HRM Business Degree Report - Assignment Example

?Introduction Creating and maintaining a good working environment in an organization is the responsibility of both the management and the employees. Management team should create and enforce the policies, and the employees are responsible for following such policies. Nowadays, the workforce is becoming increasingly diverse. This contributes to the escalating rate of discrimination which is considered the most unwelcome and embarrassing behavior. Not only can it negatively influence the work performance of an employee but it can also lead to costly lawsuits for the organization. This is what had happened to Bolton Wonderers wherein one of their female nutritionist had claimed for an equal pay. The main thrust of this paper is to provide the management team with advices in relation to legal and procedural issues to the claim of their female employee that she is paid substantially less than her male counterparts. Legal and Procedural Issues There is discrimination in the workplace if there is hostility toward an individual based on sex, age, religion, race and even disability (Hoffman, 1999). Legal training program in every organization is mandated by the Federal and state law to avoid any sex biases. The group of women is heavily regulated with so many legislations for them to be protected from discrimination particularly in the workplace. The study of Lockwood (2006) cited that some organizations nowadays are considering woman as one of the talented pools of becoming future employees. In fact, it is suggested that women are capable even in high level specialty careers. Although it’s difficult for them to achieve an equal footing with men in the workplace, the total of women workers is increasing. They are now considered as one of the great contributors in this change in demographics and economic factors. In almost all countries, provisions and legislation with regard to the employment of women are significantly considered because these could only paved the way to equal opportunities in employment. The European Economic Community (EEC) had constructed principles that women are entitled to receive equal pay with his male counterparts, provided that they are doing equal work. “In 1975, the Council of the European Communities issued the Equal Pay Directive (75/117) which states that all discrimination on the ground of sex in respect of pay should be eliminated” (Littlejohn, 1994). The issuance of the directive obliged members to completely comply with the legislation. It is stated in the regulation that all establishments should give a woman an equal pay with man if they are doing like work, work rated as equivalent, and work of equal value to that of the man. In addition, it has been specified in the legal procedure revised by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) that an “employer can only pay a man more than a woman for doing equal work if there is a genuine and material reason for doing so which is not related to sex” (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2003, p.2). A sex discrimination in pay would exist if the employer’s reason is based on higher market value wherein it would regard the job as for male only. In the case of the female nutritionist, she claimed that she has grounds for an equal pay claim over his male counterparts who are the physiotherapists and the coaches. The claim could be considered by the management team considering that it is stated in the law that work of equal value would entitle the women to claim for an equal pay. The Legal Procedure Filing a sex discrimination in pay is a complicated process, and so the law provides a legal procedure for individual who wants to file a suit against their employers for an equal pay claim. If the female nutritionist would take a claim for equal pay with his male counterparts, then the issue should be first introduced to the management team of Bolton Wanderers being her employer. The issue should be first settled between the employee and the employer by applying the company’s grievance procedure; however, the employment tribunal would give a time limit. The prescribed time is very important in making decisions so it should be observed carefully by the employee for applying to an employment tribunal. This is what had happened to a previous pay discrimination case of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc. when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had decided that the claim has insufficient evidence because it was time barred (Cornell University Law School, n.d.). The employee is given the right to choose only one comparator without the intervention of the employer to avoid repetition, because at the first place the burden of proof is on her shoulder. She needs to provide evidences that she has legal grounds for the claim in terms of like work, work rated as equivalent, and work of equal value to that of a man. The management team of Bolton Wanderers upon hearing the issue needs to investigate and owe the employee an explanation with regard to pay differences. As much as possible, the team must present to the tribunal that their pay system can be understood by everyone, and discrimination does not creep in or else the burden of proof will be transferred to them. They should exert all effort to prove that the pay difference is “genuinely due to a material factor other than sex” (Equality Commission, n.d., p.2). This could be the best reason that could be put forward by the management against the employee’s claim. For instance, the team could argue that the male physiotherapists are paid much higher compared to the female nutritionist, because the skills and qualifications needed on the job lie on them and not on the woman. Furthermore, they have to demonstrate that the skills being the material factor can be considered an objective justification for the difference in pay, and not because of any past pay agreements or contracts. In case the result of the employment tribunal investigation after the team explained and justified their pay practices and arrangements favors the nutritionist, then the difference shall be awarded. If proven that the employer had violated the Equal Pay Act or sex discrimination in pay, the employee is entitled to receive a raise on her pay to that of the man, all aspects of the package benefits that her male counterparts are receiving, revision of contract and the exact compensation including the arrears of pay and/or damages (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2003). If only Bolton Wanderers management team has developed job descriptions and performed annual performance evaluations, then sex discrimination in pay should have been detected earlier by them. They could also performed statistical audit on the pay levels of their employees for them to know if discrepancies have affected individuals (Cheek, 2010, p.16). If there is no objective justification for such discrimination, then alignment could be done by raising the pay of the female nutritionist to be similarly situated to that of the male employees. If the management team has taken these steps, then there is no need for the company to spend more on the claim put forward by the employee in the employee tribunal. Assuming that the chosen comparator is the male physiotherapist, the scenario would be the following. Physiotherapist and nutritionist are both health educators that may work in many other places such as in leisure and sports. The nutritionists’ responsibility in the field of sports clinics is focus on the dietary needs of the athletes through “personalised nutritional counseling, dietary analysis of food records, nutritional education, and referral of treatment of eating disorders” (Baechle & Earle, 2008, p.203). On the other hand, the same role applied to a physiotherapist wherein it focus on “exercise and physical activity, who assists people with movement-related problems and helps to improve and maintain movement, mobility and physical independence” (Wright, 2008, p.25). The two jobs served as a support of athletes’ quest, and they also share the same purpose, to maximize the performance and potential of an athlete. Generally, in terms of skills needed, the physiotherapist and nutritionist have the same skills requirements, such as good communication skills, interpersonal and motivational skills. Furthermore, the demand and employment opportunities of these two jobs are increasing because of the changing demographics. In terms of educational requirements, both jobs required a bachelor and masteral’s degree, pass a state licensing board examination with the statutory regulator, and professional trainings before they become professional health educators. Lastly, according to the PayScale (2011), the average salary of the two jobs are almost the same such as (AU$) 36,812 -69,210 for the nutritionist and (AU$) 40,218 -79,220 for the physiotherapist. Recommended Actions According to Tucker et al. (2005, p.6), “to alleviate the workers shortage, growing participation from groups underrepresented in domestic labour markets - mature workers, women and disabled will be critical.” This is one of the suggested ideas from human resource researches to make up with the changing demographics and skill shortages. Furthermore, the study presented how organizations of today responded with the broader definition of discrimination in recruitment process. They cited more and more organizations are now moving beyond formal discrimination programs like peers review and trainings. This kind of issue could be avoided by the management team if only they are doing a regular equal pay, reviewing and monitoring for them to be safe from any litigation, and assure their employees that they deliver an equal pay system. The management team should review their criteria of pay practices and arrangements, especially on why women in the company are covered with a lower pay rates than men. Aside from their practices, they should also check if reasons in differences are justified objectively. For instance, recall that the company’s reason for its pay differences is all about the skills necessary for the job, and then it should investigate further if female skills could not carry out the job duties. The company’s effort should not end up in a review of pay practices and arrangements, because carry out periodic monitoring is more necessary in order to ensure that there would be no discrimination in the system. Also, all of the management actions that directly involved employees should be communicated to them. Conclusion Individual compensation in exchange for the services and efforts delivered for the good of the organization should be equally given. Sex discrimination in pay is one of the most controversial issues in the workforce today. This is what had happened to Bolton Wonderers management team when a female nutritionist claimed that she has grounds for an equal pay. Based on observation, the female employee could claim equal pay for work of equal value with a comparator; however, the management team could use material factor as their reason. Whatever would be the result, the employer could have prevented the issue if only they are doing regular review and monitoring on their current pay systems. These actions are great assurance to their employees that any sex discrimination in the payment system is addressed accordingly. References Baechle, T.R. & Earle, R.W. eds., 2008. Essentials of strength training and conditioning. 3rd ed. U.S: Human Kinetics. Cheek, T.A., 2010. Practical tips for avoiding compensation discrimination. [Online] pp. 14-16. Available at: http://debankers.com/Practical_Tips_for_Avoiding_Compensation_Discrimination_Spring2010.pdf [Accessed 11 May 2011]. Cornell University Law School., n.d. Supreme Court. [Online] Available at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-1074.ZS.html [Accessed 12 May 2011]. Equality Commission, n.d. Code of practice on equal pay. [Online] pp. 1-17. Available at: http://www.equalityni.org/archive/pdf/EqualPayCoP.pdf [Accessed 11 May 2011]. Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2003. Code of practice on equal pay. [Online] pp. 1-24. Available at: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/code_of_practice_equalpay.pdf [Accessed 11 May 2011]. Hoffman, R., 1999. Good training strategy helps avoid discrimination. [Online] Available at: http://www.inc.com/articles/1999/10/15366.html [Accessed 11 May 2011]. Littlejohn, D., 1994. Women, employment and the law. [Online] Available at: http://www.scottishaffairs.org/backiss/pdfs/sa8/SA8_Littlejohn.pdf [Accessed 11 May 2011]. Lockwood, N.R., 2006. Talent management: driver for organizational success. [Online] pp. 1-11. Available at: http://www.shrm.org/Research/Articles/Articles/Documents/0606RQuartpdf.pdf [Accessed 11 May 2011]. PayScale, 2011. Salary snapshots for physiotherapist jobs. [Online] Available at: http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Physiotherapist/Salary [Accessed 11 May 2011]. PayScale, 2011. Salary Snapshots for dietitian or nutritionist jobs. [Online] Available at: http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Dietitian_or_Nutritionist/Salary [Accessed 11 May 2011]. Tucker, E. Kao, T. Verma, N., 2005. Next-generation talent management: insights on how workforce trends are changing the face of talent management. [Online] pp. 1-36. Available at: http://www.hewittassociates.com/_MetaBasicCMAssetCache_/Assets/Articles/next_generation.pdf [Accessed 11 May 2011]. Wright, A., 2008. The role of the physiotherapist. In: E.M.L. Chang & A. Johnson, eds. 2008. Chronic illness and disability: principles for nursing care. Australia: Elsevier. Read More