March/April 2003 Issue Number 45
 Is
a monthly electronic newsletter which links current events and issues
to the daily challenges faced by fire and emergency services managers.
Current topics in the areas of leadership development, workplace diversity,
change management, and conflict resolution will be discussed.
We
hope that you find the information here useful and provocative.
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10th
International Conference of Fire Service Women April 23-27, 2003.
Denver, CO. Contact info@wfsi.org
for more information.
FDIC
March 31-April 5, 2003. Indianapolis, IN. For more information,
go to www.pennwell.com
Title IX Revisited
Title
IX is the law which prohibits gender discrimination in public and
private schools that receive federal funding. Although the law covers
admissions, recruitment, course offerings, counseling, financial aid,
student health and housing, it is Title IX's effect on high school
and college athletics that has made it famous; or in some people's
view, infamous.
Title
IX essentially says that there must be parity among men's and women's
sports according to the proportion of the different sexes represented
among the student body. The law has made way for a huge increase of
women participating in high school and collegiate sports. In 1971,
prior to passage of Title IX, 294,000 high school girls participated
in sports programs nationwide. That figure rose to 2.8 million in
2002. The number of women involved in college sports went up five
times during that same time period.
What
makes Title IX controversial is how it is administered. The choices
some schools have made to insure parity have led in some cases to
the elimination of men's sports teams. Anger - and litigation - in
response to this outcome in part led to a recent Bush administration
commission that was charged with considering changes to Title IX.
The
often contentious two day meeting of the committee led to no major
recommendations for revisions of Title IX. Changes that were considered
include different methods for counting athletes and revising the amount
of leeway schools have in measuring compliance.
The
issues surrounding Title IX are complex and very much susceptible
to spin, depending on which side one is on. What is not in dispute
is that Title IX has increased the numbers of young women athletes
by an enormous margin. Young women who play competitive sports learn
teamwork, increase their self esteem, and have a higher level of fitness
compared to women who do not participate in athletics. These are all
qualities that make women better qualified for and better suited to
a career in the emergency services, among other careers. Many successful
women firefighters came from a background of team sports, and these
venues have also provided good recruitment opportunities for fire
departments. For this reason, the future of Title IX goes far beyond
the interests of just girls wanting to play.
Source:
Associated Press, February 3, 2003
The EEOC has announced a record $250 million age discrimination settlement
in a lawsuit that involved public safety employees in California.
The case involved a program that gave reduced disability benefits
to employees who were hired after they turned thirty. The settlement,
which affects 1,700 police officers and firefighters, requires the
California Public Employees Retirement System to pay $50 million in
retroactive benefits.
Source:
Associated Press, February 16, 2003
Discrimination
Complaints: A Sign of the Times?
The EEOC
recently reported that federal job discrimination complaints jumped
more than 4% in 2002, to the highest level in seven years. EEOC received
84,442 complaints in 2002, compared to 80,840 the previous year.
What
causes complaints of discrimination to rise and fall? Many factors
contribute: education and awareness among employee groups, diligence
of employers to enact and enforce good policies, cultural shifts within
organizations.
It is
also possible that economic conditions affect the occurrence or perception
of workplace harassment and discrimination. When economic times are
good, and there is less competition for jobs or money, employees tend
to be less threatened that different people are entering the workforce.
In flush times, there is room for everyone. However, when that tide
turns and organizations are facing layoffs, pay and benefit cuts,
and reductions of service, attitudes can change.
In uncertain
times, people may feel insecure, fearful, angry; and they may be looking
for someone to blame. The desire to identify someone responsible for
the situation may lead to deterioration of labor-management relations,
an upsurge in harassment, attacks on policies such as affirmative
action, or increases in interpersonal disputes. All these factors
can further drive people to seek outside sources of support and validation,
such as by filing grievances or formal complaints of discrimination.
In hard
times, it is even more important for people to find common ground
and function as a team. Achieving this goal requires commitment: the
development of skills, opportunities for open dialogue, effective
dispute resolution. When money is tight, organizations may cut their
financial commitment to these programs first, but they do so at their
own peril. Dealing with conflict at the lowest possible level is imperative
when organizations have more to lose if conflict escalates into a
law suit. The legal system doesn't care that your budget is being
cut by 10%; if you have a financial judgement against you in an EEOC
case, you find a way to pay it regardless.
Virtually
all workplace discrimination claims are preventable through good education,
proper enforcement, and most importantly, effective leadership. Commitment
to principled leadership is most critical in difficult times, and
will reap the most benefits for the organization and the individuals
within it.
Source:
Associated Press, February 10, 2002
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