Shoe Store Incident
Shoe Store Incident
Kathryn Diehl
Antonio Moore
Diane Ostberg
Holly Szmyt
HRM/546
October 10, 2011
John Fossum
Shoe Store Incident
A company policy is a documented set of guidelines in which the company has bound themselves to operate. Company policies add structure to an organization while setting expectations and performance objectives. Wavering away from the principles that guide the corporation may create unnecessary legal exposure.
Upon Imelda arriving at the shoe store, Imedla clearly has voiced her opinion that she wants a female associate to assist her with her purchases. Bob explained to Imedla that the associate available for assistance today is Tom. Imedla has indicated she would purchase additional shoes if a female associate helped her. Bob regrettably informs Imelda that the company has a strict policy that designates the associates must alternate positions and today is Tom’s day for customer service. Unfortunately, Bob realizes the store may lose additional purchases because of the decision to have Tom assist Imelda. However, Bob strongly believes the company policy is a purposeful guideline to follow, and he should not waver from this policy.
Initially, gender discrimination is a major legal issue that arises in the case of the female customer requesting a female salesperson to assist her in purchasing shoes. As the sales manager, Bob cannot replace Tom with Mary to appease the customer. It is company policy that two floor employees rotate between working in the back and assisting customers. If Bob were to switch the rotation and allow Mary to assist the employee, he would be violating gender discrimination law-Title VII, in addition he would be violating equal pay law (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). The policy at the store states that the rotation of the employees is use to allow the floor employees to receive commission pay each time they run the floor and assist employees. Tom will be losing significant pay if he is
Kathryn Diehl
Antonio Moore
Diane Ostberg
Holly Szmyt
HRM/546
October 10, 2011
John Fossum
Shoe Store Incident
A company policy is a documented set of guidelines in which the company has bound themselves to operate. Company policies add structure to an organization while setting expectations and performance objectives. Wavering away from the principles that guide the corporation may create unnecessary legal exposure.
Upon Imelda arriving at the shoe store, Imedla clearly has voiced her opinion that she wants a female associate to assist her with her purchases. Bob explained to Imedla that the associate available for assistance today is Tom. Imedla has indicated she would purchase additional shoes if a female associate helped her. Bob regrettably informs Imelda that the company has a strict policy that designates the associates must alternate positions and today is Tom’s day for customer service. Unfortunately, Bob realizes the store may lose additional purchases because of the decision to have Tom assist Imelda. However, Bob strongly believes the company policy is a purposeful guideline to follow, and he should not waver from this policy.
Initially, gender discrimination is a major legal issue that arises in the case of the female customer requesting a female salesperson to assist her in purchasing shoes. As the sales manager, Bob cannot replace Tom with Mary to appease the customer. It is company policy that two floor employees rotate between working in the back and assisting customers. If Bob were to switch the rotation and allow Mary to assist the employee, he would be violating gender discrimination law-Title VII, in addition he would be violating equal pay law (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). The policy at the store states that the rotation of the employees is use to allow the floor employees to receive commission pay each time they run the floor and assist employees. Tom will be losing significant pay if he is
References: Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, L. P. (2007). Employment Law for Business (5th ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies. ethics. (2011). In Dictionary.com. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics