Discrimination at Workplace - Essay Example

Literature Review Outline Discrimination at workplace I. OVERVIEW OF WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION A. Definition of workplace discrimination B. Historical perspective of workplace discrimination C. Overview of legislation on workplace discrimination II. FORMS OF WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION A. Racial discrimination B. Discrimination based on sexual orientation C. Discrimination based on disability D. Other forms of workplace discrimination a. Religious discrimination b. Discrimination based on age c. Discrimination based on pregnancy III. EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION A. On employee a. Physical effect b. Social effect c. Emotional effects B. On employer and organization a. Financial impact b. Legal consequences c. Decreased employee productivity IV. SOLUTIONS TO WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION A. Embrace diversity in educational institutions and workplaces B. Foster open communication in workplaces C. Legislative remedy V. CONCLUSION INTEGRATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW OVERVIEW OF WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION A. Definition of workplace discrimination The diversity of communities, countries and cultures as well as changing demographics, rapidly changing business environments and increased immigration have greatly contributed to discrimination in the American society. Just like in these social institutions, the labor market and associated institutions are a cause for discrimination (Bobo & Fox 2003). This is the basis upon which discrimination at workplace would be defined. Workplace discrimination remains a rampant problem in the US even though there have been legislations designed to deter such practices. There are some organizational structures which propagate discrimination in workplaces and employees at lower status positions suffer the most from this social problem. From the 2008 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC statistics, the US posted a 15% increase in complaints related to workplace discrimination (Hammond, Gillen & Yen, 2010). Even so, these figures are much lower than the exact occurrences because minority group members always minimize such experiences and would be reluctant to file formal complaints. Therefore, workplace discrimination is a rampant social problem that needs critical understanding so as to determine effective solutions. B. Historical perspective of workplace discrimination America has a poor historical background on discrimination at workplace. As late as 1865, businesspeople were allowed to have slaves that they would use to run their business ventures, this being the period around the Industrial Revolution. As late as the mid twentieth century, no laws were in force to deter prejudice and harassment in workplace (National Archives, 2015). However, 1964 saw the turning point to such treatment with the civil rights legislation which required that workplaces be open to all their employees regardless of their race. This gave birth to the regulation of all the other forms of discriminations at workplace. C. Overview of legislation on workplace discrimination With the changes on laws against discrimination at workplace, the discrimination practice in workplace has arguably dropped than it was during the Industrial Revolution. According to the National Archives (2015), the Public Law 88-352 (78 Stat. 241) passed by the Congress in 1964 prohibited discrimination at workplace based on race and sex. This was later expanded to include color, religion and national origin. In Title VII of this Civil Rights Act, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was created to realize the law. The role of EEOC was subsequently expanded and now includes enforcement of federal statutes which prohibit all discriminatory practices at workplace. With numerous legislations having been passed to protect employees, both prospective and those in employment, from being unfavorable treated because of their personal demographics and beliefs, more employers continue being aware of anti-discriminatory regulations and requirements. VI. FORMS OF WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION Employees face diverse forms of discrimination at workplaces due to their diverse differences. In a study conducted by Hammond et al. (2010), 2008 US statistics by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shows that 33,937 employees faced racial discrimination, 24,582 employees faced age-based discrimination, 28,372 employees faced sex-based discrimination and some 10,601 employees faced workplace discrimination on the basis of their nationality. These figures almost align to the observation by Bell (2011) that racial, gender and ethnic discrimination are the most popular forms of workplace discrimination. The statistics further show that there are diverse forms of workplace discrimination and that a significant number of employees are exposed to these forms of discrimination. Therefore, it would be critical to review each form of discrimination so as to understand the underlying facts. A. Racial discrimination There exists much racial inequality in the US because of the diverse races that inhabit the country. This has been transferred to the labor market, with Bobo and Fox (2003) observing in their study of race, racism and discrimination that blacks together with other racial minorities are the most disadvantaged in the labor market. This observation could be traced back to the Industrial Revolution Era where blacks were used as slaves to serve the business interests of the whites (National Archives, 2015). Employers express stereotypical sentiments against blacks, rating them as being weaker and softer than their white counterparts. These employers often admit to openly use discriminatory screening and recruiting procedures during hiring. This observation is supported by a study on sociology of discrimination conducted by Pager and Shepherd (2008) which shows that black men spend critically more time than their white counterparts searching for work, which makes them acquire less work experience causing them to have less stable employments. Even further, the study observes that racial minorities find jobs with lesser authority and that are lesser stable, offering fewer advancement opportunities. As such, blacks and whites continue to exude markedly varied employment outcomes. B. Discrimination based on sexual orientation People who have their sexual orientation not conforming to established and prevailing patterns could suffer from physical, verbal and psychological violence and hate. In a given workplace, employees could be discriminated based on their sexual orientation. According to Sears and Mallory (2011), even though gender identity and sexual orientation have no effect on workplace performance, there is increasing evidence of discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, LGBT community, all of who have their sexual orientation different from established patterns. These researchers document a 2011 finding of 78% of transgender people having experienced mistreatment or harassment at work due to their gender identity. Even more specifically, 47% of this population faced discrimination with regards to job retention, promotion and hiring. This form of discrimination could be extended to include gender identity discrimination at workplace. With this regard, it has been noted that women suffer the greatest disadvantage with statistics indicating their inability to secure better employment opportunities than their male counterparts. According to ILO (2007), women represent a minority in quality jobs in legislative, senior official or managerial (LSOM) positions, constituting only 28% of such senior jobs. Even in regions that have received tremendous achievements in curbing discrimination at workplace, there remains significant disparities with North America and the Caribbean having women only occupy 41.2% and 35% of such positions respectively. This follows the postulate that women are weaker employees than men which makes them less favorable by employers. C. Discrimination based on disability To understand how disability becomes a basis for discrimination at workplace, it would be beneficial to understand the meaning of disability. While studying disability discrimination at workplace in Canada, Pothier (2010) defined disability to include both biomedical and social functional limitations. This definition was adopted so as to foster proper legislation against discrimination based on disability in workplaces. ILO (2007) documents statistics of about 650 million people, equivalent of 10% of the world’s population living with a disability, whether physical or mental. Of these, 470 million are of working age. This represents a critical population to consider with regards to employment practices. Unfortunately, discrimination at workplace based on disability remains widely spread though varied in different countries. Examples of discrimination based on disability includes a rule to work while standing, which would definitely discriminate against employees on wheel chairs, especially if nothing affects the job or workplace whether one stands or sits while working. Whereas discrimination based on disability of an employee could be intentional, there are a significant number of reported cases which entail discrimination with no express reference to a given disability (Bobo & Fox, 2003). This makes this form of discrimination complex. Furthermore, because of the diversity of disabling conditions, remedial practices and rules cannot be standard (Pothier, 2010). Thus accommodation, as regards exceptions and adjustments, has to relate to the specific conditions that employees suffer from. D. Other forms of workplace discrimination a. Religious discrimination Religion refers to the thoughts, behaviors and feelings attributed to the search for the sacred together with the rituals of the search that are validated by a given group. In workplaces, such behaviors could cause one to be discriminated against. This religious discrimination is defined by Bell (2011) as treating an employee unfavorably because of the religious beliefs of such a person. This could extend to unfavorable treatment because of the religious beliefs of the spouse of such an employee according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC (2015). The law protects employees who belong not only to organized and traditional religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism but all those who sincerely hold to their moral, ethical and religious beliefs. Thus, no employees should be unfairly treated because of their religious beliefs. b. Discrimination based on age Some workplaces would have some employees or applicants treated unfavorably because of their age. Age discrimination at workplace could deter some employees or applicants from promotions, fringe benefits, employment and other workplace related benefits due to their age. According to McDonald and Dear (2008), 7.9% of the labor market face discrimination at workplace due to their age. Despite this study focusing only on women subjects, it provides crucial insights, noting that younger women aged between 18 and 25 experience the other forms of workplace discrimination such as sexual harassment, racial discrimination and bullying more as compared to older women. Despite legislations being put in force to protect such persons from this unfavorable treatment, there remains a greater proportion of the labor market that faces this form of social injustice. This observation could be explained from the observation by EEOC (2015) that the legislation that is supposed to deter such injustice, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, ADEA targets victims aged 40 and above, these being employees that are highly paid and have maximum benefits. This legislation locks out a greater portion of the labor market under the age of 40. c. Discrimination based on pregnancy Finally, women have been victims of workplace discrimination for a long time due to pregnancy. Pregnancy discrimination would entail unfavorably treating a female employee due to their pregnancy and could also be extended to include other reasons like childbirth or medical conditions associated with childbirth or pregnancy (EEOC, 2015). Despite legislation that criminalizes discrimination based on pregnancy with regards to employment, women still experience discrimination on job assignments, pay, training, health insurance, hiring and fringe benefits among others because of their condition. In a study on discrimination that women face in their workplace, McDonald and Dear (2008) observed that 5.7% of women in workplaces suffer from discrimination because of being pregnant. Thus, the practice is rife in workplaces and action must be taken to curb the situation so as to enhance equality. The law dictates that should pregnant employees fail to perform their duties as a result of their pregnancy and associated medical conditions, the employer should treat them the same way as temporary disabled employees. VII. EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION A. On employee a. Physical effect Workplace discrimination could have adverse physical effects on the victimized employees. As demonstrated by the minority stress model, stigma, prejudice and discrimination in workplaces create an environment which exposes the victims to stress causing disparity in health as compared to those not experiencing the same (Sears & Mallory, 2011). It is this stress which Hammond et al. (2010) refers to as psychological distress which causes loss of weight, cardiovascular effects and giving birth to low weight infants among female victims. In addition, it has been noted that employees facing discrimination could purposely seek to be away from work so as to escape from discrimination. Such absenteeism could take a toll on the workload of such employees causing them to be constantly nervous and stressed about presentations or deadlines. Such persons would always be seen not to participate in friendly conversations or maintain good grooming habits. b. Social effect Discrimination at work bars some people from some occupations, completely denying them jobs or causing them not to be rewarded on merit based on their skin color, sexual orientation, disability of other factors used to discriminate against people. This arouses socio-economic disadvantages which lead to inefficiencies and unequal outcomes. These income inequalities could cause social upheaval and political instability which could upset economic and investment growth (ILO, 2007). In a review of survey studies conducted in the US, Sears and Mallory (2011) deduced that compared to heterosexual men, gay men earned significantly less. Moreover, the transgender population had incomes much lower than the national average income. This leaves such groups of discrimination victims excluded from the normal social practices at workplaces. Furthermore, workplace discrimination instills fear in the victim, thus negatively affecting their self-esteem. c. Emotional effects Discrimination affects the psychological well-being of employees. According to Hammond et al., workplace discrimination has been noted “to harm mental health from diminished psychological well-being, increased risk of psychological distress, and pronounced depressive symptoms” (2010, 20). This has been acknowledge by law with Goodman-Delahunty and Foote (2010) noting that from the 1970s, psychological effects on employees as a result of workplace discrimination became a basis of compensation. Such mental effects could be noticed through low life satisfaction tendencies and low self-esteem. B. On employer and organization a. Financial impact A workplace which has rampant employee discrimination experiences a high rate of employee turnover. This means that the organization would spend significant financial resources constantly recruiting for manpower to replace the disgruntled employees that would have left. In a report that borrows from various studies, the Joint Economic Committee, JEC (2013) observes that it costs $4,000 to replace a single worker in the US. Furthermore, the annual cost to employers attributed to overall costs of employee turnover as a result of workplace discrimination amounts to $64 billion. Even further, hiring new employees strains organizational budgets in terms of administration, education and training of the said employees on the processes and policies of the organization. According to Goodman-Delahunty and Foote (2010), such an exercise does not only turn out to be costly but also time-consuming. Should the disgruntled employees choose to remain in the organization, a lot of money will be spent to hire team-building experts to encourage and motivate employees. As such, it would be generally appreciated that discrimination at workplace ends up being a costly venture to organizations. b. Legal consequences Discrimination at workplace exposes organizations to costly lawsuits. These litigation associated costs include investigative expenses, attorney fees and even the lost productivity due to the time spent out of workplace providing witness testimonies. In a majority of cases where the employer is found guilty of discrimination, it has been noted that judges order such employers to cater not only for their attorney fees but that of the attorney of the plaintiff too. Other than the cost of the litigation, a lot of money would also be spent on compensatory damages, punitive damages, back pay and in some cases, restoration to employment (Goodman-Delahunty & Foote, 2010). This has the potential of significantly jeopardizing the performance of these organizations. JEC (2013) gives the example of the ten top private plaintiff workplace discrimination lawsuits in 2010 which cost the respective firms over $346 million in lawsuits. This is such a significant amount of money which employers could save if they choose to stem out workplace discrimination. c. Decreased employee productivity Employees that are discriminated against usually end up being anxiety-driven and helpless. They could suddenly lack interest in the job responsibilities, the welfare of the organization and career development. Such employees who feel as outsiders to the organization where they work due to their nationality or religious beliefs could lose their self-esteem as noted by Hammond et al. (2010). Consequently, such employees stop giving ideas on organizational practices. This could be accompanied by absenteeism and disregard for time thus low productivity. JEC (2013) supports this argument noting that discrimination at workplace reduces retention and morale among employees resulting to lower productivity and thus reduced economic growth. This follows the fact that a hostile workplace environment would not be conducive for optimal employee performance, thus less motivated and creative employees. VIII. SOLUTIONS TO WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION The global outlook of the fight against discrimination shows a combination of major advancements and also failures at the same time. Today, the condemnation against discrimination at workplace is almost universal as the world appreciates that discrimination at workplace negatively affects not only the organization, but also the employees themselves and the society at large. Discrimination at workplace has been noted to be a costly and unnecessary distraction such that businesses cannot afford to allow discrimination at their workplaces and at the same time outperform their competition. As such, numerous measures have been fronted to curb the social problem. In fact, ILO observes that of all the social settings, workplaces present the easiest setting to curb discrimination, terming a workplaces as “a strategic entry point to free society from discrimination” (2007, 1). The need to fight against workplace discrimination is more urgent than ever before in a world that is increasingly becoming unequal, unsafe and insecure. A. Embrace diversity in educational institutions and workplaces In addition to creating diverse educational environments, authorities should be keen to try and match up all educational institutions so that all students are exposed to almost similar learning environments. According to Pager and Shepherd (2008), over 60% of Latino and black students attend high poverty schools as compared to 18% and 30% of whites and Asians respectively. In addition to the already existing condition, funding disparity disadvantages these schools and thus the minority races. This leads to poor education quality placing the students at a disadvantage with regards to future opportunities. Should policies be enacted to reduce such gaps and provide such students with better educational facilities and learning conditions to almost equal that of the other students, discrimination would be contained. B. Foster open communication in workplaces Open communication has been cited in numerous forums as one of the most beneficial ways to deter workplace discrimination. Bell (2011) argues that open communication removes the silence taboo which often surrounds many forms of discrimination experienced in workplaces. It is against this background that Pothier (2010) recommends group discussions, personnel meetings, information sessions and problem-solving groups as critical approaches with this respect. Employers should put in place proper communication channels for reporting cases of harassment and abuse at work. Such policies should be communicated to all employees and the supervisors be made to understand their roles in this. C. Legislative remedy Employees facing discrimination at their workplaces could opt for federal and state complaints. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the body charged with handling such complaints, prescribing appropriate compensation to the affected employee. The commission provides insights into trends in discrimination and enforces antidiscrimination practices. Indeed, Pager and Shepherd (2008) affirm the significance of such measures in curbing discrimination at workplace noting that the establishment of EEOC led to improved status of the blacks in the economy between 1965 and 1975. However, should this option fail, such employees could file a law suit under state and federal anti-discrimination statutes. Even though such cases could take even years before being resolved, the associated hefty compensation for punitive damages and lost earnings to employees deters employers from promoting discrimination (Goodman-Delahunty & Foote, 2010). The Equal Pay Act of 1963 the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are among the federal legislations the prohibit workplace discrimination. Such legislations could be supported with appropriate policies and actions. With this regard, ILO (2007) gives examples of the action by the Brazilian government to create the Special Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality (SEPPIR) which fostered equality in workplaces in conjunction with relevant ministries. A similar initiative in 2000 by the Government of Canada saw the Embracing Change Initiative (ECI) address underrepresentation of minorities underrepresented in the public service. The US government also fosters equality in workplaces by ensuring that federal contracts have the contractors and subcontractors analyze their workforce so as to ensure that the practices do not amount to discrimination. CONCLUSION The United States has a long history of discrimination which until the legislation of the Civil Rights Act 1964 remained a common practice at workplaces. With considerable time spent at workplaces, appropriate legislations were put in place to deter discrimination experienced at workplace which occurs in its diversity including racial, sexual orientation, disability, religious, age and pregnancy discrimination. Whereas there are employees who could ignore discriminatory treatment at their workplaces, a majority suffer physically, socially and emotionally. Similarly, employers suffer financial losses, litigation and decreased productivity. Thus, embracing diversity in educational institutions and workplaces fosters appreciation of the different backgrounds thus deter discrimination. Open communication at workplace plays a crucial role in pointing out discriminatory practices so as to allow the necessary remedial actions to be undertaken. The anti-discriminatory legislations executed by the respective legislative authorities outline the appropriate measures to undertake in case of a breach of the rights of an employee due to personal demographics or beliefs. Should these considerations be effected to the latter, equality at workplace would be fostered. References Bell, M. (2011). Diversity in organizations (2nd ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Bobo, L. D. & Fox, C. (2003). Race, racism, and discrimination: Bridging problems, methods, and theory in social psychological research. Social Psychology Quarterly, 66(4), 319 – 332. Goodman-Delahunty, J. & Foote, W. E. (2010). Evaluation for workplace discrimination and harassment. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hammond, W. P., Gillen, M., & Yen, I. H. (2010). Workplace discrimination and depressive symptoms: A study of multi-ethnic hospital employees. Race and Social Problems, 2(1), 19 – 30. doi: 10.1007/s12552-010-9024-0 International Labor Organization. (2007). Equality at work: Tackling the challenges: Global report under the follow-up to the ILO declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work. Geneva: Author. McDonald, P. & Dear, K. (2008). The incidence and patterns of discrimination harassment affecting working women in Australia. Women’s Studies Journal, 22(1), 37 – 48. National Archives. (2015). Teaching with documents: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved 28 February 2015 from http://www.archives.gov/ Pager, D. & Shepherd, H. (2008). The sociology of discrimination: Racial discrimination in employment, housing, credit, and consumer markets. The Annual Review of Sociology, 34, 181 – 209. Pothier, D. (2010). Tackling disability discrimination at work: Toward a systemic approach. McGill Journal of Law and Health, 4(1), 17 – 37. Sears, B. & Mallory, C. (2011, July). Documented evidence of employment discrimination and its effects on LGBT people. The Williams Institute. Retrieved 25 February 2015 from http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/ The Joint Economic Committee. (2013, November). The economic consequences of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Retrieved 26 February 2015 from http://www.jec.senate.gov/ U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2015). Discrimination by type. Retrieved 1 March 2015 from http://www.eeoc.gov/ Read More