BANDAG AUTOMOTIVE
Case
Summary
·
Bandag Automotive was
established in 19 years ago. Before 2005 it was managed by Jim’s father and
after that he (Jim Bandag) took over the business.
·
Number of
employees : 300
·
Bandag Automotive
distributes replacement mufflers, bulbs, engine parts, engine parts etc)
·
Division Supplies
service stations and repair shops, Bandag Automotive auto supply stores
· HR activities that
Bandag outsource are: employment agency that does Bandag recruiting and
screening, payroll service, application forms, performance appraisals, and
honesty test
·
Main problem in the
case: lack of HR department to oversee the HR function and administer all
HR specific issues and problems. Violation of the EEOC (Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission) and Pregnancy Discrimination Act
·
Consequences of the
problems: firing of Henry Jaques, demotion of Gavin and elimination of his
position from the organization, discharging Miriam for pregnancy issues, and
turning down of Bandag truck maintenance service people who applied for the
driving job.
1.
Given
Bandag Auto’s size, and anything else you know about it, should we reorganize
the human resource management functions, and if so why and how?
Bandag should reorganize the human
resource management functions because there is no structured human resource
department in the Bandag to coordinate and manage human resource functions and
issues. In today’s competitive world of business, employee’s management,
motivations and satisfactions are keys to success. Therefore, to be more
competitive and to retain and satisfy the human resources in the organization,
they should have systematic and structured human resource management department
so that they can manage human issues in the organization.
To restructure the human resource
department Bandag can open new separate department and assign HR specific roles
and duties to perform. They can hire HR specialist to lead the department.Once
the new Human Resource Unit is created, Jim will no longer have direct HR
responsibilities with the employees. In other words, everything will be handled
through the new HR organization chart. The new HR manager will help formulate
business strategies and policiesand identify workforce requirements.Since, Jim’s
father has a lot of experience with the company and has created an excellent
relationship with the employees; he will be a good advisor for the new HR
manager.The new HR manager will have these tasks:
- Serve as a link between
management and employees by handling questions, interpreting and administering
contracts and helping resolve work-related problems.
- Analyze and modify
compensation and benefits policies to establish competitive programs and ensure
compliance with legal requirements.
- Provide
current and prospective employees with information about policies, job duties,
working conditions, wages, opportunities for promotion and employee benefits.
- Advise managers on
organizational policy matters such as equals employment opportunity and sexual
harassment, and recommend needed changes.
- Perform difficult
staffing duties, including dealing with understaffing, refereeing disputes,
firing employees, and administering disciplinary procedures.
2.
What,
if anything would you do to change and/ or improve upon the current HR systems,
forms, and practices that we now use?
In this cases most of HR system, forms,
procedures, and practices were put into place when Bandag was much smaller in
terms of staff, revenue and scope. Therefore, the organization should consider
a comprehensive review of all HR practices and forms to make sure they meet
needs of 300 staff organization as well as comply with all existing federal,
state and local employment laws.
The main thing I would change and
improve the existing systems is to established new functional areas within the
organization specifically for human resources and carries all the people
related functions, issues and problems from that functional area. The major
thing I would do is recruit/ hire a HR specialist to manage the HR issues. In
addition to this, I would make sure that the organization is following all the
US labor Act’s like EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and
Pregnancy Discrimination Act etc.
3. Do you think that the employees that Jim fired
for creating what the manager called a poisonous relationship has a legitimate
claim against us, and if so why and what should we do about it?
It is not a legitimate claim because there is no such evidence in
the case that Henry made the whole place poisonous. Jim argues that Henry has
serious problems interacting with his coworkers and further adds that he was
continually arguing with his coworkers a complaining to the store manager about
working condition. But I would say good job to Henry for complaining for
working condition because if there is no HR department and HR personnel to
handle HR related issues then how could their working condition be qualitative.
But in this case Bandag should be concerned with the
termination decision. Terminating and employee who expresses a concern
regarding working conitions is not a justifilable reason for ending employment.
It would appear from the facts in this case that the employee may have a
legitimate claim. At this point, the organization should gather all the facts
surrounding the termination sepecially documenting the facts regarding his
alleged poor working relationship with other co workers to justify the
termination.
4. Is it true that we
really had to put Gavin back into an equivalent position, or was it adequate to
just bring him back into a job at the same salary, bonuses, and benefits as he
had before his leave?
According to the FMLA, the organization
has a responsibility to bring an employee back into the same or comparable job.
Although Bandag maintained Gavin’s previous compensatioan and benefits package,
the organization did not offer gavin a comparable managerial position. This
action a violation of the FMLA.
Gavin worked for Bandag for 10
years, the last two as manager of one of the company’s five stores so priority
should be given to him. Bandag should offer him an equivalent position. Same
salary, benefits, and bonuses are not enough to retain him. He is one of the
experienced and valuable employees of the Bandag. So Bandag should retain him
by offering him same level of position not only in terms of salary and
remuneration but also in terms of authority and responsibility.
5.
Miriam,
the controller, is basically claiming that the company is retaliating against
her for being pregnant, and that the fact that we raised performance issues was
just a smokescreen. Do you think the EEOC and/or courts would agree with her,
and, in any case, what should we do now?
In my opinion, the EEOC and/or courts
would agree with her because according to the Pregnancy Act If an employee is
temporarily unable to perform her job because of her pregnancy, the employer
must treat her the same as any other temporarily disabled employee. For
example, if the employer allows temporarily disabled employees to modify tasks,
perform alternative assignments, or take disability leave or leave without pay,
the employer also must allow an employee who is temporarily disabled because of
pregnancy to do the same.
Pregnant employees must be permitted to
work as long as they are able to perform their jobs. If an employee has been
absent from work as a result of a pregnancy-related condition and recovers, her
employer may not require her to remain on leave until the baby's birth. An
employer also may not have a rule that prohibits an employee from returning to
work for a predetermined length of time after childbirth. To solve these
particular issues, Bandag can arrange fewer hours per week for her until her
recovery. If Bandag refused to do so and fired her, court may go against them
for not following law and order of the state.
The EEOC may to investigate the claim of
discrimination and find the organization did use an invalid reason for
terminating Miriam. It would be interesting to know if the organization talked
with Miriam regarding the alleged forgery as well as the latesness in
submitting her monthly budgets well the termination.
6.
An
employee who is deaf has asked us to be one of our delivery people and we
turned him down. He’s now threatening to sue. What should I do, and why?
The ADA (Americans with Disabilities
Act) specifies that as long as an employee can complete the essential fuctions
of the job (with or without a reasonable accommodation) they should be given
the same consideration as any other applicant.
I
think, Bandag should allow him to be driver for the delivery truck. Bandag
would need to justify why they did not hire the individual based on his
inability to do the job event with a reasonable accommodation because of being
deaf.
It is against the EEOC (Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission) to discriminate against someone to be the driver just
because he/she is deaf. Rather than turning him down company can provide him
special earphone if needed. Not giving the driving job to someone just because
he/she is deaf is fully discrimination. Therefore, Bandag should avoid such
discrimination.
7.
In
the previous 10 years we only had one equal employment complaint, and now in
the last few years we had four or five. What should I do about it? Why?
As an organization grown in size of
employees, it is not unusual to have more claims including EEO complaints.
However, it appears the rate of complaints is escalating indicating a serious
problem in Bandag especially as it relates to a variety of employment
situations. The organizations should review, in detail, all current and
previous claim to determine what type of remedial action to take.
I think the main reason behind
increasing equal employment complaint is Jim himself. We know that Jim’s father
was quite involved in the employee’s problem like finding out what their
problem is and even helping them out with an occasional loan and being quite
liberal when employees face some sort of problem like when their children were
sick. On the other hand, Jim tends to be more abrupt and does not enjoy the
same warm relationship with the employees as did his father.
Jim is very focused on improving
Bandag’s financial performance, and so all his decisions, including his HR-
related decisions, generally come down to cutting costs like fewer days off
rather than more, fewer benefits to employees rather than more, and less
flexible with the employees even when employees need it. Therefore, in overall,
the employees of Bandag are quite dissatisfied with the overall management of
the Bandag. And such complaint increased dramatically during a decade or so.
I think, to solve this problem, Bandag
should define specific HR related policies to address such issues. There is no
HR department; no HR specific rules and policies to guide and manage the HR
related problems and issues. So the company is facing a lot of people related
problems in past 10 years.
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