Wal-Mart Legal Compliance and Job Analysis
Running head: WAL-MART Legal Compliance and Job Analysis Paper
Wal-Mart Legal Compliance and Job Analysis
BUS530- Human Resource Management [ July 17, 2011 ]
The Title VII lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was a justified result of sexual harassment and mismanagement by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart could have taken several steps within Human Resource (HR) policy to help deal with this incident, prevent further incidents, and ensure the defendant was properly employed in a safe environment [ (EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2003) ]. Hostile Environment Wal-Mart failed to prevent a hostile work environment for the defendant of the EEOC case in that the Bakery Manager’s actions prevented her from performing her duties without fear of his sexual advances. Wal-Mart’s failed Human Resource strategy in this case to simply remove her from the position was not enough to solve the problem. Wal-mart failed to reprimand the Bakery Manager, failed to re-enforce or set in place written standards to prevent future abuses, failed to document the occurrences and failed the defendant in providing another comparable form of position [ (EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2003) ]. Wal-Mart should review their HR documentation covering harassment, correct any policy issues that need to be addressed, establish a posted, open policy with mandatory reviews by all employees at least once per year, and create and encourage easy access for reporting cases to HR for review without fear of reprisal and investigate ways to prevent opportunities for this type of behavior to occur. Some solutions to consider are to ensure that there are always three or more employees on the job at the same time where no two employees are alone to ensure the behavior is preventable or witnessed for proper recourse. Employees can also attend company sponsored computer based, video or live conferences on harassment, and other work place HR related seminars to encourage training and
Wal-Mart Legal Compliance and Job Analysis
BUS530- Human Resource Management [ July 17, 2011 ]
The Title VII lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was a justified result of sexual harassment and mismanagement by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart could have taken several steps within Human Resource (HR) policy to help deal with this incident, prevent further incidents, and ensure the defendant was properly employed in a safe environment [ (EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2003) ]. Hostile Environment Wal-Mart failed to prevent a hostile work environment for the defendant of the EEOC case in that the Bakery Manager’s actions prevented her from performing her duties without fear of his sexual advances. Wal-Mart’s failed Human Resource strategy in this case to simply remove her from the position was not enough to solve the problem. Wal-mart failed to reprimand the Bakery Manager, failed to re-enforce or set in place written standards to prevent future abuses, failed to document the occurrences and failed the defendant in providing another comparable form of position [ (EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2003) ]. Wal-Mart should review their HR documentation covering harassment, correct any policy issues that need to be addressed, establish a posted, open policy with mandatory reviews by all employees at least once per year, and create and encourage easy access for reporting cases to HR for review without fear of reprisal and investigate ways to prevent opportunities for this type of behavior to occur. Some solutions to consider are to ensure that there are always three or more employees on the job at the same time where no two employees are alone to ensure the behavior is preventable or witnessed for proper recourse. Employees can also attend company sponsored computer based, video or live conferences on harassment, and other work place HR related seminars to encourage training and
References: EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. 5:02-CV-206 (E.D. Tex. September 11, 2003). Retrieved from http://www.employertraining.com/settlements/ Stewart, G. L., & Brown, K. G. (2009). Human Resource Management (Custom Edition ed.). Danvers, MA: John Wiley & Sons.