Equal Employment Opportunity: Rules & Regulations for OPM Compliance - Essay Sample

Introduction

Various rules and regulations by the government, whether at the national or local level, have a duty to regulate the way companies carry out their staffing procedures. The 1964 Civil Rights Titled VII Act had discriminatory hiring practices, banned. The areas that OPM needs to comply with should have affirmative action, sexual harassment, and equal opportunity clearly outlined.

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Equal employment opportunity outlines that the people in OPM be covered under EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity). These people are protected from discrimination because of race, gender as well as age characteristic. The people are referred to as “protected class”-people of color, those aged 40 and above, pregnant women, religion, and military veterans are all in this category (Long, 2016). OPM should enforce these laws to offer every individual an equal opportunity when searching for a job.

While the laws mentioned above by OPM focus on equality, affirmative action requires that OPM make an extra effort and try hiring and promoting members from the protected group. Specific measures need to be undertaken, and they are designed to eliminate the current effects of discrimination in the past (Triguero et al., 2018). The OPM employees are also protected by the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) that was established via the 1964 Title VII Civil Rights Act. As well as the majority in the USA, OPM employees ought to comply with the outlined provisions.

Sexual harassment has been downplayed in most companies. The harassment is not a women's problem only. Employees are intimidated while at the same time interfering with the workers' performance and output. OPM could be exposed to various forms of liabilities, and it is required that they must attend to complaints fast; because the employer (OPM) will be held accountable if no appropriate action is taken.

Personnel Recruitment and Hiring Practices

In 2015, the LGBTQ reached a milestone after the USA Supreme Court ruled in favor of full equality after it legalized marriage between the same gender. OPM should put in place strategies such as adopting non-discrimination policies as well as anti-harassment policies while still maintain protection of confidentiality. OPM may employ an LGBTQ manager and is tasked with the development of individual plans employees identifying with LGBTQ society (Durso et al., 2017). OPM would be well equipped following these LGBTQ strengths: anxiety among other workers reduces their productivity compared to LGBTQ employees. A workforce that is well managed reduces costs while at the same time, generating profits because of the diversity. When OPM employs LGBTQ, talent is opened up, and the pool is full of various qualified individuals to choose from. However, the weakness associated includes: insubordination is a culture that, if not taken seriously, management respect is not upheld, and that implies that the employees are not willing to follow orders. The vice creates a lack of seriousness in performing tasks, and thus OPM may be subject to reduced worker output.

Ethics and Diversity Training

The existence of code ensures that there is conduct being followed. The society delegates the regulation of professional employees to be guided by the organization's law. Individuals with a moral and ethical dilemma, codes act as a practical guide. OPM may be forced to come up with codes through a top-down approach. When an analysis is done on diversity training, the strengths could vary from the training quality received (Laurence et al., 2018). When OPM leadership leads in such training, the new and existing employees will participate fully and engage with the training personnel. The employees will practice the knowledge gained from ethics and diversity training when they are interacting with co-workers, managers, supervisors, as well as customers.

There are instances where an enforcement agency mandates ethics and diversity training and comes to a discovery that the employer has been involved in discriminatory vices regarding hiring and employment. The EEOC will enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Among the settlements that the plaintiff would entail mandatory/forced ethics and diversity training programs in the workplace. This is a weakness, especially if the employees are forced to conclude an ethics and diversity training program. The issue may not be well received by the employees and, thus, ineffective training.

Recommendations for Recruiting and Training a Diversified Workforce

The first recommendation would be to widen the recruitment base. Restricting the recruitment process to immediate geographic location or exclusion of LGBTQ members limits the opportunities to have a diversified workforce. The introduction of online job application programs, as well as advertisements, would expand the base. Also, offering language training sessions allows recruitment from more different language-speaking individuals since the language barrier is eliminated.

The second recommendation would be utilizing the existing staff in the organization. Letting the quality, minority employees refer to their other qualified members who may be interested. There is a flow of diversity among candidates as well as a reduction in recruitment expenses. Additionally, there needs to be a clarification of benefits. It can be achieved if the employees have a clear understanding of the benefits that the organization stands to gain, and the way each employee will benefit from such.

References

Durso, L. E., Rooney, C., Gruberg, S., Singh, S., Mirza, S. A., Bewkes, F. J., ... & Clark, D. (2017). Advancing LGBTQ Equality Through Local Executive Action.

Laurence, J., Schmid, K., & Hewstone, M. (2018). Ethnic diversity, inter-group attitudes and countervailing pathways of positive and negative inter-group contact: An analysis across workplaces and neighbourhoods. Social indicators research, 136(2), 719-749.

Long, A. B. (2016). Employment discrimination in the legal profession: A question of ethics. U. Ill. L. Rev., 445.

Triguero Sánchez, R., Peña Vinces, J. D. C., & Guillen, J. (2018). How to improve firm performance through employee diversity and organisational culture.