Accommodating Religious Expression in the Workplace

Religious expression in the workplace has been gaining more prominence and attention with the increasing diversity of the population. Employers are legally required to reasonably accommodate the religious practices and beliefs of their employees. This article will examine the most common types of religious expression in the workplace and will discuss the extent of the legal obligation of an employer to accommodate those expressions.     

Coworker Perceptions of Outcome Fairness of Breastfeeding Accommodation in the Workplace

The effect of workplace accommodation on perceptions of fairness was investigated. Vignettes describing an organization that did or did not accommodate the needs of a breastfeeding employee were used to test the hypotheses. Accommodation had a positive effect on perceptions of fairness. This effect was stronger for participants with children. Perceived personal cost of the accommodation had a negative effect on fairness. Evidence was also obtained indicating that need-based concerns affect perceptions of fairness. For example, participants who believed that breastfeeding is a private issue that does not belong in the workplace reported the accommodation as less fair.     

The Measurement and Structural Modeling of the Reasonableness of Workplace Accommodations

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) guarantees protection from discrimination for persons with a disability. The ADA requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for persons with physical and mental disabilities unless doing so would produce undue hardship on the organization. Fifteen years after the passage of the ADA, the question as to what is a reasonable accommodation remains controversial, especially for some types of disabilities. In this study, a reasonable accommodation scale is proposed and tested using structural equation modeling in hopes that such a scale will aid the courts and organizations in determining what is reasonable. Individuals’ level of awareness of disability issues is also examined in the model to examine the relationship between awareness and willingness to accommodate. Results indicate acceptable fit of the model to the data and provide support for the proposed scale. Furthermore, the relationship between awareness of disability issues and willingness to accommodate was significant. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Keeping the Faith but Losing in Court: Legal Implications of Proselytizing in the Workplace

Proselytizing at work occurs when an employee tries to convince coworkers to change their religions. This presents an interesting set of legal issues, because some employees feel that proselytizing is a requirement of their religion. Therefore, they could perceive a prohibition on proselytizing at work as a discriminatory act against members of their religion. On the other hand, other employees may be offended by attempts to change their religious practices. These employees could perceive workplace proselytizing as religious harassment. Therefore, American employers have to adopt religious harassment policies that are much more complex than their sexual harassment policies. In this paper, we outline the components of a legally compliant religious harassment policy which balances the competing rights of proselytizers and their intended targets.     

Factors Affecting Employee Satisfaction with Disability Accommodation: A Field Study

We developed and empirically tested a model for employee satisfaction with disability accommodation (our criterion). Our sample consisted of 333 employees who had requested and received a disability accommodation. We found support for most, but not all, of the links in our model. As hypothesized, employees whose input was sought by the organization and employees who received the requested accommodation were significantly more satisfied with their disability accommodation; employee race/ethnicity was indirectly related to employee satisfaction with disability accommodation. Contrary to our model, employee gender was not related to employee satisfaction with disability accommodation. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2006 annual convention of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), Dallas, TX. We thank Jim Breaugh for his helpful comments. The order of the authors was determined alphabetically. Deborah B. Balser and Michael M. Harris contributed equally to the paper.     

The Role of Culture in Shaping Perceptions of Discrimination among Active Duty and Reserve Forces in the US Military

Organizational culture allows workers in an organization to develop a shared understanding about events that occur within the organization. The US Army has developed its own culture, which allows it to pursue a variety of challenges that it must face. Today’s US Army relies heavily on citizen soldiers, consisting of the Army Reserve and the National Guard. These soldiers come from a different background than the active component soldiers, and as a result, interpret actions taken by the organization and its leaders differently, based on the subculture from which these soldiers come. The present paper examines the effects that culture and status have on perceptions of discrimination and fairness during a recent US military operation. An historical frame of reference of similar experiences in previous military operations is provided, and implications for organizations that employ both permanent and temporary workers are discussed.     

WTO术语:reasonable合理

中国加入WTO,立法权、执法权和司法权部分让渡给WTO,这是必然的代价。而让渡的程度与一个WTO术语密切相关,那就是reasonable,汉语常译为“合理”。reasonable是判断立法、执法和司法是否公正的客观标准,是对国家行使权利的制衡,它所体现的公平、公正、诚信和条约必须信守的现代司法理念,对我国立法、执法和司法提出了更高的国际标准。究其原因,WTO法是按照西方国家的游戏规则起草和实施的。解释时,常采用西方国家的解释规则。这样,西方国家的文化、传统和价值观念就不可避免地渗透在WTO法解释规则之中。     

Believing in employment discrimination: The case of Forrest Mims,Scientific American,and title VII protection

This article reviews the law regarding Title VII employment discrimination protection from religious discrimination. The issues surrounding the principal legal protection in this regard are explored in the context of a recent controversial case in which an author, Forrest Mims, was not hired as a regular contributor forScientific American magazine, ostensibly because of his belief in the theory of creation over the theory of evolution. The definition of what constitutes a protected religious belief or practice is seen to have expanded over time. However, a belief in creationism is not necessarily seen as being tantamount to a religious belief under present legal interpretation of Title VII. The implications of this finding for future needed Title VII revision are discussed.     

投资方在建设项目造价的合理控制

从建设项目的决策、设计、发包、施工等四个阶段讨论投资方如何对建设项目造价进行合理控制。     

文化社会学视野下的欧美竞技体育领域种族歧视

本文从文化和社会学角度观察欧美竞技领域有色人种运动员的处境与遭遇,总结、归纳出竞技体育领域种族歧视的表现形式和形成的深层次原因,提出了要在竞技体育领域消除种族歧视的若干建议。     

展会专业观众住宿选择行为研究

会展业和酒店行业有着密切的关系,有的酒店经营业绩极大的依托于会展客源。虽然目前针对旅游住宿和商务旅游的研究已经取得了很多的成果,但是立足于会展行业,专门对会展观众住宿行为进行的研究还比较少。本文以第33届中国(广州)国际家具博览会为例,对展会专业观众的住宿行为进行了度量和剖析,研究了展会专业观众住宿选择特征,住宿选择感知因素的重要性,并使用IPA模型分析了广州酒店经营展会专业观众的优劣势。研究发现,展会观众住宿时最看重的仍然是获得良好的休息而非现代化办公能力;宽容型、商务导向型、苛求型和实用导向型是4类最基本的观众类型;IPA方法显示广州的酒店还需要在员工服务的技能及态度,酒店互联网覆盖等方面做出努力。     

机械设备的科学选用与合理使用

主要阐述了工程机械设备的科学选用的依据和机械设备合理使用等技术问题。     

合理操作:提高煤炭采样的精密度和代表性

为了能够获取高质量煤炭,煤炭化验分析的步骤必不可少。为此,应制定科学的采样方法、提高各项操作的合理性,以确保所采煤样的精密度和代表性,保证煤样与之所代表的大量煤炭在成分、性质等方面的一致性,进而得到优质煤炭。     

Discrimination in Employment Provisions in the Mexican Federal Labor Law

The discrimination in employment provisions in employment provisions in the Mexican Federal Labor Law (FLL) are surveyed in a general overview. Employment discrimination in Mexico under the FLL is generally proscribed but is mandated in a limited number of instances. Discriminatory violations can induce various sanctions against transgressing Mexican employers.     

合理低价中标在建筑工程中的应用探讨

合理低价中标法是现行的招投标方法,本文对其在工程中的意义进行阐述,提出其在运用中出现的问题,并提出一些应对措施。     

论传球技术在比赛中的合理运用

传球是构成篮球运动最为重要的基本技术之一,运用好传球技术是进攻的重要手段,也是战术配合基础,比赛中传球质量好坏直接影响着得分及比赛的胜负。本文对比赛中传球技术运用不合理的原因进行了分析、探讨,发掘其本质,旨在为篮球教学、训练中如何提高传球质量提供合理性建议。     

Post-9/11 Backlash in the Workplace: Employer Liability for Discrimination against Arab- and Muslim- Americans Based on Religion or National Origin

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, discrimination and violence directed toward American immigrants in general, and Arab- and Muslim-Americans in particular, increased markedly. Yet, despite a November, 2001 joint initiative undertaken by the EEOC, the Justice Department, and the Labor Department to increase sensitivity to and combat instances of potential discrimination or harassment against individuals who are—or are perceived to be—Muslim, Arab, Afghani, Middle Eastern, or South Asian, EEOC charge statistics for workplace discrimination claims involving religion, ethnicity, national origin, and citizenship indicate that the reported incidence of such conduct has continued to increase. This paper examines recent federal court cases that involve employment discrimination claims by Arab- and Muslim-Americans at both the trial court and appellate court levels to identify problematic fact patterns that may give rise to employer liability and to better understand judicial treatment of the legal issues when such cases are taken up on appeal. Management guidance for reducing potential liability when such situations arise in the workplace is developed based on recent findings in the case law. Analogous international implications are also discussed.     

我国农村劳动力流动中的歧视问题

在传统的城乡分割的二元社会结构体制下,我国农民工人数和规模不断扩大,成为社会转型中的特殊群体,对我国经济起到了不可忽视的推动作用。然而,在我国的农村劳动力流动过程中,矛盾日益突显,其中由于大量农民工的涌入带来的城镇治安、环境问题,导致歧视问题严重化。文中从两个角度提出解决措施,以期改善农村劳动力的待遇,促进和谐社会的建立和发展。     

对当前我国房地产市场宏观调控政策的理性思考

由于住房价格持续上涨,从2003年开始,我国政府开始对房地产市场进行新一轮的宏观调控。这些宏观调控措施在平抑房价上虽取得一定效果,但房价总体上仍居高不下。在分析我国房地产价格的前提下,总结我国政府所采取的宏观调控措施,并对其进行评价,分析导致我国房地产价格长期居高不下的原因,提出进一步解决的思路。