The Economic Significance of Discrimination at the Workplace - Term Paper Example

 THE ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF DISCRIMINATION AT THE WORK PLACE INTRODUCTION As Martin Luther King has declared in his speech entitled I have a Dream last Aug. 28, 1963 in Washington D.C., “judge people not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” (Levey, 15). The workplace is indeed a very complicated place. Some people prefer to interact with particular skin colors or particular gender. On a personal level, preferences are fine and opinions and biases should be kept as one’s own. In the work place, business owners, superiors, decision makers and even the workers themselves should be responsible in making office transactions such as hiring, promotions and other office processes bias free and free of discrimination or else they have to face the legal consequences of the law. Lots of these employment acts and laws are already implemented to protect employees and to ultimately wipe out discrimination from the workplace. But due to some resistance from different sectors, discrimination has persisted. Discrimination in the workplace is not isolated but a universal problem. It has not been totally stopped or erased from the office systems. An interesting theory - the Rational Bias Theory suggests that discrimination propagates in a system, because the members or the parts of that particular system are cooperative to the flaws of the system itself. As elaborately discussed by Susan Trentham and Laurie Larwood in their paper Gender Discrimination and the Workplace: An Examination of Rational Bias Theory, “there are instances in which engagement in discrimination seems justified to an employee, even though, he or she may be aware of regulations prohibiting bias and may personally prefer to treat others equally” (Larwood & Gattike r‚ 1985; Larwood et al.‚ 1984). This attitude is definitely brought by the circumstances an employee or any individual is in. It is as if he/she has not many choices. Being this permissive and supportive of the circumstances, the employee, the decision maker and even the clients are partly responsible for the existence of discrimination in the workplace. DISCRIMINATION AT THE WORK PLACE Discrimination at the workplace has many faces. It may be gender discrimination, it maybe a discrimination due to racial color, a discrimination against physical disabilities and many more. The more commonly found among these forms of discrimination are the discrimination against gender and color. How does discrimination take place? In general, discrimination occurs when an employee suffers unfavorable or unfair treatment due to their race, religion, national origin, disabled or veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics (Directgov, 2010). This may take place in various workplace transactions such as recruitment, hiring, job evaluations for promotions, adjustments of compensation packages, trainings and even on disciplinary actions. The ultimate key to avoid discrimination is to treat all employees equally without giving preferential treatment to some particular employees because of certain factors. Opportunities must be opened to everyone and should never be based on arbitrary or subjective reasons. It would help a lot if companies open their evaluation guidelines for a fairer and a more equitable assessment of work capabilities and job performance of employees. Even the dismissal of employees should be based on standard procedures and not on biases. An article entitled “Discrimination In The Workplace”, classified discrimination into direct, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation (Directgov, 2010). Accordingly direct discrimination takes place when an employer treats an employee less favorably over another employee. There may be a lot of reasons but if they are not based on objective job performances, this is when direct discrimination takes place. Indirect discrimination on the other hand, takes place when a working condition or rule disadvantages one group of people more than another (Directgov, 2010). This includes hiring policies such as applicants should be clean shaven which is an utmost discrimination to some members of religious groups. The article adds though that if the requirement is necessary in the performance of the job, then it is a justifiable requirement. Harassment is another form of discrimination where a person is being harassed, made fun of at work or in a work related setting (Directgov, 2010). It is an offensive or intimidating behavior meant to undermine or offend a person. When a person reports and files a complaint against another person about discrimination and when the complainant is now less favored over another employee, victimisation now takes place. The complainant is now being singled out and left out. The problem here is that claims for discrimination in the workplace are mostly subjective and based on how really the employee feels towards the treatment of the employers and co-employees. Gender Discrimination in the Workplace History would show that women in most cases are at the disadvantage in the workplace. Recent statistics would show that until now there is a male–female income disparity or the gender gap in earnings (Wikipedia, 2010). The general percentage would show that women who work at about 60 hours a week would earn at about 78.3% compared to what the men of the same category earned (Bose, 2010). Considering the relevant employment variables such as educational attainment, age, position level and job tenure, women’s salaries still lag behind men. The wage difference is significantly big. In fact, most women are stuck in low-paying jobs and statistics show that victims of unemployment are mostly women. Because of efforts to minimize gender biases in the workplace, some of these discriminatory practices are now minimized. Although some practices still persist like the hiring of preferably male applicants and gender stereotyping involving gender roles in the workplace. While it is true that the female members of our species have typically more obligations than the male species, this does not give hiring companies the right to give favorable treatment to the male members of our society. Indeed women have are obliged to attend to their young and to attend to social obligations which could and might greatly affect their performance on the job. Women also get pregnant which at times may cause downtime in the compliance of required outputs. But since time, this has been the constant role of women – to mother, to nurture and to take care of this generation and more to come. These obligations may sometimes be the causes of certain discriminatory practices such as not hiring of women with children, terminating services of women who get pregnant, hiring of men with children over women with children and many more. Another form of gender discrimination as stated in the article of Debopriya Bose entitled Gender Discrimination in the Workplace, “discrimination is also brought about by the different gender roles in the workplace”. Men and women tend to have different strengths which eventually become the deciding eligibility of companies in hiring applicants for certain positions. Racial Discrimination in the Workplace It is definitely unlawful to discriminate a person, an employee or an applicant because of color and race. Hiring, termination, promotion, training and raise in compensation must all be anchored on acceptable and objective regulations. Racial biases must never be a priority on these labor dealings. Once hired, derogatory comments against a person’s race or color and other practices are also greatly prohibited. Contrary to labor laws and employments acts, traces of racial discrimination towards migrant workers can be observed. These workers are still being held distinct and some in fact work under unacceptable conditions deprived of certain rights and privileges. The grounds are not yet level for them and opportunities still seem narrow for them. Another picture of racial discrimination is that of the African-Americans. Up to this time, they are still being hindered from the full use of their qualifications and talents. They are over-represented in the lowest-paying jobs but they are underrepresented in the managerial and technical positions (Brimmer, 1993). In addition, the educational level of African-Americans remains way below with the educational level of the whites. Brimmer added that we can relate this factor to the institutional legacy of previous discriminations. These Black Americans have a whole history of discrimination. The collective effects of this discrimination can still be felt for generations. They have limited access to good education. They have limited access to the accumulation of wealth and properties. There is in fact a very wide gap between the income of the whites and the income of the blacks. On Age Discrimination in the Workplace Age discrimination mostly affects those aged 40 and up. These are the people who were displaced from their jobs and are forced to look for a new one. Unfortunately, the competition is stiff. Most of these aged applicants have the best qualifications. They have the experience and the training. They are in fact overqualified to some positions and are entitled to a higher pay. But with a younger applicant for a lesser pay, companies would opt to maximize their choices. Religious Discrimination in the Workplace Some societies and communities live in fear. Governments and institutions are threatened, all because of religious differences. But this universal phenomenon is never alienated from the workplace. Violence, offensive behavior because of religious differences or religious discrimination is also a perennial problem among industries. Different religious groups have different customs and practices. They have different holy days and feast days. These differences put some pressure on the part of the administrators. Ignorance of these practices may also incite disagreements and differences in opinions causing some strain in the workplace. Managements must take careful steps to resolve these issues of differing religions and beliefs. People live to live their beliefs. But they also die to sanctify the supremacy of their beliefs. A newer form of Discrimination in the Workplace Brian Amble on his article Workplace Discrimination ‘a Global Problem’ has written about this newer form of discrimination in the workplace which includes having a disability, having HIV/AIDS and sexual orientation. Other Forms of Discrimination in the Workplace The above cited discriminations are the most common. But the general protected areas of discrimination include discrimination against ethnicity or national origin, political affiliation, language abilities, citizenship, disability or medical condition, gender identity, marital status, military veteran status and use of tobacco products (Wikipedia, 2010). ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF DISCRIMINATION AT THE WORKPLACE Effects on businesses Oftentimes, discrimination does more harm than good to businesses. It does not only destroy reputation of companies but it also limits the advancements of businesses as these businesses limits themselves to a certain group of people. As has been continuously observed, there has been a correlation between loyalty, retention and discrimination (Wikipedia,2010). Companies tend to lose good people constantly with the presence of discrimination. It also sends wrong signals to potential clients. Effects on the Person Natalie Grace in her article The Effects of Discrimination in the Workplace has listed four effects of discrimination such as increased unemployment rate, violence, lesser productivity and hopelessness. Job opportunities are only for those who are favored by the management to get hired and they may belong to one group or class. With this scenario, all the other applicants remain jobless. Being jobless for a while, and being turned down several times has great psychologically effects on a person. It lowers down self esteem thereby reducing the energy level of an employee. He or she then loses interest in work, with peers and with his/her duties and responsibilities. Wallowing in this hopeless state, the feelings of anger would sometimes set in. At times, these feelings may induce the affected person to resort to violence or just simply to become passive (Kelley, 2010). Being passive here is a coping mechanism to be able to ignore the discrimination or just plainly to accept the fate. The more devastating effects of discrimination is on the physical health of a person. Studies show that stress resulting from discrimination such as losing a job, lack of respect of co-workers, unfriendly working environment has led to increased cardiovascular reactivity (Kelley,2010). Increased blood pressure also results from psychological distress. Thus, there is a relationship between psychological health and mental well-being. Depression, psychological distress from discrimination causes mental distress in a person. Effects on the National Progress and Economic Growth After employees have been discriminated and therefore disposed, the oldies now live on menial retirement checks, the younger ones live on credit cards while still others live on depleting savings. Overtime, houses are either sold or worst of all houses go to the banks for foreclosure. A classic picture of the gross effect of discrimination is the loss in GDP in the American Economy. Figures in 1991 would show that the racial discrimination of African-Americans was partly the reason for the roughly 3.8% GDP Loss or an equivalent of $215 billion (Brimmer, 1993). Despite all the equality laws, discrimination can still be felt in the underutilization of talents and skills and under productivity of African Americans. Instead of helping people who live on or below the poverty level, discrimination in the workplace is the catalyst that leads people directly to poverty. Discrimination in fact, creates a web of poverty. It is the force behind child labor and social exclusion, (Wikepedia, 2010). The measure should not only be having employment for people but for people to enjoy a better life. The equality gap that divides citizens should be narrowed down to level the opportunities to live well and live abundantly. Unfortunately we don’t exist in an ideal world. The equality gap is still so wide. Poverty is still a universal phenomenon. If we look at the bigger picture, the act of governments in neglecting to tackle these widening socio-economic inequalities not only amounts to accepting a waste of human talent and resources but could have disastrous effects on the national cohesion, political stability and economic growth of countries, (Amble, 2003). CONCLUSION “The elimination of discrimination at work is central to social justice,” (ILO, 2009). It should be made part of the ideals and mandates of institutions all over the world. Equal opportunities and decent work must be provided by governments to ultimately reduce poverty and promote sustainable economic development. But the question is how do we control if not eliminate discrimination? The bottom line is respect. Respect for each other’s rights, respect for each other’s practices and respect for each other’s beliefs. The acceptance of diversity must be ingrained in the minds of both the employees and the management. There are no one shot solutions to the problems of discrimination. Governments have promulgated the Employment Acts and the legal remedies to protect victims. The only other way to control discrimination is by being responsible and having the knowledge of one’s rights. Knowledge of the scopes of the law equips people the power to resist threats of discrimination. Should employees become victims themselves, they must not hide behind the mantle of fear but they should speak out and file appropriate charges. On the management level, there are no clean solutions but there are how-to guidelines to avoid accusations of discrimination. Dawn Hawkins has outlined in his article “Employers: How to Avoid Discrimination Accusations in the Workplace”, three tips for managements to take into consideration to avoid discrimination. First, is to disburse duties equally without overloading performers. Problems encountered with employees should be discussed in private and never in front of other employees. Documentation should be kept for employees having problems and for problem employees. It would greatly help if companies can draft discrimination policies and conduct discrimination policy trainings (Dodson, 2002). It would also help a lot if companies take the effort to awaken the knowledge of cultural differences and diversity among its employees. Employee organizations are also good venues for employees to interact and share differences to ultimately avoid discrimination. These efforts of the companies and institutions will not be put to waste after all these campaigns form part of their Corporate Social Responsibility to the Society. BIBLIOGRAPHY Amble, Brian. “Workplace discrimination 'a global problem'.” Management-Issues. 13 May 2003. Nov. 2010 Brimmer, Andrew. “The economic cost of discrimination - impact on US gross domestic product.” BUSINESS APPLICATIONS Black Enterprise. Nov, 1993. Nov. 2010. Bose, Debopriya. “Gender Discrimination in the Workplace.” Buzzle.com. 6 Jan. 2010. Nov. 2010. < www.buzzle.com/.../gender-discrimination-in-the-workplace.html> Grace , Natalie. “The Effects of Discrimination in the Workplace” eHow, Inc. Copyright © 1999-2010. Nov. 2010. Hawkins , Dawn “Employers: How to Avoid Discrimination Accusations in the Workplace.” Business & Finance. August 28, 2009. Nov. 2010 Kelley, Tasha. “The Effects of Discrimination in the Workplace.” SUITE101.COM . Oct 18, 2010. Nov. 2010. Levey, Curt A. “The Legal Implications of Complying with Race and Gender- Based Client Preferences.” Google docs. 12 March, 2007. November, 2010. < online.wsj.com/public/resources/.../law_Leveypaper.pdf> Trentham1, Susan and Larwood, Laurie. “Gender Discrimination and the Workplace: An Examination of Rational Bias Theory” University of Nevada‚ Reno Sex Roles‚ Vol. 38‚ Nos. 1/2. 1998. Nov. 2010. < http://www.springerlink.com/content/v7037p76k7635856/> “Discrimination in the workplace.” Directgov. ND. November, 2010 “Employment Discrimination” Wikipedia. 31 October 2010. Nov. 2010. “Male–female income disparity in the United States” WIKIPEDIA. 7 November, 2010. November, 2010. “Understanding Workplace Discrimination.” AllBusiness.com. Copyright © 1999. November, 2010. < www.allbusiness.com/human.../workplace.../1317-1.html> “Workplace discrimination.” International Labor Organization. 31 July 2009. Nov. 2010. Read More