While crafting a job description what employment laws should be concerned?
While organizations prepare job descriptions, they do not come across with any legal requirement since job description is not a legal obligation, but it supports the following processes such as recruiting and selection decision, EEO compliance, performance appraisal, job evaluation, wage and salary decisions, and training requirements in organizations (Dessler, 2013: 98). Moreover, it is important that job descriptions should be written appropriately to the employment laws in order to follow federal and state labor and employment laws (Mayhew, 2019). When creating job descriptions, companies should keep in mind the Civil Rights Act, Equal Pay Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and Americans with Disability Act (ADA).
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Equal Employment Opportunity Act prohibits employers, organizations, and supervisors to discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (Dessler, 2013; Carrell and Heavrin, 2014). In job descriptions, those who write job descriptions should be careful not to cause any adverse impact (disparate impact) and avoid direct discriminatory expression or veiled intention.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits organizations to discriminate in pay on the basis of sex when the jobs involve equal work (Dessler, 2013; Carrell and Heavrin, 2014). This act obligates organizations to determine equal salary ranges for female and male workers in job descriptions to the jobs which involve equal works.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act is a law made of discrimination against people older than 40 (Dessler, 2013; Carrell and Heavrin, 2014). In a job description, organizations should avoid defining any requirement or preference of age.
Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Americans with Disability Act are the laws to provide affirmative action for disabled people, but it does not require hiring unqualified people (Dessler, 2013; Carrell and Heavrin, 2014). It prohibits employers with 15 or more workers from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities, with regard to applications, hiring, discharge, compensation, advancement, training, or other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. It also says employers must make “reasonable accommodations” for physical or mental limitations unless doing so imposes an “undue hardship” on the business (Dessler, 2013). It is prohibited to express any requirement in order to eliminate handicapped people in job descriptions if it is not directly related to the task and job performance.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 prohibits any discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions (Dessler, 2013; Carrell and Heavrin, 2014). According to this act, it is prohibited to express any job requirement which eliminates pregnant females, females who gave or will give birth, or females with pregnancy-related medical conditions unless it may involve a risk of health or physical injury to those females.
Cited works
Carrell, M. R., Heavrin, C., & Carrell, M. R. (2013). Labor relations and collective bargaining. Pearson.
Dessler, G. (2013). Fundamentals of human resource management. Pearson
Mayhew, Ruth (2019), Legal Requirements of Job Descriptions, Chron, https://work.chron.com/legal-requirements-job-descriptions-20506.html
