response.
Are there any additional laws or guidelines that can be created to increase the protection of employees against further acts of religious discrimination?
1.B. Age and Disability Discrimination
Many people still feel that 65 is a good retirement age; others argue for 70. Even others argue that there should be no age restrictions on working. What do you think? As many people grow older, they become more interested in keeping busy through work. Some employers fear a loss of productivity from older workers. A few are fearful that older workers using machinery may be a danger to themselves as well as customers and other employees.
Are there any additional laws or guidelines that can be created to increase the protection of employees against further acts of discrimination? At what age should workers be requested to stop working?
1.C. Safe and Healthy Workplaces
What responsibilities do the employer, and the employee have in making sure the workplace is safe and healthy?
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) was designed to set forth a standard that would provide for the safety and health of employees while on the job. Employers are required to provide a place of employment free from occupational hazards. Employees must follow the rules and regulations established to promote their safety and use equipment designed to ensure their safety. Suppose a fellow employee working near you ignored safety regulations and was injured. Others who witnessed this act have decided to say that the employee did not ignore the safety rules in order for him to receive benefits. Cite one or more Internet sources in your initial response.
Assignment: What responsibilities do the employer, and the employee have in making sure the workplace is safe and healthy? Should you report him to your supervisor and provide information that may incriminate the injured worker and cause him to lose benefits?
1.D .Current Issues in Human Resources
Locate an article describing a current event (within the last year) that involves one of the employment law issues discussed in this course. 1) Describe the contents of the article and the applicable current event. 2) Describe the employment law issue addressed in the article. 3) Discuss why this employment law issue continues to be important to companies today.
****************************************************************************************** 2 A.) Please respond to the following 2 peers in regard to your thoughts of their answers. Please cite references:
KW. Religious discrimination in the workplace prevails as an issue in the present day. According to Moran (2014), it is the fastest advancing form of discriminatory behavior and has increased in proportion by 87% in the past two decades. Due to ever-increasing discrimination in this area, additional safeguarding measures should be implemented to ensure employee well-being.
Freedom of religion is protected by the First Amendment and individuals reserve the freedom to practice a religion of their choice as long as laws are not broken by the religious practices, such as by sacrifices. Individual states are provided with religious rights and protections under the 14th amendment. Title VII is what protects employees in religious practices and employers must permit religious beliefs in the workplace under reasonable accommodations. The reasonable accommodations must also not create hardships o the company or compromise the religious rights of the other employees (Moran, 2014).
In some organizations, people are discriminated against for their religious practices. These practices can include beliefs, dress code and rituals. To create an inclusive environment in the workplace, additional guidelines can be put in place. First, adjustments to existing policies can be made to accommodate employees. Changes such as creating a designated place in the company for prayer and worship, granting employee time off for religious purposes and creating or switching job roles with other employees to not interfere with religious beliefs or overlapping times of prayer or time off (Hudson, 2024).
In Goff v. DeJoy (2023 ), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers cannot claim hardship and must accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs and practices unless those beliefs constitute significant financial burdens on the operations of the business. Therefore, employers can implement the requirement of policy reviews and revisions for needed updates, with strong rumination being given to the other laws which are still required to be followed. Finally, proper guidance and training need to be conducted with employees and HR to create new guidelines, while not negatively impacting the other employees or operations (Hudson, 2024).
On the federal and state levels, additional laws can be enacted to create a safe haven for religion. If an employee states that they have certain religious holidays, those should be granted, along with the ability to exercise time off for religious services. It can also be required that employers designate a space for prayer as well as times for prayer as required, dependent on the various practices observed in your organization. Lastly, employers should be required to train employees on religious discrimination as any other form of discrimination and prohibit and fear to be instilled in any employee due to their beliefs (U.S. EEOC, n.d.).
References
Hudson, M. (2024, June 20). 6 Steps to Respecting and Accommodating Religion in the Workplace. https://www.traliant.com/blog/6-steps-to-respecting-and-accomodating-religion-in-the-workplace/
Moran, J.J. (2014). Employment law: new challenges in the business environment. (6th Ed.). Boston: Pearson. ISBN: 9780133075229
U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.). Religious Discrimination. https://www.eeoc.gov/religious-discrimination
SF. Even though there are laws, like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, that protect employees from religious discrimination, problems still exist. Title VII makes it illegal for employers to treat employees unfairly because of their religion and requires them to make reasonable changes for religious practices unless it causes serious problems for the company (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC], 2021). However, many workers, especially those who feel insecure in their jobs or don’t know their rights, are often afraid to speak up about religious discrimination. They may worry about retaliation, losing their job, or facing other negative consequences, so they choose to stay quiet. In many cases, the discrimination is not obvious and can be difficult to identify, so employees may not even realize it’s happening or how to address it (Shapiro, 2019). This creates a situation where religious discrimination continues behind the scenes, making it harder to eradicate.
To help fix this, more laws or guidelines could be put in place. For example, companies could require better training on religious tolerance to help employees and managers spot and address unfair treatment. Additionally, there should be clearer steps for employees to report religious discrimination safely, without fear of retaliation. Laws could also make sure that those who speak up about discrimination are not punished in any way. These changes would help create a workplace that better supports employees and makes it easier to report and stop religious discrimination. A more transparent, proactive approach would encourage both employees and employers to take these issues more seriously.
References:
Shapiro, E. (2019). The hidden threat of workplace discrimination. Human Resources Today. https://www.humanresourcestoday.com/hidden-discrimination
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2021). Religious discrimination. https://www.eeoc.gov/religious-discrimination
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