| One of the advantages
of outsourcing to a Professional Employment Organization PEO or
Administrative Service Organization ASO such as AmCheck, is the
fact that your PEO/ASO’s Human Resource Department can help
you decipher some of the legal technicalities that exist as a result
of Federal Legislation regarding discrimination. This is
part of the reason many PEOs may be involved in the process of
hiring and firing at the worksite--it is one of many methods we
use to protect you from risk of discrimination lawsuits.
Legal changes in recent years have made it more and more difficult
to avoid legal tangles with prospective, existing, and former employees. Consider,
for example the caution you must exercise with regard to employee
relations as a result of sexual harassment litigation. What
about the way you treat your older employees as a result of The
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) to avoid age discrimination
lawsuit, or the way you accommodate disabled employees because
of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)?
In addition to these federal laws, there may be local or
state laws with which an employer must comply. Each of these
laws must also be taken into consideration when promoting, demoting,
or transferring employees to other departments.
Always consult with our HR Department before taking employment
action. The HR Fact Finder recommends that you protect your
company from costly legal battles by avoiding impulsive hiring,
termination, transfers, promotions, etc. A company whose
decisions in these areas are carefully considered should be able
to avoid most legal tangles involved in discrimination lawsuits.
A Case In Point:
A recent “Corporate Downsizing” in a large firm resulted
in the decision to transfer 5 women (including one female manager
with over 12 years of tenure) to another department and offer them
reduced compensation. The female manager was to be replaced
by a male with less experience. All five of the women hired
attorneys, because in spite of the fact that this was probably
a well-intentioned attempt to make the department more efficient,
the move looked like it may have been prompted by an act of discrimination.
This article brought to you by AmCheck. Visit us at www.amcheck.com.
Source: HR Fact Finder- This article
excerpted from an article formerly entitled, “Human
Resources: Some Cautions about Hiring and Firing”.
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