Module 27 – Domain V: Human Resources

After reviewing Module 27 lecture, you should be able to:

  1. Describe factors affecting staff recruitment and selection.
  2. Discuss employment process and procedures.

Recruitment & Selection

Laws and Regulations

  • Age Discrimination Act– protects those over the age of 40 years of age from discrimination of hiring, compensation, etc.
  • Americans with Disabilities Act–
  • requires equal consideration for disabled applying for jobs and equal treatment for employees that are disabled.
  • requires employers to consider the essential dutiesof a position and these essential duties should be listed on the job description.
  • Employers must make reasonable accommodationsfor those qualified applicants with disabilities to perform the essential duties of the job.
  • Civil Rights Act (Title VII)– disallows discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, pregnancy, or medical disorders
  • Fair Labor Standards Act– sets minimum pay, maximum hours, overtime, child labor, equal rights; an amendment to this Act is the Equal Wage Act??
  • National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) –
  • ensures employees right to form and/or join a union,
  • prohibits management from discriminating against those wishing to form and/or join a union,
  • prohibits unfair management practices, requires collective bargaining (obligation for employers & union members to meet and discuss issues with an open mind).

Job analysis, specifications, descriptions

  • Job analysis – the process of obtaining information about a job by establishing what the duties and tasks are
  • Job description – list of duties, responsibilities, working conditions of the job, relationships with other positions, tools and equipment needed to perform the job; specific account of job
  • Job specification – provides minimal requirements for the job, includes skills, credentials, abilities, etc. required to do the job; aids in determination of compensation package (wages, hours)

All of the above items are included in the Policies & Procedures Manual. The policies and procedures manual can be thought of as, "the guide or reference tool encompassing the entire organization."

Policies are the general guidelines adopted by high level management.

Procedures are specific step by step actions that should be taken to implement a policy.

Process Control Chart - an analysis of the breakdown of a job. It can be a product analysis such as a step by step analysis that a product goes through (the accuracy of a completed tray in a tray line) or a person analysis which studies the tasks of a person (tasks for the head cook).

Performance Standards

  • Performance appraisal- AKA employee review. Used to evaluate employee performance; determine need for additional training, review concerns, discuss questions and set goals. Often used for compensation decisions. Employee performance should be measured against written objective standards when possible to help avoid personal bias.

Candidate Interviews

  • Recruiting– seeking individuals for future employment
  • Screening - involves choosing individuals best for further consideration.
  • Hiring
  • interview – be careful of the Civil Rights Act & EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
  • cannot ask about: age, family status, race, religion, national origin, or gender
  • can ask about: work experience, academic or professional education, the names & addresses of persons providing professional and/or character references, physical disabilities if position requires physical labor, convictions if related to the job
  • types of interview questions
  • A direct question involves a brief specific response; less time consuming
  • closed ended question
  • open ended question
  • probing question
  • hypothetical question – “what would you do if…”
  • loaded question
  • leading question

Orientation & Training

  • Orientation– formal process of familiarizing a new employee with an organization's policies, procedures, benefits & duties of the new position. A good orientation program will help explain how the position relates to the organization as a whole and contributes to lower turnover and increased productivity. A policies & procedures manual should be provided during orientation
  • Training- Teaching of skills required to perform the job effectively. Often technical skills, but may include conceptual & human skills if the position is managerial in nature

Employment process and procedures

Personnel Information

  • Records- on file information should include:
  • Names, addresses, social security numbers, and occupations of employees and recipients
  • INS Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
  • Form W-4, income tax withholding
  • Dates of employment, amounts and dates of wages & other compensation
  • Absences with reasons
  • Confidentiality- Employee records should be maintained as confidential with access limited to appropriately appointed employees. Access should be denied to outside unauthorized groups. Confidentiality should be addressed in an organization's policies & procedures manual.
  • Privacy Act 1974- Applies to federal organizations or those contracting with federal organizations. Allows individuals to inspect their records at anytime and protects against the invasion of privacy through misuse of personal information

Managing

  • A manager's role goes beyond that of a normal employee.
  • A manager has a special duty (fiduciary duty) to act on behalf of the employee and in the employee's best interest; fiduciary duty - The legal duty of acting wisely on behalf of another.
  • Managers should always conduct themselves in a business like manner when following through with an organization's interests. Managers of a business/foodservice/hospital (entity) have implied power to make business decisions; do routine management related tasks such as hire and fire employees, buy inventory, enter into contracts, pay bills, insure day to day operations are in-line with long term goals, etc.
  • Managers should have periodic meetings to assess progress related to business/entity goals and address new issues. A manager's meetings should include an agenda (especially helpful when a couple people or more are meeting). A formal agenda is useful when meeting as a manager (even if only meeting with 1 other person).
  • If regular meetings are scheduled (e.g. monthly staff meeting) it may bebeneficial to post a draft agenda in a public place where other staff can view it, think about upcoming business, and add itemsstaff members are interested in seeing on the agenda. People will feel more involved with the decision making process if they are a part of it. "People tend to buy into that which they are a part of." - Changes are always implemented best when staff/others feel they are included in the decision making process.
  • On the day of the meeting an agenda should be handed out toall those involved with the meeting. Once quorum is reached the meeting should start on time. Quorum is the majority required to be present in order to start a meeting (an entity's By-Laws address items such as meeting quorum, officer duties, conflict resolution, etc.). In many cases 2 or more present is enough to start a meeting on time as scheduled on the agenda. "Time is money" in business (or in business like affairs such as managing) and meetings should start on time and be conducted in a professional (business like) manner.
  • Here is a sample agenda:

ABC FOODSERVICE
Production Department Meeting Agenda
9:00 October 14, 2001
Meeting Start Time:9:00
Introductions:
Officer Reports:
Production Manager
Assistant Production Manager
Lead Dietitian
Supervising Dietitian
Foodservice Manager
Old Business:
Kitchen Fire
Staff Evaluations
Budget Revisions
New Business:
New Product Line
Policy & Procedure Manual Updates
Vacation Authorization Policy
Next Meeting:
  • Minutes - The notes taken at the meeting are referred to as minutes. Minutes are the official record of the proceedings at a meeting. Minutes provide a written record of voting issues and action taken. Minutes should be kept in the "Minutes Book" and kept readily available for review.

Unions/contracts – National Labor Relations Act

  • closed shop –illegal practice in which employees must be a union member prior to employment; a business or industrial establishment whose employees are required to be union members as a precondition to employment
  • open shop –hired employees are not required to join the union; a place of employment at which one cannot be required to join a labor union as a condition of hiring or continued employment
  • agency shop (non-union shop) –non-union employees must pay a fee to have the union represent them; a place of employment where workers must pay union dues whether they are a member of a labor union or not
  • union shop – any hired employee must join union after a period of time; a place of employment where the employer may hire either labor union members or nonmembers but where nonmembers must become union members within a specified period of time or lose their jobs
  • collective bargaining –negotiations between management and union representatives on terms of employment (can negotiate pay rates, performance appraisal methods, job promotions)
  • mediation – 3rd party or mediator aids in negotiations; mediator does not have power to impose a decision; a process of alternative dispute resolution in which a neutral third party, the mediator, assists two or more parties to help them negotiate an agreement
  • arbitration – 3rd party or mediator makes legally binding decisions after hearing both parties position; a form of alternative dispute whereby the parties to a dispute agree to submit their respective positions to a neutral third party (the arbitrator) for resolution

Grievances

  • Supervisor should thoroughly investigate complaints & other items brought to his/her attention. Observations should first be made to verify the claim is accurate. The policies & procedures manual should be followed step by step for verified claims.
  • Generally disciplinary action includes the following steps:
  • verbal warning without notation in employee personnel file
  • verbal warning with notation in employee personnel file
  • written warning
  • employee suspension
  • employee termination
  • These steps may not be followed in order depending on the severity of the offense. Such offenses might include catching an employee in the act of stealing from the cash register, physical harm of others, ETOH/drugs on the job, possession of firearms, unauthorized disclosure of confidential info. Immediate termination would probably be the disciplinary action.
  • A whistle blower is one who informs on a wrong doer

Compensation

  • Compensation- Financial component given to the employee by the organization as payment for their work. Includes wages and benefits (legally required – SS, workers comp, unemployment, family medical leave act; health insurance, retirement, insurance, paid time off, employee services – childcare, literacy). Guidelines for merit increases, overtime approval, promotions/demotions, etc. should be found in the policies & procedures manual.
  • Wage mix – internal (demands of job, education, performance appraisal) and external (collective bargaining, wage law, FLSA) that can influence rates of pay

Turnover – number of employees replaced each year; to calculate (total replacements divided by number of average employees) x 100

The Program Evaluation and Review Technique commonly abbreviated PERT is a model for project management; a method to analyze the tasks involved in completing a given project, especially the time needed to complete each task, and identifying the minimum time needed to complete the total project.

Now that you have read the lecture, consider the following:

  1. Describe factors affecting recruitment and selection. Include:
  2. law and regulations
  3. Who is protected under the Civil Rights Act?
  4. Employers must make what for qualified employees under the American's with Disabilities Act? A job description under the American's with Disabilities Act should include what?
  5. Which act does not allow an employer to discriminate against those discussing union formation?
  6. job analysis, specification, and description
  7. employee selection
  8. What can & cannot be asked during an interview?
  9. Discuss employment process and procedures.
  10. What records should be kept in every employee's file? Are there any access rules to these records?
  11. What does the Privacy Act of 1974 protect?
  12. What is the difference between mediation & arbitration?
  13. When should a scheduled meeting start?
  14. Management can best implement workplace change when employees feel they are part of what process?
  15. What is the first thing that you should do if you receive a complaint about an employee leaving work early?

1. It is 8:59 AM and 15 of the 20 staff members are present for your 9:00 AM meeting. You start the meeting _____ because _____.

a. late; you have a quorum

b. on time; you respect punctuality of staff members

c. late; you have a fiduciary duty

d. on time; you have a quorum

2. Which of the following acts would disallow discrimination due to race?

a. civil rights act

b. fair labor act

c. Wagner act

d. age discrimination act

3. A male is not hired due to a medical condition. Which of the following acts is he protected under?

a. age discrimination act

b. civil rights act

c. Wagner act

d. fair labor act

4. A male is not hired due to his age of 55 years old. Which of the following acts is he protected under?

a. civil rights act

b. fair labor act

c. Wagner act

d. age discrimination act

5. A foodservice worker works in excess of 55 hours per week at the same job and is not given overtime. Which of the follow acts is he protected under?

a. civil rights act

b. age discrimination act

c. fair labor act

d. Wagner act

6. Which of the following acts ensures collective bargaining?

a. Wagner act

b. Age discrimination act

c. Civil rights act

d. Fair labor act

7. Which of the following would include equipment used in the job?

a. job analysis

b. job description

c. staffing patterns

d. job specifications

8. Which of the following would include hours and wages?

a. job description

b. job analysis

c. job specification

d. staffing patterns

9. Which of these includes establishing what the duties and tasks are of a certain job?

a. job analysis

b. job description

c. staffing patterns

d. job specification

10. Which of these would include education and credentials needed for a position?

a. job analysis

b. job description

c. job specification

d. staffing patterns

11. An employee complains that several line cooks are not following sanitation guidelines. As foodservice manager, what should you do first?

a. schedule an in-service on sanitation

b. send the line cooks home

c. call the line cooks into your office and give them a verbal warning

d. observe the line cooks

12. At a specified college, you hand out brochures regarding potential employment with your foodservice company. Which of the following are you doing?

a. screening

b. hiring

c. recruiting

d. interviewing

13. Several applications have arrived for a foodservice position. You begin to examine the applications for the best candidates. You are:

a. recruiting

b. screening

c. hiring

d. interviewing

14. Which of the following could you legally ask during an interview?

a. have you worked under any other names

b. do you have any children

c. what is your religion

d. are you married

15. A benefit of a direct question in an interview is:

a. less time consuming

b. allows the applicant to elaborate

c. allows rapport with the applicant

d. more information

16. You want to inspect your personal records at your employment. Which act may allow you to do this?

a. Wagner Act

b. Fair Labor Standards Act

c. Civil Rights Act

d. Privacy Act

17. During collective bargaining, a third party comes in and makes legally binding decisions. This is known as:

a. mediation

b. union shop

c. shop steward

d. arbitration

18. During collective bargaining, a third party comes in and negotiates settlements. This is known as:

a. arbitration

b. mediation

c. shop steward

d. union shop

19. Which of the following does not require that employees join the union but do have to pay fees for union representation?

a. union shop

b. agency shop

c. closed shop

d. open shop

20. Which of the following requires that you are a member of the union to be hired and is illegal?

a. open shop

b. agency shop

c. union shop

d. closed shop

21. The foodservice facility you work at requires any hired employee must join union after a period of time. This is known as:

a. closed shop

b. agency shop

c. union shop

d. open shop

22. The foodservice facility you work at does not require hired employees to join the union. This is known as:

a. open shop

b. closed shop

c. agency shop

d. union shop

23. Which of the following may be asked in an interview?

a. age

b. religion

c. ethnicity

d. physical disability if position is related to physical labor

24. A 65-year old woman is given less pay due to her age. This is a violation of :

a. Wagner act

b. age discrimination act

c. Civil rights act

d. Fair labor act

25. A woman is terminated because she is pregnant. This is a violation of:

a. age discrimination act

b. Wagner act

c. Fair labor act

d. civil rights act

Module 27 – Domain V Quiz
Human Resources
1. It is 8:59 AM and 15 of the 20 staff members are present for your 9:00 AM meeting. You start the meeting _____ because _____. Correct
a. late; you have a quorum
b. on time; you respect punctuality of staff members
c. late; you have a fiduciary duty
d. on time; you have a quorum
Once quorum is reached the meeting should start on time. Quorum is the majority required to be present in order to start a meeting.
2. Which of the following acts would disallow discrimination due to race? Correct
a. civil rights act
b. fair labor act
c. Wagner act
d. age discrimination act
Civil rights act disallows discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, pregnancy, or medical disorders.
3. A male is not hired due to a medical condition. Which of the following acts is he protected under? Incorrect
a. age discrimination act
b. civil rights act
c. Wagner act
d. fair labor act
Civil rights act disallows discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, pregnancy, or medical disorders.
4. A male is not hired due to his age of 55 years old. Which of the following acts is he protected under? Correct
a. civil rights act
b. fair labor act