This report is targeted to identify the issues and the problem which the organizations face from equal employment opportunity. Organizations have to face several challenges and they have to design techniques to overcome this problem. The aim of the equal employment opportunity act is to ensure that the organization is free from all sorts of discrimination and harassment related issues. The workplace must have rules and policies which are necessary to be followed. This law also empowers the physically disabled individuals who are less privileged than others but possess full potential to perform the task. The Equal Opportunity Act is designed to provide proper rights to the women, aboriginal people or other people which belong to some ethnic, racial backgrounds or some minority groups. This act ensures that they get proper jobs which suit their qualification.
This report first of all discusses what equal employment opportunity is and different factors on which employees in the organization are discriminated. Some of the discriminating factors in the organization are gender, race, religion, disability, genetics etc. This report also discusses about the importance of equal employment opportunity and benefits that the firm gains by complying to equal employment opportunity. This report also discusses the issues and problems that organization faces as they comply and implement equal employment opportunity. The report at the end gives conclusion.
INTRODUCTION
The Equal Employment Opportunity law is made to secure the rights of the individuals from any sort of discrimination or harassment within the organization. It ensures that the individuals get the jobs which suit their potential. The private employers, local governments, institutes which provide educational facilities and employment agencies etc. are all required to abide by this law.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Issues from which the rights of the individuals have been protected
This law protects the employees on the basis of the following issues and differences
Race, color, creed or Religion
This includes the discrimination of the employees on the basis of their
- physical appearance
- difference in skin color
- the individual belonging from a different religion etc (Equal Employment Opportunity, 2010)
In many organizations, the employees are discriminated by the fellow workers on the basis of race, color, creed or religion. In some cases, the management and even the employers are found discriminating employees as well that belong from a different class, race, color, religion, geographical background or any other discriminating factor. In United States, in the 20th century there were serious issues for the African-Americans regarding employment. The unemployment rate of the African Americans was very high. They were firstly not hired by the organization and even if they were hired they were offered the lowest level jobs. In the early days the Africans were not even allowed with the proper opportunity to gain education. Even if an individual succeeded in competing with all the barriers and acquired proper education then he was not grated a proper opportunity to work. This is the discrimination which is done on the basis of race, color and ethnic background on an individual. For the protection of the individuals from this sort of discrimination the Law was very helpful.
In the same way discriminating the individuals on the basis of the religion which they follow is also categorized as discrimination. The following of a particular religion does not affect the capacity of working of the individual.
Gender Biasness
Discriminating the individuals or offering undue benefits to the particular individual on the basis of their gender is unacceptable. Gender Biasness is the unequal treatment of the employees on the basis of gender differences. Discriminating the employees on the basis of the gender they belong to and offering them with benefits, promotions and privileges on the basis of their gender is called gender biasness. It is a major issue in many organizations and it directly impacts on the performance of the individuals (Hegewisch, Liepmann, Hayes, & Hartmann, 2010).
Less privileged individuals
Discriminating those individuals who are Disabled or who lack a particular skill set which others possess is also unacceptable. The hiring of the employees with disabilities for the tasks which they can perform and are competent to perform is one of the factors of the Equal Employment Opportunity (Taylor, 2010). The people with disabilities must not be discriminated and they must be offered with the jobs which they are capable to perform. The discrimination of the disabled people is an outcome of the attitudes of the employees working in the same environment.
Discrimination on the basis of genetics
Knowing the genetic fault of the other peer and discriminating them on that basis comes under this head and it is also unacceptable in terms of offering equal employment opportunities (Taylor, 2010). Discriminating someone on the basis of their genetics is called genetic discrimination. Genetic information of an individual includes the information about any sort or diseases or disorder in the family members or and medical history which they possess. The details which the organizations possess from the employees are strictly confidential and must not be shared with anyone else (Taylor, 2010).
The importance of Equal Employment Opportunity
The organizations also look forward to offer equal employment opportunity to the individuals. They do so for the following reasons which is
- They want to have a diverse and a skilled workforce as a part of the organization
- They want to have a workforce that is skilled and possess the expertise required for performing the specific task (Bao, 2012)
- The organizational cultures which provide the employees with fair work place practices and a proper environment to enhance their productivity so that they can grow together along with the organization (Harry, 2012)
- Hiring employees without any discrimination motivates the employees and creates an organizational culture that focuses and creativity on work rather than any discriminating factor (Pilbeam, & Corbridge, 2010)
- Employees that belong from different cultures, background, races, and religions help the organization in diversifying their thinking and approach. This helps the organization to be more successful (Harry, 2012).
The fair practices and the behavior of the employees on the basis of Equal Employment Opportunity in an organization aim to achieve the organizational goals.
BENEFITS OF COMPLYING WITH THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY LAW
- This provides an opportunity that the best employee available for the job is hired.
- The proper training and development of the employees ensures that they grow and enhance to work for the benefit of the organization.
- The environment must be productive so that the work environment is productive and the outcomes which are attained are aligned to benefit the organization and the employees respectively.
- The complaints from the employees must be communicated to them so that they can be handled promptly and efficiently (Pilbeam, & Corbridge, 2010).
- Take the feedback from the employees so that their view regarding the workplace issues can be analyzed and resolved.
- The decision of the management must not be biased.
- The social and the cultural backgrounds of the employees must be respected and no sort of discrimination must be done on this basis (Harry, 2012).
PROBLEMS OF EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
There are some issues which tend to persist in the organizations. These problems are frequently faced by the organizations even after they comply with the Equal Employment Opportunity Laws. The problems which arise and become challenges for the organizations in the future have been discussed below in detail. These issues at certain times arise because of the employees who are protected by the Law
These points align to the factors such as the race, religion and the gender basis along with the discrimination of the individuals on the basis of any sort of disability in a particular organization.
Discrimination by the protected member of the organization: This happens when the employees are harassed or discriminated from the member which belongs to the same class. These employees do so because they have faced the same from the other and hence they wish to discriminate others (Pilbeam, & Corbridge, 2010).
Discrimination against the same subclass: The employer cannot reject a candidate without any solid reasoning. If they reject a candidate of one group for a reason then they must do so for all the candidates. This problem arises usually in the gender differences. The law abstains from creating this difference on the basis of gender of the employees.
Discrimination on the basis of Intersectional differences: Discrimination of the individuals in an organization on the basis of more than one factor is called the Intersectional discrimination. This is done when an individual is discriminated on the basis of more than one factors mentioned above (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2009).
Discriminating the individuals on the basis of stereotyping: Discrimination done by connecting the characteristics of an employee on the basis of their behavior or reaction to a particular situation is called stereotyping. Making fun of those individuals in the organization is part of the stereotyping practice (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2009).
The biggest challenge for any organization is to overcome the above mentioned challenges. Overcoming these challenges and offering the equal opportunity employment can make the organization effective and efficient in performing and achieving the desired goals (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2009).
CONCLUSION
This report helps in drawing a conclusion that the Equal Employment Opportunity law is very important for securing the rights of the employees. Having a diversified work force is very important for an organization in achieving the desired goals and objectives it has set. If the rights of the individuals are not protected then the efficiency which the organization wishes to achieve cannot be accomplished. For an organization to succeed and gain success it must have an efficient workforce. To do that it must have the best employees hired for the job. This makes the environment of the organization diversified. The employees must be trained and developed to deal with the diversity so that such issues do not heed the organization from the success which it wishes to gain.
A productive environment must be maintained between the employees in an organization. With the benefits of a diversified background there are also frequent issues which the organizations have to face. These issues arise constantly and to overcome these issues the organizations must train the workforce to avoid the discrimination and harassment of their peer employees. Providing a proper working environment to the employees is very important for achieving the desired outcome from the employees. For this purpose evaluating and identifying the issues which the individuals are facing, constantly is very important. The evaluated decisions of the employees must not be biased. The employees must be allowed to freely follow and adopt to the social culture they belong too.
The issues which come with making an effective workforce operational have been identified in this report. These issues have been discussed in detail and how these issues can affect the efficiency of the workforce. Identifying these issues can help in resolving these issues and in overcoming the problems which the organization faces. These can also be called as the challenges of having a diversified workforce.
References
Bao, S. R. (2012). Human Resource Management in China: New Trends and Practices. Journal of Chinese Human Resource Management, 3(1), 79-81.
Equal Employment Opportunity. (2010). Racism/Race Relations. Retrieved June 6, 2013 from http://www.oldsaybrook.k12.ct.us/index/BOE%20Policies%20New/0000Adopted/OldSaybrook0521adp.pdf
Harry, W. (2010). Best Human Resource Management Practices in Latin America. Personnel Review, 39(3), 399-402.
Hegewisch, A., Liepmann, H., Hayes, J., & Hartmann, H. (2010). Separate and not equal? Gender segregation in the labor market and the gender wage gap.Institute for Women's Policy Research Briefing Paper, IWPR C, 377. Retrieved June 6, 2013 from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.172.6634&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Jackson, S., Schuler, R., & Werner, S. (2009). Managing Human Resources. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Pilbeam, S. & Corbridge, M. (2010). People Resourcing and Talent Planning: HRM in Practice, Fourth Edition. Pearson Education Limited: FT Prentice Hall.
Taylor, S. (2010). Resourcing and Talent Management, Fifth Edition. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
