Employment Regulation and Agency

1. The last half of the 20th century saw development of the legal concepts that we know as EEO, Affirmative Action, Sexual (and other) Harassment, and several related ideas. Near the end of the century, we saw court decisions that recognized the rights of those who were adversely affected by the implementation of the ideas – so-called “reverse discrimination”. Discuss what direction you believe this type of law will take in the next 20 years, and how businesses can prepare best to deal with that trend.

2. Unions have represented employees since before the United States was formed. In the U.S., unionism peaked in the 1935-1945 period, and steadily declined ever since. Currently, about 13% of all jobs are unionized. Think about why unions grew in the first place, and why they lost membership later. Discuss the future of unionism in the U.S., and how business should prepare for that future.