Syllabus for HRM-620

THE LEGAL AND ETHICAL ENVIRONMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES


COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course provides a careful examination of the significant ethical and legal issues facing the human resource professional. While there is a focus on employment law, there is an equally strong consideration of ethical issues, which human resource personnel must address and share with other decision-makers in the organization.

General Aim

The amount of legislation that affects Human Resources has significantly increased within the last decade. Furthermore, the manner in which we manage our departments, employees and the organization itself has met with more scrutiny in the past few years. The ethical and legal guidelines a Human Resource professional must both follow and make certain others follow continually increase. Avoiding litigation is a matter not only of good planning but also training, awareness, feedback and up to date knowledge. This course will bring the student through a history of what has evolved in Employment Law and Ethical Behavior in our organizations. Managing today is most complex, and anyone can be held both personally and professionally liable for their behavior no matter how innocent or unintentional an action might be. The course will cover what Human Resource professionals should do in the new millennium in order to create a litigiously free and ethical workplace.

COURSE TOPICS

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, you should be able to:

  1. Analyze the relationships between ethics, the law, business practices, and organizational results.
  2. Examine ethics and legislation related to discriminatory practices and harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, gender, and affinity orientation.
  3. Develop human resource policies that reflect appropriate ethical behavior.
  4. Apply principles and techniques for evaluating employees and workplace behavior that meet ethical and legal standards in the global environment.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to do the work of the course. The required textbook is available from the University's textbook supplier, MBS Direct.

Required Textbook

ISBN-13: 978-0078023798

COURSE STRUCTURE

The Legal and Ethical Environment of Human Resources is a three-credit online graduate course, consisting of eight modules. Modules include an overview, topics, learning objectives, study materials, and activities. Module titles are listed below.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in online discussion forums, complete written assignments, and complete a final project. See below for more details.

Consult the Course Calendar for assignment due dates.

Promoting Originality

One or more of your course activities may utilize a tool designed to promote original work and evaluate your submissions for plagiarism. More information about this tool is available in this document.

Discussion Forums

This course requires you to participate in seven graded discussion forums. There is also one ungraded but required forums in Module 1.

Communication with the mentor and among fellow students is a critical component of online learning. Participation in online discussions involves two distinct activities: an initial response to a posted question (discussion thread) and subsequent comments on classmates' responses.

You will be evaluated both on the quality of your responses (i.e., your understanding of readings, and concepts as demonstrated by well-articulated, critical thinking) and quantity of your participation (i.e., the number of times you participate meaningfully in the assigned forums). Responses and comments should be properly proofread and edited, professional, and respectful.

Meaningful participation in online discussions is relevant to the content, adds value, and advances the discussion. Comments such as "I agree" and "ditto" are not considered value-adding participation. Therefore, when you agree or disagree with a classmate, the reading, or your mentor, state and support your agreement or disagreement.

Synchronous Events

You are required to participate in two synchronous events that will be held in Edison Live!, our virtual meeting space. These interactive sessions review content and cases and discuss any questions and issues you have. To access the event, click the Collaboration Space link in the Edison Live! section of the course site a few minutes before the designated time. Use the following link for directions and helpful videos about how to use the Edison Live! tool in Moodle. Your mentor will work with the class to propose a time that works best and accommodates the majority.

Written Assignments

You are required to complete seven written assignments. These assignments vary in what is requested and the type of responses (e.g., specific questions to be answered, essays to be written, and factual vs. creative work to be done). They can be the chapter-end questions in the textbook, or short essays or memos based on a scenario.  They reflect on your reading of the text and understanding of the content. You should develop answers and wherever possible cite sources. These assignments replace the traditional midterm and final examination. Organize your thoughts, cite sources, and edit carefully.

Final Project

You are required to complete a final project that provides you with the opportunity to analyze and evaluate approaches that align ethics and law with business and organizational results. You will analyze a particular issue, provide strategies for improving organizational effectiveness, and demonstrate effectiveness. For complete guidelines and requirements of the final project, please refer to the Final Project area of the course Web site. 

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

A

=

93–100

B

=

83–87

A–

=

90–92

C

=

73–82

B+

=

88–89

F

=

Below 73

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or higher on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., assignments, discussion postings, projects, etc.). Graduate students must maintain a B average overall to remain in good academic standing.

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Thomas Edison State University is committed to maintaining academic quality, excellence, and honesty. The University expects all members of its community to share the commitment to academic integrity, an essential component of a quality academic experience.

Students at Thomas Edison State University are expected to exhibit the highest level of academic citizenship. In particular, students are expected to read and follow all policies, procedures, and program information guidelines contained in publications; pursue their learning goals with honesty and integrity; demonstrate that they are progressing satisfactorily and in a timely fashion by meeting course deadlines and following outlined procedures; observe a code of mutual respect in dealing with mentors, staff, and other students; behave in a manner consistent with the standards and codes of the profession in which they are practicing; keep official records updated regarding changes in name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address; and meet financial obligations in a timely manner. Students not practicing good academic citizenship may be subject to disciplinary action including suspension, dismissal, or financial holds on records.

All members of the University community are responsible for reviewing the Academic Code of Conduct Policy in the University Catalog and online at www.tesu.edu.

Academic Dishonesty

Thomas Edison State University expects all of its students to approach their education with academic integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. All mentors and administrative staff members at the University insist on strict standards of academic honesty in all courses. Academic dishonesty undermines this objective. Academic dishonesty can take the following forms:

Plagiarism

Thomas Edison State University is committed to helping students understand the seriousness of plagiarism, which is defined as using the work and ideas of others without proper citation. The University takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing are subject to discipline under the academic code of conduct policy.

If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, or without identifying it as a direct quote, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources. Copying and pasting from the Internet, without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources, constitutes plagiarism. (For information about how to cite Internet sources, see Online Student Handbook > Academic Standards > “Citing Sources.”)

Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else’s. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources.

Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism.

Clearly, plagiarism, no matter the degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself.

For examples of unintentional plagiarism, advice on when to quote and when to paraphrase, and information about writing assistance, click the links provided below.

Examples of Unintentional Plagiarism

When to Quote and When to Paraphrase

Writing Assistance at Smarthinking

Disciplinary Process for Plagiarism

Acts of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism violate the Academic Code of Conduct.

If an incident of plagiarism is an isolated minor oversight or an obvious result of ignorance of proper citation requirements, the mentor may handle the matter as a learning exercise. Appropriate consequences may include the completion of tutorials, assignment rewrites, or any other reasonable learning tool in addition to a lower grade for the assignment or course. The mentor will notify the student and appropriate dean of the consequence by e-mail.

If the plagiarism appears intentional and/or is more than an isolated incident, the mentor will refer the matter to the appropriate dean, who will gather information about the violation(s) from the mentor and student, as necessary. The dean will review the matter and notify the student in writing of the specifics of the charge and the sanction to be imposed.

Possible sanctions include:

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