Work Discrimination - Research Paper Example

? Workplace discrimination Introduction Today the problem of workplace discrimination becamevery relevant. With the development of globalization people received new opportunities, which are accompanied by new difficulties. Now you can hardly find a company, where the employees are the representatives of only one race and culture. Globalization provided people with the opportunity to travel, thus, now it is possible to find a job abroad. However, it is a well-known fact that immigrants face many challenges in the country they come to live and work to. One of the challenges is workplace discrimination. Now the representatives of racial minorities tend to relate their problems at work to their origin. The given work will provide the analysis of one of such cases that happened to Maria, a woman of Latino ancestry, who accused her employers in being discriminative. The work will prove that the case of Maria is not related to the problem of discrimination, but it is rather a workplace ethical issue. Case summary Maria is the only person of color and the only woman in the department she works in. She failed to receive a promotion and placed a complaint. Maria is sure that she did not receive a promotion, because of her gender and the color of her skin. The person who received a promotion is a white man, who has less experience than Maria has. She was also offended, when she was told by her supervisors that she has an accent that is difficult for customers to understand. The company defends its position stating that the work of Maria is highly appreciated and discrimination is not the reason of her fail. Moreover, the behavior of Maria is often too aggressive and she is often late for work, once she was even absent. When a supervisor asked her for explanation, she stated that her family member needed help and it was her duty to help. Moreover, when Maria is speaking to the customers, she is speaking very fast not taking into account her natural accent. Thus, when the supervisors were making decision concerning the promotion, they took these cases into consideration. Case analysis Problem statement The main problem of the case is to find the ways to avoid such cases in future as they create negative atmosphere in the modern companies. The case should be thoroughly analyzed to reveal if discrimination really prevented Maria from getting a promotion or there were other reasons of her failure. It is essential to define how the origin of Maria affected this case. Workplace promotion related problems First it is essential to define the laws of ethics, which defend employees. There are laws, the violation of which leads to unlawful discrimination. The employee must not refuse to provide a promotion if the person is: disabled; pregnant or on maternity leave; the representative of racial, sexual or gender minority(Dale, 2003). The problems usually occur if a person belongs to one of these groups. That is why employers tend to avoid hiring such employees, notwithstanding that this is also a violation of the laws and ethical principles. The employers want to avoid the problems connected with the complaints such employees usually made as they usually feel offended and discriminated (Dale, 2003). The main cause of tensions between Maria and others The main cause of difficulties, which may occur in Maria’s relations with the workers of the company and the customers, is the cultural differences. Maria is a well-qualified and high-valued employee, but the peculiarities of the culture she belongs to create some difficulties. Maria does not realize that the company has its own rules, which should be followed by all the employees and these rules are not related to the common ethical laws. Latino culture Family life and importance The representatives of Latino culture pay much attention to gender differences. The main task of a woman is to be a housewife and take care about her family. The family values of Latino Americans are very strong as the family is the most important thing in the life of women and also in the life of men who strongly preserve family values. Workplace ethics Notwithstanding that family values are very important for Latinos, no employers take these differences into account and if a woman want to make a good career, her family should help her do that by accepting some of her obligations. Workplace ethics include some points that help women, for example, individual work schedule, but this still does not allow to be late for work or miss it (Pincus, 2000). Discrimination Discrimination based on Latino values Latino Americans strongly emphasize gender roles and differences. If a person wants to break the rules, he/she is condemned. Women are still severely discriminated in the families of Latino Americans as their main task is to look after children and be housewives. Thus, it is very difficult for a woman to make a carrier as she has many obligations she simply can’t ignore (Hernandez, 2006). Discrimination based on work law Women are very often discriminated at the workplace. Men very often receive promotions instead of women, because they are considered to be the more devoted workers than women. Women usually have many problems connected with the family and children, thus they simply can’t devote much time to work. According to the laws, employers must not refuse a job and promotion if a woman has part-time job or her individual schedule, but they may refuse a promotion or a job if she violates the rules established in the company. Unfair treatment of an employee Notwithstanding that the laws are to defend the employees, the laws are often violated by employers as they preserve the interests of the company. Women are usually refused a job if they have or are going to have children, because the care after children often prevents them from work. Poor work ethics Unfortunately the ethical principles are not followed in many companies as the minorities suffer from discrimination. The employees and employers usually violate ethical principles by treating minorities differently. Women and the representatives of sexual and racial minorities are often refused good positions. However, sometimes minorities make ungrounded complaints, thus each case should be analyzed separately (Indiana Right to Work). How to avoid similar problems in future Policy In order to avoid similar problems in future the company should make corresponding changes in its policy by making human resource managers responsible for careful explaining company’s rules to employees. Additionally, if a person is refused a promotion, he/she should receive the explanation of the reasons. The company should also improve workplace ethics not to make the minorities feel discriminative. Conclusion Maria thought that she was discriminated, but the causes of her failure are not the color of her skin and her gender. However, the origin of Maria played an essential role as the values, which her family follows, prevent her from making a good career. Her everyday responsibilities can’t serve as an excuse for her tardiness or absence. Speaking about the accent, Maria should understand that if she speaks the language differently, she should speak slowly and try to improve her pronunciation. Thus, the case of Maria is not related to the problem of workplace discrimination, the decision of her bosses was fair. In order to avoid such situation in future Maria should be more punctual and polite with the customers. It is necessary she should talk to her family and explain the situation in order to define the priorities and find a compromise. References Dale, M. (2003). A Manager's Guide to Recruitment and Selection. London, UK: Kogan-Page. Hernandez, T. K. (2006). Latino Inter-Ethnic Discrimination and the Diversity Defense. Rutgers School of Law. Retrieved August 1, 2013, from law.bepress.com/rutgersnewarklwps/art36 Indiana Right to Work. (2010). National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Retrieved August 1, 2013, from www.nrtw.org/files/nrtw/Indiana_Right_to_ Pincus, F. (2000). Discrimination Comes in Many Forms. American Behavioral Scientist . Retrieved August 1, 2013, from http://abs.sagepub.com/content/40/2/186. Read More