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. Exercise 5. Answers these questions

1.When can an employment policy or practice that applies to everyone, regardless of age, be illegal ?

2.What does the law require an employer to provide to an employee with a disability?

3.What does reasonable accommodation include?

4.How can a person show that he or she has a disability?

5.May an employer ask a job applicant to answer medical questions or take a medical exam before extending a job offer?

6.Should employers keep all medical records and information confidential?

TEXT 7.

National Origin Discrimination

National origin discrimination involves treating people (applicants or employees) unfavorably because they are from a particular country or part of the world, because of ethnicity or accent, or because they appear to be of a certain ethnic background (even if they are not).

National origin discrimination also can involve treating people unfavorably because they are married to (or associated with) a person of a certain national origin or because of their connection with an ethnic organization or group.

Discrimination can occur when the victim and the person who inflicted the discrimination are the same national origin.

The law makes it illegal for an employer to use an employment policy or practice that applies to everyone, regardless of national origin, if it has a negative impact on people of a certain national origin and is not job-related or necessary to the operation of the business.

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An employer can only require an employee to speak fluent English if fluency in English is necessary to perform the job effectively. An “Englishonly rule”, which requires employees to speak only English on the job, is only allowed if it is needed to ensure the safe or efficient operation of the employer’s business and is put in place for nondiscriminatory reasons.

An employer may not base an employment decision on an employee’s foreign accent, unless the accent seriously interferes with the employee’s job performance.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate with respect to hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee, based upon an individual's citizenship or immigration status. The law prohibits employers from hiring only U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents unless required to do so by law, regulation or government contract.

Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy discrimination involves treating a woman (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth.

If a woman is temporarily unable to perform her job due to a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, the employer must treat her in the same way as it treats any other temporarily disabled employee. For example, the employer may have to provide light duty, alternative assignments, disability leave, or unpaid leave to pregnant employees if it does so for other temporarily disabled employees.

It is unlawful to harass a woman because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth.

A employer that allows temporarily disabled employees to take disability leave or leave without pay, must allow an employee who is temporarily disabled due to pregnancy to do the same.

An employer may not single out pregnancy-related conditions for special procedures to determine an employee's ability to work. However, if an employer requires its employees to submit a doctor's statement concerning their ability to work before granting leave or paying sick benefits, the

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employer may require employees affected by pregnancy-related conditions to submit such statements.

.Race/Color Discrimination

Race discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because he/she is of a certain race or because of personal characteristics associated with race (such as hair texture, skin color, or certain facial features). Color discrimination involves treating someone unfavorably because of skin color complexion.

Race/color discrimination also can involve treating someone unfavorably because the person is married to (or associated with) a person of a certain race or color or because of a person’s connection with a race-based organization or group, or an organization or group that is generally associated with people of a certain color.

Discrimination can occur when the victim and the person who inflicted the discrimination are the same race or color.

It is unlawful to harass a person because of that person’s race or color.

Harassment can include, for example, racial slurs, offensive or derogatory remarks about a person's race or color, or the display of racially-offensive symbols.

Religious Discrimination

Religious discrimination involves treating a person (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of his or her religious beliefs. The law protects not only people who belong to traditional, organized religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, but also others who have sincerely held religious, ethical or moral beliefs.

Religious discrimination can also involve treating someone differently because that person is married to (or associated with) an individual of a particular religion or because of his or her connection with a religious organization or group.

The law prohibits workplace or job segregation based on religion (including religious garb and grooming practices), such as assigning an employee to a non-customer contact position because of actual or feared

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customer preference.

The law requires an employer to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause more than a minimal burden on the operations of the employer's business. This means an employer may be required to make reasonable adjustments to the work environment that will allow an employee to practice his or her religion.

Examples of some common religious accommodations include flexible scheduling, voluntary shift substitutions or swaps, job reassignments, and modifications to workplace policies or practices.

Unless it would be an undue hardship on the employer's operation of its business, an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices. This applies not only to schedule changes or leave for religious observances, but also to such things as dress or grooming practices that an employee has for religious reasons. These might include, for example, wearing particular head coverings or other religious dress (such as a Jewish yarmulke or a Muslim headscarf), or wearing certain hairstyles or facial hair (such as Rastafarian dreadlocks or Sikh uncut hair and beard). It also includes an employee's observance of a religious prohibition against wearing certain garments (such as pants or miniskirts).

When an employee or applicant needs a dress or grooming accommodation for religious reasons, he should notify the employer that he needs such an accommodation for religious reasons.

An employer does not have to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices if doing so would cause undue hardship to the employer. An accommodation may cause undue hardship if it is costly, compromises workplace safety, decreases workplace efficiency, infringes on the rights of other employees, or requires other employees to do more than their share of potentially hazardous or burdensome work.

An employee cannot be forced to participate (or not participate) in a religious activity as a condition of employment.

Sex-Based Discrimination

Sex discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee)

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unfavorably because of that person's sex.

Sex discrimination also can involve treating someone less favorably because of his or her connection with an organization or group that is generally associated with people of a certain sex.

Discrimination against an individual because that person is transgender is discrimination because of sex. This is also known as gender identity discrimination. In addition, lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals may bring sex discrimination claims. These may include, for example, allegations of sexual harassment or other kinds of sex discrimination, such as adverse actions taken because of the person's non-conformance with sex-stereotypes.

It is unlawful to harass a person because of that person's sex. Harassment can include "sexual harassment" or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person's sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general. Both victim and the harasser can be either a woman or a man, and the victim and harasser can be the same sex.

Exercise 1 Find these words and word combinations in the text.

a)этническая принадлежность

b)негативное влияние на

c)неблагосклонно обходиться с

d) ради равенства

e) предоставить более легкие обязанности

f) альтернативное назначение

g) предоставить медицинскую справу

h) цвет кожи, цвет лица

Exercise 2 Say if the sentences are true or false. Correct the wrong ones.

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1.National origin discrimination involves treating people unfavorably because they are from a particular country or part of the world, because of ethnicity or accent, or because they appear to be of a certain ethnic background .

2.Discrimination can occur when the victim and the person who inflicted the discrimination are of different national origin.

3.Any employee is required to speak fluent English .

4.The law allows workplace or job segregation based on religion .

5.It illegal for an employer to discriminate with respect to hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee, based upon an individual's citizenship or immigration status.

6.If a woman is temporarily unable to perform her job due to a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, the employer must treat her more favorably than any other temporarily disabled employee.

7.Harassment can include, for example, racial slurs, offensive or derogatory remarks about a person's race or color, or the display of racially-offensive symbols.

Exercise 3 Complete these sentences.

1.National origin discrimination involves………………..

2.Pregnancy discrimination is ……………………

3.Race discrimination involves ……………………….

4.The law protects not only people who …………………….

5.Gender identity discrimination is …………………………

6.sexual harassment is……………………………………..

Exercise 4 Match these terms and their definitions.

1. segregation a) the status of a person that bestows on that person the rights and privileges of this country

Exercise 5. Answer these questions

1.What forms of discrimination are mentioned in the text?

2.Is an employment policy that applies to everyone if it has a negative

impact on people of a certain national origin and is not job-related legal or illegal?

3.What does the Immigration Reform and Control Act regulate?

4.Are the rights if temporarily disabled employees to take disability leave or leave

without pay, the same as an employee who is temporarily disabled due to pregnancy?

5.What does reasonable accommodation for an employee’s religious beliefs involve?

6.What is sexual harassment?

TEXT 8.

Notice of dismissal

Most employees have a legal right to a period of notice if their employer dismisses them. Many employees will have extra rights to notice under their contract of employment. There will always be a contract of employment, even if there is nothing written down. Even if the law or your contract of employment does not give you the right to a minimum amount of notice, you are still entitled to 'reasonable' notice.

In most circumstances, if your employer wants to dismiss you, they should follow a proper dismissal and disciplinary procedure. Before dismissing you, your employer should:

- send you a written statement, telling you why they want to dismiss you

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-hold a meeting with you to discuss the matter

-hold an appeal meeting with you, if you want to appeal against your dismissal.

After the meeting with you, or the appeal meeting if there is one, your employer should make a final decision about what they are going to do, and tell you what it is. If they are still going to dismiss you, your employer should tell you when the dismissal is to take effect, and how much notice they are giving you. They do not have to do this in writing, but it would be good practice to do so. Notice of dismissal must be given directly to you and not through a third party, for example your trade union.

If you are not happy with your employer's decision and you think your rights have been ignored, you may be able to take your case to an employment tribunal (industrial tribunal in Northern Ireland). If you have been dismissed because of gross misconduct, you may want to make a claim to an employment tribunal too.

There's a strict time limit for making a claim to an employment tribunal. This is usually three months minus one day from the date when the thing you are complaining about last happened.

The law does not give the following employees the right to a minimum period of notice

:- those employed for less than one calendar month by their employer. From 1 October 2002, the law gives some employees on fixed-term contracts who have worked for their employer for one month, the right to notice

-Crown servants

-seamen employed on a ship registered in the United Kingdom under a crew agreement

-employees who have been dismissed for gross misconduct.

If you have no legal right to notice, you will still be entitled to 'reasonable' notice or the notice your contract gives you.. However, if you have been dismissed for gross misconduct, you will not be entitled to any notice under your contract, or any 'reasonable' notice. For this reason, it is important to check the real reason for the dismissal.

The law gives all employees the right to a minimum amount of notice. This

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period of notice is:-

-one week for employees who have worked for their employer for one month but less than two years; or

-two weeks if the employee has worked for their employer for two whole years; and

-one extra week for each further whole year's employment at the date the notice period expires, up to a maximum of twelve weeks' notice in total.

However, if you are being dismissed because you are 65, or above normal retirement age, the rules about notice are different. Your contract of employment may give you more notice than the minimum the law gives you. However, you can never get less than the minimum, no matter what your contract says.

If your contract does not specify a period of notice, you may still have the right to a minimum period of notice because of custom and practice. For example, if everyone who works for your firm has always been given at least three weeks' notice, you would have the right to this much notice.

If you work your normal working hours in your notice period, you are entitled to be paid your normal pay. You may not be able to work during the notice period because you are:-

-willing to work but are given no work to do

-on holiday

-off work through sickness or injury.

If you do not work during the notice period for one of the reasons above, the law says you should usually still get your normal pay. However, there is an exception to this rule. If your contract gives you at least one week's notice more than the law gives you, you lose your legal right to be paid during the whole of the notice period.

References

Usually, you don't have a right to a reference from your employer. But your employer does have to give you a reference in some situations, for example:

if your contract says they have to give you a reference where the reference is

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needed by a regulatory body.

There are different reasons why your employer might refuse to give you a reference. If you think your employer won't give you a reference for a reason related to your race, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief or gender reassignment this might be discrimination. You should get advice from an experienced adviser.

Your previous or current employer doesn't have to show you a reference they've written about you. So if you want to see a reference that's been written about you, you should make a request to the employer the reference was sent to.

Your employer has a duty to write an accurate reference about you, and shouldn't mislead the employer asking for the reference. But some information shouldn't be included in a reference, unless you agree to it. This is information like your medical records, or information about spent criminal convictions.

Pay in lieu of notice

If your employer has dismissed you without giving you the notice you are entitled to either by law or by your contract, your employer should pay you in lieu of notice. ‘In lieu’ means ‘instead of’. This is also called severance pay.

The only exception to this is when you have been dismissed because of gross misconduct.

The amount of pay in lieu of notice you should get will depend on how much notice your are entitled to. You should get pay in lieu at the rate of your normal wages. For example, if you are entitled to four weeks' notice, but are only given one, you will be entitled to three weeks’ pay in lieu of notice. You may be entitled to more than this, depending on what your contract says.

Exercise 1 Find these words and word combinations in the text.

a) срок уведомления, извещения

b) придерживаться должной процедуры увольнения

c)письменное заключение

d)вступить в силу

e)должностные нарушения, ненадлежащее поведение

f) истекать