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Role of Human Resource Management in Disparate Investigations

Employees are the most important resources that an organization can ever acquire. If well managed, human resources can tremendously improve the quality of an organization’s production and subsequently, increase their engagement legitimacy and reliability. Consequently, a human resource manager is also mandated to check up on the welfare of the employees, which includes protecting them from any source of discrimination such as disparate impact – indirect or unintentional discrimination like religious discernment. A case in point, is when an organization ignores other employees’ religious practices during Christmas while considering only one religion – Christianity. This essay, therefore, elucidates a disparate impact investigation process of religious discrimination. It also identifies and explains three fundamental steps – that protect the employees involved and the organization from a situational liability – which the human resource (HR) team may recommend for the commencement of the investigations.  

           The investigation process of disparate impacts within an organization is fundamental in ensuring that such cases never happen to allow smooth operation. Disparate impacts, which include religious discrimination where some employees are unconsidered beyond Christianity, for instance, impedes an organization’s physical activities. In the present scenario of religious discrimination, the investigation process includes identification of the adverse impact of how ignoring other religious practices during Christmas affects the normal operation of the company (Yahnke, 2018). The affected employees should be able to prove how the failure to recognize other religions apart from Christianity has antagonistic effects on the employees belonging to other faiths. Additionally, the HR team should be able to ascertain and corroborate that the religious practices issues are work-related concerns (Yahnke, 2018). Moreover, in the case of corroboration by the employer, an adjustment is vital for the company’s practices to accommodate all religions in the world that is practiced by all employees (Yahnke, 2018). A punishment may be taken if the concerned departments deliberately facilitated the discrimination practice.

           Investigating a disparate impact in a situation of religious discrimination involves a series of steps. In the present scenario, the first step of investing of a disparate impact by the HR team is to provide temporary security of the complainant or the alleged victim. This step is critical since it ensures separation of the alleged victim and the accused. The step offers protection from any form of threats and continued persecution and or retaliation. Notably, the protection step may involve various actions depending on the convenience of an organization. These actions include a change in the operational program or schedule where the employee – accuser – is made to work in hours that do not coincides with the accused schedules (Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 2012). Additionally, the management may settle for a voluntary transfer where there is no physical or operational engagements between the accuser and the accused (SHRM, 2012). Moreover, the accuser may be subjected to an absence leave. Therefore, the step ensures that the accused is not threatened in any way by the accused.

           After the accuser’s protection is guaranteed, the second step is to put up a mechanism that ensures confidentiality. The team that is constituted by the HR team should have the ability to guarantee confidentiality of the claims. Concurrently, the team should be able to carry out an apt and effective investigation. However, it may be tricky since some of the information gathered is required during the investigation. Therefore, the investigation team needs to understand and explain to the grouchy party confidential for effective investigation (SHRM, 2012). Thus, the team should put up a mechanism to ensure that only the necessary information should be revealed during the investigation process. Furthermore, only the accused and potential witnesses should be allowed to access the information based on the need. 

           Thirdly, the investigation team should create a strategy that ensures thorough and effective investigations. This step is imperative in ensuring proper execution of the investigation process (Park, 2015). The strategic plan step should outline the discrimination issue in question to enable accurate understanding. Additionally, the step should include the development of witness lists, including sources of information facts and proofs (SHRM, 2012). Moreover, it should involve the structuring of the interview questions to capture critical information in detail. 

           In conclusion, the investigation of disparate impacts within an organization is fundamental and important in ensuring that such cases never happen to allow smooth operation. Consequently, an effective investigation process involves identification of the adverse impact of the discernment, affected employees should be able to prove the effectiveness of the discrimination to the company’s operational business, and any action taken. Moreover, the first vital step of disparate investigations is the protection of the accuser, confidentiality of the information, and a strategy of execution. Therefore, these steps ensure that the employee is protected, and the strategy ensures an apt outcome that protects the company from any form of liability.