Week 2 Homework John Adkins Employment Law Question 1. What do you think are some of the factors in the modern workplace that contribute to a theft of time? How can those factors be managed? Two huge factors that have contributed to theft of time in the modern workplace would have to be the elimination of smoking in the workplace, and the creation of the internet. Although I am not a smoker, when smoking was allowed in the workplace, employees that smoked, were able to smoke at will, while completing there work.
With the changes and not allowing employees to smoke in the workplace, it created a “need” for these employees to take excessive 3 to 5 minute breaks to get a cigarette. These would be breaks in addition to any allotted breaks that were part of the normal work schedule. Depending on the type of business operation we are talking about, would determine how that could be managed. It would be more difficult to manage a small operation where time keeping was kept by hand, opposed to a system that required you to log in and out of a computer system.
In a small operation, it would require supervisors to be more visible so that he / she could address any excessive breaks. With the internet, the flood gates opened. It seems to get worse with the creation of new social networks. And it is not even only the social networks. People will still go to sports sites, news sites and any site that is of interest at the time. The easiest way to control this problem would be by filtering which sites are appropriate for the type of business you are in.
From there, it would be up to the IT department to notify supervisors of any abnormal activity. Although filtering would not stop the theft of time completely, it would reduce it drastically. In both situations, some sort of disciplinary action plan must be created to address offenders. Question 2. What does the word Whistleblower mean? Give an example of whistle blowing. Whistle blowing means that a person is telling member of management on another employee’s unlawful activity. A whistleblower could also notify state or federal agencies on activities that are illegal.
An example of an employee whistle blowing on another employee would be letting another member of management know that another manager is writing of expired merchandise, but rather than disposing of the merchandise, either taking the merchandise home, or letting another associate take the merchandise home. On the state or federal level, this would be notifying the local authorities of situations that are in violation of sanitation laws. This would pertain mainly to businesses that handle food service. Question 3. What do the terms wrongful discharge, retaliatory discharge, constructive discharge and employment at-will mean?
Give an example of each of the above terms. When an employer discharges an employee due to discrimination, this is considered wrongful discharge. An example of wrongful discharge would be the termination of an employee due to their religious beliefs. Retaliatory discharge is when an employer discharges an employee due to the employee having filed a discrimination claim, or is a witness to a discrimination investigation. An example of retaliatory discharge would be if a female worker filed a complaint after not being promoted. This would be gender based discrimination.
The termination of the female worker would be retaliatory. Constructive discharge is when an employee creates an environment that is intolerable to the employee, and the employee resigns. Constructive discharge would be where discrimination, dislike or retaliation increases against the employee, causing him / her to quit. These actions could come directly or indirectly from the employer. Question 4. Answer Human Resource Dilemma, Ch 4, #2, p. 130. In this scenario, Jill has not shown a decrease in her work performance. However, that does not mean that it is appropriate to have ongoing phone alls that last 30 minutes. (And are frequent. ) “Q” Inc. , needs to address the behavior first. The scenario does not say that there is a policy or that the phone calls have been an ongoing problem. “Q” Inc. should send out a blanket memo or email addressing the usage of the company phone for personal business. In the memo, the company should address the entire staff, rather than just Jill. Then after the memo or email has been delivered, have everyone sign off that they received the notification with the understanding that violators would be subject to disciplinary action.
This should wake Jill up and stop the phone calls. In addition, “Q” Inc. will keep an employee that performs to satisfaction, without upsetting her. Question 5. Answer Human Resource Dilemma, Ch 5, #3, p. 155 In this case, Sue can file a claim against the company since the company has violated Title VII based on its retaliatory behavior. Although Sue should not know what the other coworkers received on their reviews, she needs to state the facts and at least have an investigation opened.