I’m working on a management discussion question and need an explanation to help me learn.

Question 1

Tom owns a small trucking firm. Tom has always hired employees on the basis of three qualifications: 1. They must have a high school diploma; 2. They must pass a short paper-and-pencil test which is given to all applicants; and 3. They must have a valid driver’s license if applying for the position of driver. The short test is interesting, as it was devised by Tom from sample questions found on a GED (General Education Degree) Equivalency Test. The test consists of 33 vocabulary and mathematical questions, each worth 3 points. Anyone scoring below 70 is automatically rejected. Last month Tom advertised in the local paper for two new drivers. Ten people applied for the openings, but Tom rejected four applicants because they were not high school graduates. Three others were rejected because of test scores below 70. The two white males hired scored the highest on the test, had high school degrees, and also had valid driver’s licenses. This week Tom was notified that two equal employment complaints had been filed against Tom and his firm. One complaint, a woman, alleges that the test does not measure a person’s ability to drive and is not a valid predictor of job success. The other complaint, a minority man, alleges that the high school diploma requirement is not related to the ability to do the job and unfairly discriminates against minorities. If you were an EEO investigator, how would you evaluate this selection procedure?

Question 2

You are a HR manager at Company A. Mike, 42 years old, has been a generally competent and productive welder at Company A for ten years. Mike has been popular with his co-workers. Although he periodically “blows up” at them, he always apologizes afterwards. His absenteeism rate has been higher than average for the last several years, with most absenteeism on Mondays. Also, it is not uncommon for Mike to be 10-15 minutes late at least once a week. But, because of a shortage of experienced welders and because Mike often cuts his lunch hour short to make up his tardiness time, you and other managers at Company A have decided to live with Mike’s attendance problems as long as they don’t become extensive. One day, Mike’s coworker James told you that Mike has been staying at the neighborhood bar for several hours after work most nights. James also said he had heard rumors that Mike was having personal problems at home. You don’t like to pry into the lives of your workers, but you know that you can’t ignore the situation much longer, especially with the others beginning to talk about Mike’s problem. How would you handle this? What actions, if any, would you take?