This week’s assignment forum focuses on the fringe benefits provided by an employer’s compensation plan. This is the fifth assignment forum related to your final project.
Your Unit 5 assignment forum is based on the Whitley vs BP, P.L.C. case study found in Chapter 12 of your textbook. The case involved a denial of benefits. At issue was the legality of a stock-drop suit directly in light of the Supreme Court’s recently stated requirements for such cases. The appellate court ultimately found the stockholders’ amended complaint as insufficient, and the district court erred in granting the stockholders’ motion to amend. You will explore the facts leading up to a decision in this case and evaluate the importance of this ruling to human resources practice and your role as a human resources practitioner.
Instructions:
As the Human Resource Manager at GreenTech Ltd., you are ready to prepare your next report. You will review, assess, and analyze a topic, event, or case, and based on your findings, you will share a written report with your supervisor, the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). Your report will summarize the topic, event, or case and will include a recommendation for improving HR practice at your company.
Unit 5 Topic:
Read the Whitley vs BP, P.L.C. case study
found in Chapter 12 of your textbook
readings this week.
Based on your review of the case study, consider the following:
The appellate court ultimately found the stockholders’ amended complaint as insufficient, and the district court erred in granting the stockholders’ motion to amend. Consider the determining factors that led to this conclusion. In responding to this topic, be sure to consider any types of pension plans the court referenced in their ruling. Benefits such as pension plans and healthcare plans are commonly leveraged to attract and retain top talent. Evaluate how the role of benefits as a compensation strategy impacts your practice as a Human Resources Manager.
Based on your review of the case study, address the role of benefits, in particular retirement benefits, in hiring practices in general and what the employer’s mandatory or discretionary obligations are regarding the structure of those benefits.
Part 1
• Summarize the law or legal principle involved. (This can generally be done in one paragraph.)
• Summarize the case or event. Share the important facts and highlights that are important from a Human Resources practice perspective. (This can generally be done with one or two short paragraphs.)
• Explain why the facts and highlights you chose were important for the practice of HR.
Part 2
• List at least five ways this case or event might impact the practice of HR. (This is a brainstorming activity. A bulleted list is fine for this.)
• Identify which of the five items is most important to HR. Provide an assessment and analysis of that item, along with one directly related specific recommendation for the HR team. The recommendation must be actionable, must be explained, and must be supported with evidence from your readings and research.
(Keep in mind generic statements, broad ideas, unsupported personal opinions, and merely repeating what is in this assignment description do not satisfy the assignment requirements.)
This assignment is your opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the law or legal principles based on the case or event reviewed as it relates to the practice of HR. This assignment is also your opportunity to demonstrate your critical thinking and analytical skills by using the case or event as a catalyst to explore how HR practices can be improved.
The goal of this assignment is not to do as much writing as possible but to do as much focused and thoughtful idea-sharing as possible.
Make sure you use evidence and support for each section of your response.
The ideal assignment will include the following:
• Introduction
• Response to Part 1 (with citations linked to a reference)
• Response to Part 2 (with citations linked to a reference)
• Conclusion (with citations linked to a reference)
• References (with a minimum of three references)
Requirements:
• Submit your assignment in the text box of the designated Unit Assignment Forum. APA format is not required for any assignment forum submission. However, all assignments should be well-organized and include an introduction and conclusion.
• Support your answers with evidence from at least three resources (text, readings, research, etc.) using citations and references.
• The required length of your entire response is approximately four to five paragraphs (summary, evaluation, comparison, opinion).
• Review one to two classmate’s postings after posting your submission to the assignment forum. Use the RISE model of peer feedback to provide your classmates with constructive feedback that they may consider when finalizing the final project later in the semester.
Be sure to read the criteria below by
which your work will be evaluated before
you write and again after you write.
Evaluation Rubric for Unit Assignment Forum
CRITERIA
Needs Improvement
Proficient
Exemplary
0 – 14 points
15 – 19 points
20 – 25 points
Part # 1
Response
Only answered one aspect of Part 1, did not provide an adequate
response,
and/or key requirements are missing or not met.
Relevancy to the practice of HR missing.
Answered some but not all aspects
of Part 1, did not provide a thorough response, and/or key requirements were
not fully met. Relevance to the practice of HR is not thoroughly developed
and/or not supported.
Answered all aspects of Part 1,
provided a thorough response, and all requirements were fully met. Relevance
to the practice of HR is clearly and thoroughly stated and fully
supported.
Part # 2
Response
Only answered one aspect of Part 2,
did not provide an adequate response, and/or key requirements are missing or
not met. Relevancy to the practice of HR missing.
Answered some but not all aspects
of Part 2, did not provide a thorough response, and/or key requirements were
not fully met. Relevance to the practice of HR is not thoroughly developed
and/or not supported.
Answered all aspects of Part 2, provided a thorough
response, and all requirements were fully met. Relevance to the practice of
HR is clearly and thoroughly stated and fully supported.
Response to
Classmates
Did not provide adequate feedback using the RISE
model and/or provided 0 replies.
Provided adequate constructive
feedback using the RISE model that may be used to improve classmate’s work
product and/or provided 1 reply.
Provided valuable constructive feedback using the
RISE model that may be used to improve the classmate’s work product. Provided
2 or more replies.
0 – 8 points
9 – 13 points
14 – 15 points
Resources
0 -1 resources and/or the sources
are not associated or aligned with the assignment content.
2 resources and/or sources are not
clearly associated or aligned with the assignment content.
3 or more resources and/or sources are clearly associated or
aligned with the assignment content.
0 – 5 points
6 – 8 points
9 – 10 points
Clear and
Professional
Writing
Writing and format show significant
errors
that impede professional
presentation.
Writing and format contain few
errors that do not impede professional presentation.
Writing and format are clear,
professional, and error-free.
