American University of Peace Studies Inc.

Higher International Educational Division

National Accreditation Council Guyana Registration Status

Human Resources Management: The Legal Environment

Final Exam – 2.5 hours

Instructor: Mr. Chaveer Singh

60 marks

Name:

Instructions:

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO REMAIN IN THE ZOOM CLASS WITH YOUR

CAMERA ON THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF THIS TEST.

If you have any questions or encounter any problems, it is advised that you mention this
using the WhatsApp group or the Zoom chat to avoid disturbing the rest of the class.

You are required to answer ALL questions.

This test is 2.5 hours long. Upon completing this test, you must email the test sheet with
your responses to chavisin@yahoo.com . You will be given an additional 15 minutes to
do this. Scripts will not be accepted after this period.
 Section A: Short Answer

1. In a hiring situation, if one positive trait overshadows other negative characteristics of the
applicant, this is called ______HALO EFFECT ______________. (1 mark)

2. _-UNCONSIOUS BIAS __ are shortcuts in thinking which speeds up the decision making
process. However, this can lead to faulty decision making. (1 mark)

3. _____LABOR ACT____ is the primary legislation governing employment relationships in

Guyana. (1 mark)

4. Treating others unfairly because they are of a different race, gender, educational background
or age is called _DISCRIMINATION__. (1 mark)

5. __________AFFIRMATIVE ACTION____________ is a way to make sure everyone has a

fair chance, especially those who have been treated unfairly in the past. It is primarily focused on
giving equal opportunity to certain groups that have been excluded and marginalized. (1
mark)

Section B: Answer all Questions

Question 1

You are attempting to do an audit at your organization to investigate diversity. Create 5

questions that will be placed on the questionnaire to investigate this area. (10 marks)

1. Do you believe that diversity is promoted and valued within this organisation ?
2. How well do you rate the organisations effort to accommodate different religions and
cultural practices?
3. Have you ever felt excluded or marginalized in any work related social activities?
 4. Do you experience any challenges due to your identity or background, in this
organisation ?
5. How satisfied are you with the overall diversity and inclusion efforts in your
organisation?

Question 2

These 10 words/phrases are arranged in random order. Use these words to create a short essay.
The essay should be logical and coherent, in alignment with what you’ve learnt in this course.
Ensure the words are underlined or bolded in the essay. (10 marks)

“Diversity” “Affirmative action” “Equal Employment Opportunity” “Compliance”

“Discrimination” “Investigations” “Training” “Policies” “Legal Environment”
“Employee rights”

Human resources are the backbone to every organisation since their unique skills, abilities, talent
and experience contributes to the attaining of its goals and profits. In order to protect these
valued human resources, and making sure they feel valued, the Legal Environment exists. Legal
environment refers to the laws and regulations that governs the relationship between employers
and employee, some of these being wages regulations and benefits, harassment and
discrimination, workplace health and safety.

HR professionals can show compliance to these laws and regulations by creating policies such
as anti-retaliation policy, discrimination policy, health and safety policy and affirmative action
policies which curbs historical disadvantages and promote equal employment opportunity for
groups that has been marginalized or excluded. To ensure policies are complied too thorough
investigations should be conducted into any reported incident. For example Alex a transgender
person faces bias treatment from their supervisor , alex was often subjected to offensive
comments and aggressions -this unfair treatment affected their confidence and job satisfaction
hindering their personal and professional growth. Upon through investigation on Alex
performances declining, noticed by an HR professional , the organisation decided to conduct a
Diversity training to sensitize employees and raise awareness -this helped the team to appreciate
Alex and their unique skills and qualification they bring to the table.

In conclusion by combining effective investigations and and comprehensive training organisation

can uphold employee rights and create a positive work environment.

Question 3

Erik, a 25 year old male is working at Farm Fresh, an agricultural company. One day, Erik goes
to the HR department and looks incredibly upset. As soon as he entered the room he said “I have
been working here for 5 years, I’m a hardworking employee. Everything that is asked of me I do.
They ask me to go out of town, I go. They ask me to stay back after work, I do that. Why are
they cutting my pay? This has been going on for two months now. The first month I saw it, I
reported it to your supervisor here in HR. All he said was “OK, I'll check it out”. This is the
second month, and my pay is still being cut again. Clearly your supervisor hasn’t done anything.
He’s on the side of the company, and I feel that he dislikes me. This HR department seems to be
biased! I haven’t done anything wrong! Why is my pay being cut and the other workers are
receiving the same salary?

Part i: You are the person in HR receiving the complaint. Use the 6 main steps related to
handling complaints and investigation and describe how you will handle Erik’s situation. Ensure
everything is tied back to the case study above. (10 marks)

Establishing a clear complaint Procedure- Recommend Erik to write an official email of

complaint about his situation since he would have spoken about it and no satisfaction was
given.
I will then officially carry out an investigation as the HR person before his next pay check –
I will conduct a performance assessment on Erik and then discuss with his manager what
would have caused the cut in Erik’s pay and involve a legal liaison -a professional who
serves as a mediator and will provide legal guidance ensuring compliance with laws. After
we have discussed what we found through thorough investigation this will be
communicated to both parties.

Part ii: Create a company policy to rectify the situation above. Ensure it’s simple to understand,
and the spelling and grammar is correct. (5 marks)

“At this organisation we recognize the importance of pay equity and strive to eliminate
wage disparities based on all protected characteristics. To achieve this, we shall conduct
regular salary reviews and wages audits to ensure equal pay for equal work. We encourage
open communication and feedbacks to create a workplace where everyone is compensated
fairly and feels valued for their contributions.”

Question 4

The Heart Institute is a medium sized medical company that is dominated by female employees,
whereby 95% are females. Males lack representation and are not given opportunities to advance
their career within the organization. This has been brought to the attention of the HR department,
whose task is to develop and implement an affirmative action plan to address this issue.

Part i: Use the follow steps to show how this issue can be resolved:

- Assessment and Analysis- it was noted that there is an imbalance of genders within this
organisation
- Setting goals and objectives- Eliminate bias and discrimination.
- Create and inclusive culture.
- Creating Policies- “At the heart institute we are dedicated to creating a workplace where
all employees have an opportunity for growth and advancement. We strive to achieve a
 balanced representation of all genders across all departments and levels within this
organisation. We aim to foster an inclusive environment that values and respects
contributions of all genders, eliminating any gender based- bias or discrimination in our
policies and practices.”
- Recruitment and hiring practices- Implementing gender neutrals jargons in vacancies
advertisements.
- Creating a diverse interview panel.
- Monitoring and evaluation- Regularly monitoring representation and compensation and
benefits equity to seek areas of improvements

(10 marks)

Part ii: Besides bias or discrimination, discuss one other factor that might cause this imbalance
in the workforce? (5 marks) Inadequate policies and practices.

Part iii: What is the relationship between the affirmative action plan that you’ve created in (Part
i) and the Labor Laws? (5 marks)