Workforce Assessment

three recommendations that will contribute to a legally compliant workplace. Introduction Among the myriad of job responsibilities, Human Resource Specialists are responsible for recruiting,
screening, and interviewing applicants. Ensuring a legally compliant workplace requires a deep
understanding of applicable laws and how they impact the policies and procedures of the organization. When employees engage in improper workplace conduct, their employers are subject to liability. Not
only can employers be held liable for employee torts, but they can also be held liable for other legal
violations, such as discrimination. HR professionals need to be aware of these liabilities and help to
educate employees about appropriate workplace conduct. Although HR can deal with many legal issues,
one of the most often viewed is the recruiting, hiring and promotion areas. While the idea of unequal
treatment of employees is well established and generally easily understood, the issue of Adverse Impact
is often more difficult to understand. If all employees are given the same test, but one group is
consistently hired at a lower rate than the majority group, this is called Adverse Impact. For example,
males and females take a physical test, and 90% of males pass the test while only 20% of females pass
the test. At this the point, the company must prove this test actually measures essential job functions
(meaning the job cannot be done without the skill measured by this test). The courts have established
the 4/5ths rule for this—so in this example we would used 4/5ths of 90% (72%) to establish Adverse
Impact. (A similar analysis can also be done when looking at internal promotions and most any other
“positive reward” structure). This assessment will allow you to explore this issue in some depth.
Tort: A private or civil wrong or injury, including action for bad faith breach of contract, for which the
court will provide a remedy in the form of an action for damages.
—Black’s Law Dictionary Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, L. P. (2019). Employment law for business (9th ed.). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill Irwin. Garner, B. A. (Ed.) (2019). Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed.). St. Paul, MN: Thomson Reuters. Some assessments in this course are based on the CapraTek Workplace Discrimination simulation (see
the second resource activity in Assessment 3 for more information). The assessments build on each
other and must be completed in sequence. This assessment is an authentic task you could be given as a Human Resource Specialist. Assume the role
of an HR specialist at CapraTek. Your manager has tasked you with revamping hiring and promotional
practices. Introduction CapraTek combines almost 30 years of engineering experience with production that is continually
achieving new efficiencies. The company is committed to living its values through initiatives that focus
on development of human capital, commitment to being a good corporate neighbor, and support of

green technology initiatives. Founded in 1984, CapraTek has been profitable every year since its
inception. CapraTek has production facilities and research centers in Silicon Valley, South Carolina, New Mexico,
Illinois, and also serves as managing partner of a consortium with operations in India, Singapore, Taiwan,
South Africa, and the Czech Republic. As the organization has grown, however, the management
development has not always reflected best practices for promotions and hiring. The newly enhanced HR Department has been revamped and expanded to deal with these management
issues. While CapraTek has a strong anti-discrimination policy that appears to be effective, HR has
identified a need to look at the question, “is this policy actually working?” While this question could be
addressed in a number of ways, the first analysis will be to look at concentration statistics. CapraTek has
a policy of promoting from within that encourages employees to develop their skills internally and move
up the organization. Concentration statistics address the question, “is this policy working?” If this policy
is working as intended, the percentage of employees at each organization level would be the same (30
percent females in plant management, supervisor positions and production workers). While there is no
hard-and-fast rule to follow, the analysis will look at major differences.
CapraTek is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to sex, race, religion, color,
national origin, ethnicity, military veteran status, gender identity or sexual preference. In addition,
CapraTek believes in developing employees internally and moving them into new positions as they
become available. Instructions Begin your analysis by looking at the manufacturing facility with the following demographics. Use
the Demographics Table to view the information. Write a 2–3 page Executive Summary for your manager. You may wish to review general information on How to Write an Effective Executive Summary before
beginning the assessment. Address the following issues:
• Based on an analysis of the semi-skilled operatives, does CapraTek appear to be followings its
mission statement? Explain your rationale.
• Based on an analysis of supervisory jobs, does CapraTek appear to be true to its goal of
developing employees? Explain your rationale.
• Based on your analysis above, what legal action might CapraTek potentially face? Specifically,
what laws might they be in danger of violating? Explain how the company would be violating
this law.
• What three specific actions would you recommend management consider to deal with any
potential issues? Justify your recommendations and discuss which of these would be a top
priority to address. Additional Requirements