Read Chapter 3. It revisits all those employment laws mentioned earlier that you are already aware of. A couple of key points deserve mention:
Look at Figure 3.1 for information on historical trends in charges filed with the EEOC. For more current data, consider all the information available at eeoc.gov. Charge statistics year over year are found up through the previous calendar year at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/index.cfm. If you are a strategic partner, where are you going to focus most of your anti-discrimination efforts?
Consider the issue of disparate impact. Disparate treatment, intentional discrimination against a particular group is not as prevalent as it used to be. This is not to say it doesn’t happen. However, even companies with the best intentions can fall victim to disparate impact – adversely affecting a protected class of people through an unjustified, unfair decision that has appearance of being job- related. What does this mean? Essentially that every employment practice should be job related and consistent with business necessity. For example, don’t ask for college degrees in your job descriptions for entry level jobs unless they are absolutely warranted.
As you are reading, think about how you can determine whether a job function is essential. Figure 3-6 in your textbook offers important criteria to consider.