Question

Please answer the following short essay questions:

40. Which federal employment legislation do you believe has had the greatest impact on employees in the United States, and why? Please be specific.

Answer 1

In my opinion, one of the employment related legislation that had greatest impact on workers regardless of what it might have generated in the way of work for HR is the American Disability Act passed by the Congress in 1990. According to the law, the employers are prohibited from performing discriminatory employment practices that prevent the qualified workers with disabilities from getting selected for the job. I feel that the law has positively effects on the qualified employees with disability because it has helped to avoid the discrimination based on disabilities during employment. There were many cases before the establishment of the law where the qualified candidates were denied jobs only because of their disabilities even though the disability has nothing to do with the job performance. According to ADA, disability means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individuals, a record of such impairment or being regarded as having such impairment. The persons or groups that have been primarily impacted by the law include people suffering from conditions like blindness, alcoholism, heart disease, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, AIDS and morbid obesity. These groups were not considered for jobs based on their impairment and were living under frustration. The law helped to rejuvenate these groups by giving equal treatment in employment. As a result of this law, the HR department had to restructure their recruitment policies and hire them if they possess the qualifications as per the job. The HR also need to arrange reasonable accommodation for these groups to perform their job if they are qualified and providing the accommodation will not cause undue hardship for the business. If the HR department fails to provide the reasonable accommodation it would be a violation of ADA and will lead to legal issues.