Introduction
The works of an administrative assistant is challenging and further more too much demanding given that one deals with various human characteristics and behavior to ensure that the objectives of the company are met. In a business scenario one is expected to be organized systematic and act within a supervisory role by ensuring that the organizational time and resources are used accordingly and are not wasted to meet ones personal interests. This kind of work demands hardworking, ethically, and morally upright individuals just as Mary is in this story.
For proper discharge of ones duties as for example in Mary’s scenario, one needs to look at the legal provisions governing the employer and employees in various countries. In the legal provisions of the United States that deal with employees and employer, the laws stipulate that all aspects of physical working conditions are comprehensively covered. This offers the employees protection from all forms of discrimination and exploitation at the work place. In the United States the Occupational Safety and Health act of 1970 offers employees’ protection against occupational hazards (Jasper, 2003, p. 41).
As long as the workers remain loyal to the employment terms offered then they are entitled to safe working conditions. In case these conditions are not met then the workers can sue the company in a federal court. Among the rights that the workers are entitled to is free advice on regulations governing their work and this should be clearly explained by the employer. It is within the legal provisions to give warnings for employees who have committed mistakes within the organizations and upon which legal actions and disciplinary measures can be taken should such behavior continue (Roder & Gopfert, 2007, p. 1).
In accordance with the laws governing work place it is clearly stipulated that there is equal opportunities to all employees should they be engaged in similar positions at work. This is irrespective of their gender of physique. It is also important to note that these laws are similar in United States and Europe. The provision to constantly review the wage in accordance with the economic situation is also taken into consideration.
In addition to all the areas covered concerning the employer and employees, it is within the mandate of the employer to allow the employees to join unions and other medical agencies such as insurance companies. Fair treatment of the employees irrespective of gender is a provision that the European countries have agreed on as a whole in addressing issues related to employees and their respective employers (Ales, Lorber & Sachs, 2009, p. 4). The United States has a similar law though it is lagging behind the European countries in terms of implementation of the laws. This is further shown by the fact that there are more cases of discrimination in the United States than in European countries.
In the United States, an employee is more likely to be mistreated by private employers more than in Europe. This is because the laws in the United States do not limit the power the private employer has over the employee while such a limitation exists in the European working rules (Busse, 2009, p. 27).
Should Mary decide to take legal action against the errant employees with the government agencies, then one of the challenges she is likely to experience is that of bureaucracy. These cases take time to be addressed due to the long procedures involved when dealing with governmental agencies. In addition to this she would be required to produce documented evidence implicating the employees and such an act would be very challenging. Filing a formal complain would mean destroying relationships with other employees as handing them over to government agencies would mean creating enmity in discharging her duties. The issue of bribery and corruption can be a major challenge and can not be ruled out as some of the government agencies thrive under corruption. Recently various formal agencies have been experiencing loss of data due to vandalism and this would pose a major challenge and the important data required to argue the cases would have been lost or vandalized.
Should Mary decide to take the move and alienate her supervisors in attempting to solve the eminent problem then the immediate supervisors will see her act as that of a traitor given that she has only stayed in the organization for only four months. So by all means this will not be received well by those who supervise her. On the other hand should she not act and join the rest of the employees, she would feel discontented and should she continue with this then the organization would lose a lot of revenue and within no time they will be jobless and have achieved nothing in terms of personal satisfaction at the work place. Though reporting the matter to the higher supervisors and overlooking the role of the immediate supervisors would be taken as insubordination it would make her more happy and determined. This way she would feel she has done something that is morally right and in accordance to her administrative duties.
In addressing the issue at hand and the looming problem, Mary as an administrative assistance has the sole role of trying to influence the managers to stick to professionalism and address the issue of redundancy at the work place promptly or else risk losing their jobs. This is based on the fact that if they cannot meet the requirements of their job specification then they are incapacitated to discharge their duties and should be relieved off their duties. At the same time she should strive to ensure that the cause of this problem is addressed at its root cause and let all the junior employees have their complaints addressed.
Cooperation is the most important thing when addressing this problem and she should involve also her immediate supervisor and address the problem effectively. Once all the stakeholders are involved and the right protocol followed then every one will feel that fairness in disciplining errant employees prevails and at the end this would leave Mary a happy employee striving to meet her ideology of how a work place should be.
At the end of the exercise the supervisors and the managers will be happy with her and she would not feel alienated by other employees which would affect her normal discharge of duties. Addressing this problem is the effective way of ensuring that people are paid for doing what they are supposed to do within the organization setting and not merely wasting a company’s resources and time.
It is however important to point out that the reaction Mary would get from her supervisors would be different if she was in the United States and also if she was in Europe. This is because the current management approach being used in the United States is more of a humanistic model than a systems one. Hence supervisors here would not mind this behavior of the employees as long as it does not impact negatively on their productivity (Jasper, 2003, p. 19). However the reaction in Europe would be different as most supervisors would appreciate if Mary informed them of the decision and would in most cases take action against the employees. This is because such behavior is not tolerated in this region regardless of whether it has an impact on productivity or not.
REFERENCES
Ales, E., Lorber, P. & Sachs, C. (2009). Fundamental Social Rights in Europe. Oxford:
Intersentia.
Roder, G. & Gopfert, B. (2007). Restructuring a Business in Europe: Legal Questions for
Employers. London: Matthew Bender
Busse, R. (2009). Fired, Laid off or Forced Out: A Complete Guide to Severance, Benefits and
Your Rights when You’re Starting Over. New York: Sphinx Publishers
Jasper, M. (2003). Employee Rights in the Workplace. New York: OUP
