Gb546 Recruitment and Selection

Cansandra McNair
GB546 Recruitment and Selection
Week 4 Assignment: Focus Paper
01/06/2012

Introduction
The hiring process can be draining and drown out. Searching for the right candidate to fill the position can be compared to finding a needle in a hay stack. Many employers have an idea/visual of how the replacement of what qualifications the new employee should acquire before the training process take place. With employee selection, assessment and decision making process should be carefully assessed to ensure that there are no laws broken were potential law suits can be filed. This paper will discuss the legal issues that may arise if the above processes are not handled with precaution.
Legal Issues
With the increase of lawsuits that are being established in the workforce over the past years they have been an increase in the number of lawyers and firms that specialize in employment law. With the economy in the shape that it’s in, more companies are having to law off employers, some that have been there for years. Their selection process is being questions on how they are choosing the employees that are to permanently/temporary laid off. Therefore this is caused an increase in the number of cases the firms are taking in more cases at least 15% more than the previous years. This is because many feel that employers are firing those that can benefit from staying employed and receiving their full benefits, in some cases retirement. To decrease organizations from being forced to participate in lawsuits brought about them, an article stated the best alternative would be to develop a strategy for the company that involved at least three of the following steps:
1) “Draft good policies and revise them frequently
2) Train employees to follow procedures utilizing scenarios that prompt open discussion, development of issue awareness and recognition of employer and employee responsibilities
3) Insist on effective consultation and communication among managers, human resources professionals and legal staff (in other words, the team approach)” (McDowell & Leavitt 2011).
Discrimination Issues
The process of hiring new employees for a position within an organization. With this process, the major legal issue that the employer needs to keep in mind is not to discriminate. Discrimination is a big factor due to the employer has in mind what it takes for a person to perform the duties of a certain position. There are several laws that the organization must keep in their mind when screening employees, such as; the Civil Right Act of 1964, Disability Act, Age Discriminating Act, and many more. Each of the acts and laws prohibits employees to discriminate against employees or new hires based on their race, sex, disability and religion. In today’s time, employees have to have a firm or an attorney working for them to ensure that that they are not breaking the as many
With given employees assessments, most employers are given them the assessments to point out their skill sets. But some assessments identify other issues within the employees. Some assessments identifies whether or not people have a mental illness, learning disabilities, or any other illness that may prevent them from performing their job duties. As a result, many those assessments are being said to discriminate against the employee, thus violating their rights. If an employee has a mental health illness the only way a company/organization can terminate them from a position is if that illness will prevent them from performing their job duties. In fact, many executives stated that they are reluctant to hire people with disabilities due to the accommodation’s they may need. But with all the baby boomers retiring they are going to have to look into that area. In 2005, statistics showed that “21,455,000 (12.6%) of the 169,765,000 working-age individuals reported one or more disabilities” (Lengnick-Hall, Gaunt, & Kulkarni 2008). Executives were also asked is it a main priority to hire people with disability? They responded with the following; “trying to hire someone with a disability, the main concern is . . . having the skills you would need to be on the air to be able to do those things that would actually apply. I think it would be the perception that people with disabilities don’t have communication skills and wouldn’t be able to problem-solve at a faster pace, wouldn’t be able to independently problem-solve” (ibid).
Conclusion
With larger organizations, it will be best to have a lawyer working hand and hand with the human resource department to ensure that they don’t discriminate against employees. Since discrimination is the major issues within the workforce. It could cause the company millions and most likely close the doors if they don’t have enough revenue to pay the lawsuit. Discrimination, especially if the executives of the organization are making statements as the ones is the survey, mention that it’s not a main priority because they may not be able to communicate as others do. That’s a perception and basis.

References McDowell, A. M., & Leavitt, W. M. (2011). Human Resources Issues in Local Government: Yesterday 's Headlines Remain Today 's "Hot Topics". Public Personnel Management, 40(3), 239-249. MILLER, D. (2011). The Dyslexic Researcher: A Call to Broaden Our Portals. Academy Of Management Learning & Education, 10(2), 340-350. doi:10.5465/AMLE.2011.62798939 Lengnick-Hall, M. L., Gaunt, P. M., & Kulkarni, M. (2008). Overlooked and underutilized: People with disabilities are an untapped human resource. Human Resource Management, 47(2), 255-273 .

References: McDowell, A. M., & Leavitt, W. M. (2011). Human Resources Issues in Local Government: Yesterday 's Headlines Remain Today 's "Hot Topics". Public Personnel Management, 40(3), 239-249. MILLER, D. (2011). The Dyslexic Researcher: A Call to Broaden Our Portals. Academy Of Management Learning & Education, 10(2), 340-350. doi:10.5465/AMLE.2011.62798939 Lengnick-Hall, M. L., Gaunt, P. M., & Kulkarni, M. (2008). Overlooked and underutilized: People with disabilities are an untapped human resource. Human Resource Management, 47(2), 255-273 .