“Sexual harassment laws cover all employees.
Managers have a responsibility to inquire into any rumours regarding sexual harassment or issues regarding a hostile work environment.”
“Advise employees to treat voice mail, email and Internet usage as if it were public knowledge”.
- Sexual harassment laws cover all employees. Managers have a responsibility to inquire into any rumours regarding sexual harassment or issues regarding a hostile work environment.
- Managers must show they have done due diligence via appropriate inquiry. Ignoring the issue puts the manager and the organization at legal risk.
- Organizations can be found guilty if they knew, or reasonably should have known, about illegal acts. For instance, an organization can be found guilty of allowing sexual harassment even when the leaders (supervisors, managers, etc.) have no knowledge of the offending behaviour.
- An organization is usually considered “guilty until proven innocent” when accused of illegal labour practices. The burden of proof usually falls on the employer to show that behaviour was not discriminatory.
- Sexual harassment or hostile work environment protections extend to customer, vendor and supplier relationships, as well as to employees.
- Health insurance is not a legal right. It is a benefit offered by an organization. However, if it is offered to any full-time employee, it must be offered to all full-time employees.
- It is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a person’s country of origin or nationality, but people from other countries only have the right to work in the United States if they have obtained that right from the U.S. government.
- A person can’t be fired because of their age unless there is a mandatory retirement age in the organization that applies to all employees. A person can be fired for performance or inappropriate conduct issues (in accordance with the organization’s termination policies) at any age.
- While employers should avoid inquiring about an applicant’s age, the age of the employee is an acceptable question when it applies to asking whether the applicant is over the age of 18 and/or whether age is a job requirement (like serving alcohol).
- Employment law covers all rights and obligations within the employer-employee relationship – whether they are current employees, job applicants, or former employees.
- The right of privacy does not extend to certain workplace activities and documents, including email, contents of company desks and lockers, voicemail, and information about activities that could create liability for the company (such as sexual harassment or illegal practices). Advise employees to treat voice mail, email and Internet usage as if it were public knowledge. Employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their personal possessions: handbag, briefcase, personal phone calls. Regarding workplace security, consult HR.
- Employee privacy includes reasons for requesting medical leave, discrimination or harassment issues, and violations of law or matters of public policy. These matters can only be shared with those in a “right to know” position.
- Skills, experience, motivation, ambition, and interests are generally permissible subjects of pre-employment inquiries.
- Supervisors are required to work with their employees to make it possible for them to practice their religious beliefs – within reason.
- These allowances are called “accommodations.” Supervisors are required to accommodate their employees’ religious practices and beliefs unless doing so would cause their business undue hardship.
- Anti-discrimination laws protect all workers from employment decisions based on protected status – race, colour, religion, national origin, sex, age or disability under federal law.
- As a representative of the company, a manager must report any information that pertains to the performance of employees regardless of where and when that information is heard. To avoid problems in a social environment, do not inquire about personal issues off the job and warn off any disclosure by employees while off the job.
- Regarding job references from potential new employers, information must be specific performance data based on clear, specific performance behaviours related to clear, specific performance expectations and standards. It can’t be subjective opinions or labelling of intent, motive, personal characteristics, even if documented in written performance appraisals. Best bet: stay clear of providing detailed information about employees.
- Requirements for a college degree must be related to job duties – eligibility criteria – and not the time frame the degree was attained.
- An employee who reports a violation of the law by his or her employer cannot be retaliated against.
- An employee cannot be fired for the sole reason that the manager does not like him/her.
- A manager must never make promises or commitments that he or she is not prepared to follow through on. Being a representative of the organization, a manager’s promises or commitments are usually considered binding.
- There is no legal requirement for anyone to provide a recommendation or referral for anyone else. Managers can choose not to comment.
- Managers are agents/representatives of their companies 24/7.
- Remember that any information learned, no matter how or where it was obtained, is now organizational knowledge. Anything a manager requests is now an order from the organization. Any promises a manager makes, explicitly or implicitly, can be enforced against the organization.
Key Takeaways
- Managers don’t need to be legal experts, but they do need to have a clear understanding of the rights of employees and then follow through on upholding those rights. Failure to do so exposes the company to liability and damages the integrity of the manager and company.
- Mangers should have a working knowledge of laws relating to sexual harassment, discrimination, privacy and other compliance issues. If there are any questions, the manager should go to human resources for help. Under the eyes of the law, ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for labour violations.