Equal Opportunity Laws and Diversity by John Wiley & Sons

1. Chapter 2 : Equal Opportunity
Laws and Diversity
• Equal Opportunity in the Workplace
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Equal Employment Opportunity Laws
• EEO Laws & the Hiring Process
• Negligent Hiring
• Equal Opportunity in the Workplace:
What Supervisors Need to Know
• Diversity
• Why Does Cultural Diversity Matter?

2. Chapter 2
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY LAWS &
DIVERSITY
• Developing Cross-Cultural
Interaction
• How to Increase Personal Awareness
• How to Recognize & Practice Cross-
Cultural Interaction
• The Value of Cultural Diversity
• Managing Cultural Diversity in the
Workplace
• Establishing a Diversity & Inclusion
Program
• Managing Diversity Issues Positively

3. Equal Opportunity in the Workplace
• The Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
(EEOC):
– Established in 1978
– Responsible for leading &
coordinating the efforts of
federal departments & agencies
to enforce all laws relating to
equal employment opportunity
without regard to race, color,
religion, sex, national origin,
age, or handicap.

4. Culture: Our values, the way we speak, behave, think,
dress, religious beliefs, the music we like, our
interactions, & the food we eat.
Failure to
understand these
diversities can
result in tension,
poor performance
& morale, &
higher rates of
turnover.

5. The Equal Opportunity & Diversity
Office provides:
• Education & training the public about equal opportunity &
diversity.
• Advocacy for diversity.
• Support for companies’ initiatives toward equal opportunity
& diversity.
• Consultation on best strategies for Equal Opportunity &
Diversity recruitment.
• Conflict mediation & resolution.
• Monitoring employers’ equity & affirmative action goals.
• Reviewing compliance with state & federal regulations.
• Processing & resolving complaints.

6. Inclusion
• To include everyone
regardless of gender,
marital status, race,
national origin,
religion, age,
disability, sexual
orientation, weight &
looks.

7. Equal Employment Opportunity Laws
• Equal Pay Act of 1963
• Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act
of 1967
• The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of
1978
• The Immigration Reform & Control
Act
• The Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA)
• The Family & Medical Leave Act of
1993

8. EEO Laws & the Hiring Process
• Job requirements or qualifications (i.e. those
regarding education & work experience)
must be relevant to the job,
nondiscriminatory, & predictive of job
performance.
• Any type of pre-employment test must be
valid, reliable, & relevant to the job.

9. Interviewing
• There are several
inappropriate questions to be
avoided when interviewing,
such as:
– How many children do you
have?
– What country do your parents
come from?
– What is your native language?

10. Diversity
• Culture
• Ethnic Group
• Race
• Religion
• Language
• Age
• Gender
• Physical Abilities
• Sexual Orientation

11. • By 2020 almost 1 in 3
Americans will have
African, Asian, Latino,
or Native American
ancestry.
• By 2050 almost 1 in 2!
• Foodservice industries
employ more
Hispanics & African
Americans than other
industries.
The U.S. is becoming more diverse
by the day:

12. Promote Inclusion
• Partnering with
minority-owned firms
demonstrates a
commitment to inclusion
& creates jobs in the
communities that
support our businesses
as patrons.

13. Why Does Cultural Diversity Matter?
• When a group or segment
is excluded or oppressed,
all of us are denied.
• For businesses &
communities to thrive,
each of us needs to be
aware & sensitive to all
members of the
community.

14. Developing Cross Cultural Interaction
1. Increase personal
awareness.
2. Recognize & practice
cross- cultural interaction
skills.
3. Maintain awareness,
knowledge, & skills.

15. How to Increase Personal Awareness
• Be careful about being culture
bound: believing that your culture
& value system are the best, the
one & only.
• Learn various facts about other
cultures.
• You can learn about other cultures
in various ways: reading, attending
cultural fairs/festivals, &
interacting with individuals from
other cultures.

16. Recognize & Practice Cross-Cultural
Interaction
• 3 problem areas to overcome
include:
– The tendency not to listen carefully
or pay attention to what others are
saying.
– Speaking or addressing others in
ways that alienate them or make them
feel uncomfortable.
– Using or falling back on
inappropriate stereotypes to
communicate with people from other
cultures.

17. Recognize & Practice Cross-Cultural
Interaction
• To be an effective supervisor in a culturally
diverse workforce, you must be able to:
– Recognize the different ways that people
communicate.
– Be sensitive to your own employees’ cultural
values.
– Adapt accordingly.

18. Some Examples of Cultural Differences
• Body Language
• Personal Space
• Eye Contact
• Facial Expressions
• Speech
• Being Direct in
Conversation

19. The Value of Cultural Diversity
• Supervisors & managers who are not able to
handle diversity in the workforce are a liability.
• Poor supervision can cost companies dearly in the
following ways:
– Discrimination lawsuits
– Litigation time & money
– Legal fees /settlements
– High employee turnover rates
– Negative community image

20. Leading Cultural Diversity in the
Workplace
• Recognize, respect, &
capitalize on the different
backgrounds in our society in
terms of race, ethnicity,
gender, & sexual orientation.
• Diversity, or sensitivity,
training is now commonplace
in the corporate world.

21. Establishing a Diversity & Inclusion
Program
• Develop a mission statement that
includes diversity & inclusion.
• Develop goals for diversity &
inclusion for each key operating
area.
• Develop objectives/strategies to
show how the goals will be met.
• Develop measurements to monitor
progress towards the goals.
• Monitor progress toward goal
accomplishment.

22. Leading Diversity Issues Positively
• Get to know your
employees.
• Treat them equitably but
not uniformly.
• Watch for signs of
harassment.
• Foster a work climate of
mutual respect.
• Encourage & recognize
diversity.

23. Gender Issues
• Make sure you do not
show favoritism.
• Show the same
amount of respect for
both genders.
• Know the companies
sexual harassment
policies, & take
misconduct seriously.

24. Cultural Issues
• Learn some of the language used by your
employees (how to address them, common
phrases, avoid slang).
• Give meaningful & culture appropriate
rewards.
• If employees have trouble with English be
careful when speaking to them:
– Check to make sure they understand you.
– Speaking a little slower might help- but
do not speak too slow or too loud, this
does not!
• Be cautious about interpretations & the use
of gestures.

25. Religious Issues
Be consistent in
allowing time off
for religious
reasons.

26. Age Issues
• Treat both young & older employees with respect.
• Make them equally a part of the team.
• Younger workers want to have fun while doing
worthwhile work, listen to them & let them participate.
• Don’t have higher expectations of older adults than
their peers.
• Don’t patronize.

27. Physically &/or Mentally Challenged Issues
• A differently-abled employee is a whole person with likes, dislikes,
hobbies, etc. & encourage co-workers to treat them as such.
• Speak directly to the differently-abled employee.
• The hiring of handicapped workers has a positive effect on the
economy.
• Disabled workers are good for the community & for employers.
• The hospitality industry has a responsibility to provide job
opportunities for all.
• Employees with disabilities are just as productive as other
employees.
• Even with great cross-cultural interaction skills, you will
occasionally do something that offends an employee.
– When this happens, do the commonsense thing:
• Apologize sincerely!
© 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc