Legalities of a Job Description
By
Elu A. Onnekikami
This article will attempt to discuss the approaches that will be utilized as a human Resources Manager to create and staff a new position in an organization. It will analyze the legalities of creating the position and come up with ways or proposals to mitigate the potential legal issues that might surround the filling of the aforementioned new position. A description of the legal consideration as regards to compensation for the new position would also be addressed.
Job Analysis
The initial step that most HRM (Human Resources Manager) will use to create a new position for example, for a mid-size company will be by performing a thorough job analysis. Aamodt (2010) states that a job analysis is the process of collecting data about a job that can be later be used to create a job description. An HRM will begin for example, by titling the new position as Vice-President Organizational Developement. Let's assumed the aforementioned new position will be responsible for managing the company's growth and change.
Another important approach that will be utilized during job analysis would be to conduct KSAOs which is the acronym for; knowledge, skills, abilities, and other charactertics. A secondary approach would the utilization of task-oriented job analysis which calls for the examination of duties or other competencies that the new position might require. To collect such data or information it will be necessary to set up interviews with job incumbents and their supervisors of at least three different companies that might have such an existing successful position. Such interviews tend to focus on job context and content information (Neveu, 2006).
The job description that will manifest itself after the job analysis would be relatively short and should be one to two pages long. Although most Industrial and Organizational (I/O) psychologists are of the opinion that job description should be very detailed and lengthy, one have to be cognize that many professionals in other organizations tend to differ. Such managers and professionals are of the opinion that listing each and every activity could limit the organization ability to ask employees to perform tasks that are not listed on the job description (Aamodt, 2010). To avoid such an aforementioned scenario, the phrase "and perform other job related duties should be included in most proposed job descriptions.
Legal Consideration in the creation of the Job description
Almost every school of thoughts in the field of human resources agrees that Federal law is remarkable silent when it comes to job description. Never-the-less, what the federal laws in human resources echoes clearly is the protection of employee's right. For example when a situation about an alleged abuse case by an organization comes before a judge, most often he or she tend to base their decision on the job duties and results as stated in the job description (Biddle, 2010).
Nonetheless, as a human resources manager, it is rather important that one must know and have a thorough knowledge of the various federal and state laws as it relates to employer and employees relationships. The laws includes; Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA), Equal pay act, the Executive order act, the Civic right act, the Age discrimination act, the Pregnancy act, the Medical leave act, the Americans with disabilities act and the Immigration reform and control act to mentioned but a few. As Aamodt (2010) alluded to, all employment decision should be based on job related information. He pointed out that there is no law the specifically requires organizations to perform job analysis, but many paramount guidelines and some court cases tend to mandate job analysis for all pragmatic purposes as discussed earlier on.
One of the important concepts that should also be taken into consideration in creating a job description would be the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection procedure. It is designed to assist employers, employment agencies and labor organizations to comply with the requirements of the Federal law that prohibits employment practices that discriminate on the grounds of color, race, sex or national origin. The guidelines are also designed to provide a good framework in determining the proper utilization of tests and other selection procedures. Since the example given for this article is an executive level position, it will not require the use of tests as one of the criteria to be used in consideration for the position. Consequently, any issue as it relates to tests, such as the most citied case of Griggs v. Duke Power (1971) in the industry that could arise would be eliminated or avoided (Biddle, 2010).
Legal Considerations as it relates to Compensation
A good executive compensation package begins and end with sound ethical governance and with a well established compensation polices, philosophy that is in line with companies overall objectives and goals. The aforementioned good governance practice should include peer-group review and analysis, and also provide for performance measures that precisely define success. It should also be well documented and must be adhere to all regulatory and legal requirements (Aamodt, 2010).
Consequently most board of directors of public traded companies has established compensation committees to assist the companies in coming up with acceptable compensation package for positions. Establishing a compensation committee would ensure that the issue of compensation for the new position will receive the attention and deliberation that it deserves. In addition, it will help fulfills both the tax law and Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements.
An important ethical wage policy that should also be put into consideration is to adopt a job evaluation program in other to establish a fair differential in salaries that would be based upon job content. Other factors that should be considered include and not limited to; the company ability to pay, the prevailing salary rate, cost of living, living wage, sociological and psychological factors and the levels of potential skills in the market.
Strategies for mitigation against possible claims
Most often a company's general approach to compensation must adhere to be consistent with its overall strategic organizational objectives. The compensation ethical practices and policies should emanate from the company's strategic goals and objectives as mentioned earlier on, because it tends to determine the kind of individuals that might be attracted and retained, the behavior and performance that might need to be motivated. (Aamodt, 2010).
One of the best way of legally and ethically to mitigate against possible claim to the organization is to perform a thorough job evaluation during job analysis as previously discussed. Job evaluation according the Aamodt, (2010) is process of determining the worth to the business or organization of a particular job in relation to the worth of other job in the organization. The goal is to ensure that jobs of different sizes are adequately compensated fairly. A factor comparison system should be utilized, which is a refinement of the point and ranking system that takes into consideration job factors such as experience, education, working conditions and responsibility and allocates different points to quantify the aforementioned factors (Neveu, 2006).
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References
Aamodt, M.G. (2010). Industrial/Organizational psychology. An applied approach (6th.ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Biddle, D.A. (2010). Should employers rely on local studies or validity generalization (VG) to use support the use of employment tests in Title Vll situations? Public Personnel Management, 39, 4, 307-315.
Parker, G. (2001). Establishing remuneration practices across culturally diverse environments. Compensation & Benefits Management, 17, 2, p23-28.
Neveu, R.J. (2006). Making the leap to strategic recruiting. Work force Journal, 80, 19, 1-3.
Wood, R.E. (2004). How independent is your compensation committee? Benefits Law Journal, 17, 4, 82-99.
By
Elu A. Onnekikami
This article will attempt to discuss the approaches that will be utilized as a human Resources Manager to create and staff a new position in an organization. It will analyze the legalities of creating the position and come up with ways or proposals to mitigate the potential legal issues that might surround the filling of the aforementioned new position. A description of the legal consideration as regards to compensation for the new position would also be addressed.
Job Analysis
The initial step that most HRM (Human Resources Manager) will use to create a new position for example, for a mid-size company will be by performing a thorough job analysis. Aamodt (2010) states that a job analysis is the process of collecting data about a job that can be later be used to create a job description. An HRM will begin for example, by titling the new position as Vice-President Organizational Developement. Let's assumed the aforementioned new position will be responsible for managing the company's growth and change.
Another important approach that will be utilized during job analysis would be to conduct KSAOs which is the acronym for; knowledge, skills, abilities, and other charactertics. A secondary approach would the utilization of task-oriented job analysis which calls for the examination of duties or other competencies that the new position might require. To collect such data or information it will be necessary to set up interviews with job incumbents and their supervisors of at least three different companies that might have such an existing successful position. Such interviews tend to focus on job context and content information (Neveu, 2006).
The job description that will manifest itself after the job analysis would be relatively short and should be one to two pages long. Although most Industrial and Organizational (I/O) psychologists are of the opinion that job description should be very detailed and lengthy, one have to be cognize that many professionals in other organizations tend to differ. Such managers and professionals are of the opinion that listing each and every activity could limit the organization ability to ask employees to perform tasks that are not listed on the job description (Aamodt, 2010). To avoid such an aforementioned scenario, the phrase "and perform other job related duties should be included in most proposed job descriptions.
Legal Consideration in the creation of the Job description
Almost every school of thoughts in the field of human resources agrees that Federal law is remarkable silent when it comes to job description. Never-the-less, what the federal laws in human resources echoes clearly is the protection of employee's right. For example when a situation about an alleged abuse case by an organization comes before a judge, most often he or she tend to base their decision on the job duties and results as stated in the job description (Biddle, 2010).
Nonetheless, as a human resources manager, it is rather important that one must know and have a thorough knowledge of the various federal and state laws as it relates to employer and employees relationships. The laws includes; Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA), Equal pay act, the Executive order act, the Civic right act, the Age discrimination act, the Pregnancy act, the Medical leave act, the Americans with disabilities act and the Immigration reform and control act to mentioned but a few. As Aamodt (2010) alluded to, all employment decision should be based on job related information. He pointed out that there is no law the specifically requires organizations to perform job analysis, but many paramount guidelines and some court cases tend to mandate job analysis for all pragmatic purposes as discussed earlier on.
One of the important concepts that should also be taken into consideration in creating a job description would be the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection procedure. It is designed to assist employers, employment agencies and labor organizations to comply with the requirements of the Federal law that prohibits employment practices that discriminate on the grounds of color, race, sex or national origin. The guidelines are also designed to provide a good framework in determining the proper utilization of tests and other selection procedures. Since the example given for this article is an executive level position, it will not require the use of tests as one of the criteria to be used in consideration for the position. Consequently, any issue as it relates to tests, such as the most citied case of Griggs v. Duke Power (1971) in the industry that could arise would be eliminated or avoided (Biddle, 2010).
Legal Considerations as it relates to Compensation
A good executive compensation package begins and end with sound ethical governance and with a well established compensation polices, philosophy that is in line with companies overall objectives and goals. The aforementioned good governance practice should include peer-group review and analysis, and also provide for performance measures that precisely define success. It should also be well documented and must be adhere to all regulatory and legal requirements (Aamodt, 2010).
Consequently most board of directors of public traded companies has established compensation committees to assist the companies in coming up with acceptable compensation package for positions. Establishing a compensation committee would ensure that the issue of compensation for the new position will receive the attention and deliberation that it deserves. In addition, it will help fulfills both the tax law and Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements.
An important ethical wage policy that should also be put into consideration is to adopt a job evaluation program in other to establish a fair differential in salaries that would be based upon job content. Other factors that should be considered include and not limited to; the company ability to pay, the prevailing salary rate, cost of living, living wage, sociological and psychological factors and the levels of potential skills in the market.
Strategies for mitigation against possible claims
Most often a company's general approach to compensation must adhere to be consistent with its overall strategic organizational objectives. The compensation ethical practices and policies should emanate from the company's strategic goals and objectives as mentioned earlier on, because it tends to determine the kind of individuals that might be attracted and retained, the behavior and performance that might need to be motivated. (Aamodt, 2010).
One of the best way of legally and ethically to mitigate against possible claim to the organization is to perform a thorough job evaluation during job analysis as previously discussed. Job evaluation according the Aamodt, (2010) is process of determining the worth to the business or organization of a particular job in relation to the worth of other job in the organization. The goal is to ensure that jobs of different sizes are adequately compensated fairly. A factor comparison system should be utilized, which is a refinement of the point and ranking system that takes into consideration job factors such as experience, education, working conditions and responsibility and allocates different points to quantify the aforementioned factors (Neveu, 2006).
âEUR?
References
Aamodt, M.G. (2010). Industrial/Organizational psychology. An applied approach (6th.ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Biddle, D.A. (2010). Should employers rely on local studies or validity generalization (VG) to use support the use of employment tests in Title Vll situations? Public Personnel Management, 39, 4, 307-315.
Parker, G. (2001). Establishing remuneration practices across culturally diverse environments. Compensation & Benefits Management, 17, 2, p23-28.
Neveu, R.J. (2006). Making the leap to strategic recruiting. Work force Journal, 80, 19, 1-3.
Wood, R.E. (2004). How independent is your compensation committee? Benefits Law Journal, 17, 4, 82-99.