The labor market can be described as the market where willing workers offer their labor services and the employers find and utilize the services of the willing workers. The employers give the employees an opportunity to offer their services and reward the employees by paying them salaries as a form of compensation for their services. Different institutions hire employees in line with their line of business, the labor laws and regulations and their individual policies with regard to engagement of staff. The overall aim of the institutions is to have their business move forward by having successful initiation and completion of different transactions. To achieve maximum return from their line of business, institutions have adopted different success strategies in relation to the acquisition, management and discharge of employees (Steffy & Bray, 1991). Different organizations have engaged the best-qualified human resource management experts in a bid to ensure that the cost of labor is well manage and that employees are satisfied at the work place.
However, shortcomings are inherent in the labor market. These shortcomings undermine the rights and performance of different employees in the labor market. One of the major shortcomings of the labor market is discrimination at the work place. Discrimination manifests itself differently in different organizations. In general, discrimination can be defined as the different treatment of individuals with equal qualification based on their age, gender, nationality or disability. Discrimination has adverse effects on the productivity of employees and the overall performance of different organizations in their respective lines of business (Howell, 1902).
As one of the measures to combat discrimination at the work place, different organizations have put stringent guiding principles that guide their human resource managers. However, due to the different complexities in different organizations and the general labor market the labor market has posed a great challenge to the regulating authorities in terms of elimination of workplace discrimination.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an agency in the United States of America that is responsible for the enforcement of laws against discrimination at the workplace. The organization attends to discrimination complaints based on an individual’s color, race, nationality, religion, sex, age, genetic formation and disability (Evans & Niemeyer, 2004). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seeks to mitigate and eventually eliminate discrimination at the workplace. The EEOC has its headquarters in Washington, DC. It also channels its services through 53 offices throughout the United States of America. The EEOC has with the authority to investigate complaints of discrimination form employees and charge the employers involved in acts of discrimination. The organization acts as the watchdog of the rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals and the interests of the public. The organization uses different guidelines to scrutinize allegations regarding discrimination and compile reports of findings of the facts associated with particular cases. Federal agencies look upon the EEOC on aspects of equal opportunity employment programs by the federal government. It provides leadership and guidance to federal agencies. It ensures federal agencies and their respective departments comply with the EEOC regulations and avails technical assistance to state agencies with regard to complaint settlement.
The EEOC has a great impact on the management of organizations in the United States of America. Specific decisions relating to employment by different organizations are pegged to the guidelines of the EEOC. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sheds light to organizations on how employers should carry out their recruitment, with minimum discrimination. Employers are more cautious when it comes to recruitment and handling of their employees because the manner in which the employer hires and treats their employees can indicate whether the employer is discriminate or not. The EEOC analyses workforce utilization by different organizations by comparing the sex and race composition of an organization’s workforce against the composition of the labor market. This helps to point out whether an organization discriminates in terms of the recruitment of its staff based on any factor that may point to discrimination. The impact of this comparison is balanced policies for the recruitment of its staff.
The human resource is the section of an organization that has the mandate of the acquisition, management and discharge of human resources. The human resources department hires, trains and distributes employees across the different departments of an organization. The HR is vested with the role of ensuring compliance to the labor laws and regulations of a country (Sims, 2007). In terms of discrimination, the human resource department in an organization ensures that there is no discrimination whatsoever in any of its processes which include recruitment, training, motivation and retention of employees.
The fundamental aim of labour legislation is to ensure the weaker party is protected in the labor market. The establishment of specific bodies and laws is aimed at ensuring employees’ protection against abuses by employers. They also ensure that market forces alone do not manage employees. For instance, the freedom of association and worker safety and health in the United States of America encourages collective bargaining and agreement and protects workers by ensuring full freedom of association and self-organization.
References
Jones, J. W., Steffy, B. D., & Bray, D. W. (1991). Applying psychology in business: The handbook for managers and human resource professionals. Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books.
Evans, K., & Niemeyer, B. (2004). Reconnection: Countering social exclusion through situated learning. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Sims, R. R. (2007). Human resource management: Contemporary issues, challenges and opportunities. Greenwich, Conn: Information Age Publ.
Howell, G. (1902). Labour legislation, labour movements, and labour leaders. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.
