Discrimination at workplace
Abstract
A number of citizens have fallen victims of discriminatory practices at their work places. The effects of discrimination in the workplace may be so severe, some causing serious traumas and emotional problems. Discrimination at work place occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against an employee or even a prospective employee due to protected attribute. Such discrimination leads to inequality and unfairness in the workplace where some employees are denied basic rights compared to others. This paper presents a proposal on how to end discrimination at work place. The paper argues that ending discrimination in the workplace is an activity that requires coordinated efforts of all affected stakeholders, ranging from the employees to other top government and legislative bodies. Encouraging community participation is critical in dealing with this problem.
1.0 Introduction
Discrimination in the workplace occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against any given employee or even a prospective employee because of a given protected attribute. Workplace discrimination is a serious problem that has affected a number of workers for a long time now. Some examples of protected attribute that may be used by employers to discriminate employees include race, color, religion, social origin, pregnancy, marital status, national extraction, and political opinions among others (Carlsson and Dan-Olof 719). Adverse action entails actions like organizing, threatening or firing an employee unfairly, not hiring someone based on a given unmerited criteria, treating an employee or a number of employees differently from the other employees and offering a potential employee quite different terms and conditions.
In certain situations, some employees may fail to raise concerns of workplace discrimination, which may be attributed to a couple of factors like ignorance of what amounts to workplace discrimination or even the lack of knowledge of the steps to take to deal with the situation (Carlsson and Dan-Olof 719). Similarly, some employees may be afraid of intimidation from their employees if they raise any concerns of discrimination in the workplace. Helping such employees requires a lot of corporation from all the parties involved. Some of the parties who can be very instrumental in dealing with the problem of discrimination in the workplace include employers, employees, employee unions, and the government bodies mandated with the responsibility of fostering equality and fairness in the workplace. For instance, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is mandated with the responsibility of fostering equality in the work places. Legislative bodies mandated with the responsibility of ensuring that anti-discriminatory work policies are enacted should also be involved fully in the process of dealing with the problem of workplace discrimination.
2.0 Scope of workplace discrimination
Discrimination may occur under different situations and conditions. Discrimination in the workplace may also occur at different levels in the work context. For instance, it may occur when a person is applying for a given job as an employee (Wooten and Erika 23). It can also occur to a new employee before he or she has started to work. Additionally, discrimination may also occur during the employment term of the employee. It is worth noting that the largest numbers of cases of discrimination against employees have occurred during the employment term. However, a significant number of discrimination cases have also been witnessed before the employment term starts.
A serious misconception exists among many employees as most of them perceive that all adverse actions are always discriminative. However, it is important to understand that not all adverse actions amounts to discrimination. There can be lawful reasons which have nothing to do with discrimination (Selmi 1249). Additionally, the lawful reasons may have nothing to do with an employee’s personal characteristics. For instance, the following actions are not discriminatory in nature; if the actions are allowed under any given state or federal anti- discrimination employment law and if the actions are taken against an employee or a group of employees of a given religious institution to avoid harming the religious beliefs of the organizations. Another case is if the actions do not relate to the basic or the necessary requirements of the job undertaken by the employee. Additionally, if the actions taken by the employee do not relate to any one of the protected attributed may not be regarded as an act of discrimination against an employee.
3.0 Impacts of work place discrimination
Many people are not in a position to access descent and fulfilling work due to their age, poverty, race, gender, sexual orientation and disability. Workplace discrimination has impacts on the standards of living of different workers by excluding individuals from the labor market, providing them with insecure and low quality jobs, subjecting them to huge victimization, and consigning them to low pays (Appendix 1; Appendix 2) . Additionally, workplace discrimination also impacts on the productivity of the employees significantly. It is attributed to the fact that it excludes the productive employees from the workforce and; hence, the failure to capitalize on their full capacity (Carlsson and Dan-Olof 721). Discriminatory laws are in a position to impact the economy of a country significantly. For instance, equality laws are very capable of serving the economy of any country. Similarly, the equality laws are able to improve the efficiency based ends. By implementing equality and non-discriminatory workplace laws, merited employees are in a position to fully utilize their full potential in boosting the economy of the country. Discrimination may also have serious consequences in the social cohesion process in the workplace.
4.0 Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment has been a major discriminatory act in different organizations. Many employees have fallen victims of this act as well (Green 91). The Sexual Discrimination Act defines sexual harassment as unwelcomed request for some sexual favors, unwelcomed sexual advance, and any other given unwelcomed conduct of sexual nature. For any act to be regarded as a sexual harassment, a reasonable person should be in a position to anticipate the possibility that the recipient of such action should feel humiliated, intimidated or offended. In the workplace setting, some employers take advantage of their employees sexually. Additionally, some employees may intimidate their employees, especially the female employees to obtain sexual favors. For instance, employers may threaten to fire the employees if they do not offer the sexual favors asked of them. It is a key issue surrounding workplace discrimination. To avoid the confusion that surrounds the exact meaning of what sexual harassment entails, it is worth to note that sexual harassment consists of three major elements; unwelcomed conduct, the conduct should be sexual in nature, and that a reasonable person should be in a position to perceive or anticipate that the person subjected to the conduct would feel humiliated, offended or intimidated. Conduct is unwelcomed if it is not invited or solicited and is usually regarded by the target as either offensive or undesirable. In this case, it is irrelevant that the conduct in question may have been an accepted norm in the workplace in the past of that it may have been welcomed by others (Reskin 324). It is wrong for an employee to portray any form of unwelcomed sexual conduct towards any given employee, either in return for any given service offered and which related to work place.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is prohibited (McMahon and Linda139). The relationship between the person allegedly harassed and the alleged harasser is key to understanding as well as dealing with sexual discrimination in the workplace. A precise understanding of what entails an employee and what entails an employer is critical in analyzing the conditions of sexual harassment. It is very unlawful and unethical for employers to harass their employees. Additionally, it is also very unlawful for an employee to harass their employers. The advancement in technology is very vital in enlarging the space for sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. For instance, the use of mobile phones, social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter have been instrumental in propagating this act. The use of computers in the workplaces has become the norm in many organizations. Therefore, there is a need for employees to understand how sexual harassment occurs and how the employees may deal with the cases of sexual harassments.
5.0 Solutions to the Problem of Work Place Discrimination
Dealing with the problem of discrimination in the work place requires urgent and coordinated measures form all the involved parties. To achieve optimal results, all stakeholders should be involved. Some of the possible solutions for ending with the discrimination work place are discussed below;
5.1 Training employees
A large number of employees are not aware of what entails workplace discrimination. At the same time, most employees do not understand the actions to take in case of actions of discrimination in their workplace. Training the employees on issues that h relate to discrimination in the workplace can play a very important role in ending workplace violence. In doing , so all employees should be trained on how to identify cases of workplace discrimination by employees. It may be done by arranging training seminars and other training forums, which focus on educating the employees. Additionally, they should also be trained on how to report workplace discrimination cases. In doing so, the employees should be informed on where to obtain help without being subjected to situations of intimidation or unfair treatment. Employees should be engaged fully in these programs as involvement is key to learning. The employers should be at the front line in spearheading these training programs (McMahon and Linda 140). By involving the employers, the employees will be in a position to perceive the process as being honest and meeting their expectations. All employees will be encouraged to give their opinions with regard to the best ways of dealing with the problem of discrimination in the workplace. The employees should also be encouraged to repost any cases of discrimination as witnessed in their places of work.
5.2 Setting up equality and human rights commission
The need for an independent institution which is mandated with the responsibility of monitoring and promoting human rights such as prevention of workplace discrimination should be widely recognized. Although many bodies are committed to promoting human rights in the society, there are specific bodies that focus solely on workplace discrimination. The rising levels of discrimination in workplaces create the urgent need for such a commission. The commission should be mandated with the responsibility of ensuring that organizations do not discriminate their employers on any unfair grounds. As such, it should ensure that the employees understand and obtain an avenue for reporting cases of discrimination in their workplace. It should be set at the national level, although the state level may set up their own commissions that deal with the grass root discrimination issues. It should be open to all employees in such a way that all employees will feel free to share any information concerning instances of workplace discrimination. Confidentiality should be highly upheld to curb against any situations of intimidations. The commission should also be committed to a broad mandate such as drawing the attention of the government in dealing with the rights of employees and their responsibility in ending workplace violence (Wooten and Erika 24). Similarly, it should also be mandated with the task of proposing a wide range of solutions of dealing with the problem, such as promoting as well as ensuring that the national law is harmonized with the provisions of other international organizations that spearhead the war against workplace discrimination. The body should also contribute widely to employee education with regard to workplace discrimination. The commission should be in the front line in dealing with the different issues affect the employee- employer relationships and which may portray cases of discrimination in the workplace. After such acts have been discovered, it should have a clear methodology of how to help the employees deal with the situation. Ideally, the commission should provide some remedy measures which the employees should make use of in their process of seeking for justice.
5.3 Training and enhancing the capacity of trade unions
For a long period now, trade unions have been a major avenue for dealing with the problems that employees pass through during their employment engagements. However, these trade unions have not been in a position to deal appropriately with the problem of discriminations in the workplace due to their limited scope (Smith 510). Enhancing the capacity of these trade unions is critical in ensuring that they are given the powers and the mandated to deal with the problem of workplace discrimination in a more comprehensive manner. One way of enhancing this capacity is through creating a wing in the trade unions that deals exclusively with the cases of workplace discrimination and the provision of the required remedies.
5.4 Mainstreaming
The main objective of mainstreaming is to create equality concerns and injecting them into all major processes of the decision making processes at all levels; the employer level and the state level (Green 91). Mainstreaming is a proactive approach that assesses new laws and policies as well as their impacts on discrimination. Additionally, mainstreaming detects and provides remedies for unlawful discrimination without creating the need for litigation. It also actively pursues equality through trainings, reasonable accommodation, quotas and through the use of structural change (Carlsson and Dan-Olof 724). The process requires effective monitoring to yield the best and optimal results. Mainstreaming also enquires total cooperation and involvement of all stakeholders such as employers, trade unions and Non-governmental organization.
5.5 Legislations
Legislations that deal with the issue of workplace discrimination can be very instrumental in preventing discrimination in the workplace (Selm 119). The legislations should explicitly state what entails workplace discrimination and the responsibilities of all decision makers and stakeholders in dealing with the issue. For instance, the legislations should stipulate the responsibilities of the employees and the employers in ending workplace violence. They should also provide remedies for dealing with the problem
6.0 Conclusion
Discrimination in the workplace occurs when an employer taken an adverse action against any given employee or even a prospective employee because of a given protected attribute, such as race, religious affiliations, sexual orientations or marital status. Workplace discrimination has impacts on the standards of living of different workers by excluding individuals from the labor market, providing them with insecure and low quality jobs, subjecting them to huge victimization, and consigning them to low pays. Dealing with the problem of discrimination in the work place requires urgent and coordinated measures form all the involved parties. Some ways of dealing with the problem of discrimination in the workplace include; training and enhancing the capacity of trade unions, legislation, training the employees and through mainstreaming programs.
Works Cited
Carlsson, Magnus, and Dan-Olof Rooth. "Evidence of ethnic discrimination in the Swedish labor market using experimental data." Labour Economics 14.4 (2007): 716-729.
Green, Tristin K. "Discrimination in workplace dynamics: Toward a structural account of disparate treatment theory." Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 38 (2003): 91.
Hirsh, C. Elizabeth, and Sabino Kornrich. "The Context of Discrimination: Workplace Conditions, Institutional Environments, and Sex and Race Discrimination Charges1." American journal of sociology 113.5 (2008): 1394-1432.
McMahon, Brian T., and Linda Shaw. "Workplace discrimination and disability." Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 23.3 (2005): 137-43.
Reskin, Barbara F. "The proximate causes of employment discrimination."Contemporary Sociology 29.2 (2000): 319-328.
Selmi, Michael. "Price of Discrimination: The Nature of Class Action Employment Discrimination Litigation and Its Effects." Texas Law Review. 81 (2002): 1249.
Smith, Ryan A. "Race, gender, and authority in the workplace: Theory and research." Annual Review of Sociology (2002): 509-542.
Wooten, Lynn Perry, and Erika Hayes James. "When firms fail to learn the perpetuation of discrimination in the workplace." Journal of Management Inquiry 13.1 (2004): 23-33.
Appendices
Appendix 1
(Source: Usnews.com.)
Appendix 2
( Source: "15 Charts That Show The U.S. Isn't Over Racism")
