Employment Discrimination - Literature review Example

Employment Discrimination Cheatle (2001, p.5) argues that employment discrimination remains one of the major problems facing the labor market in the world today. The issue is particularly a major concern in Europe and the U.K. in particular where there are high incidences of employment discrimination being reported. It is worth pointing out that the U.K. government has done a lot to curb the vice, which has indeed reduced the employment discrimination in the workplace. However, recent incidences of job discrimination suggest that employment discrimination still arise at the workplace. Therefore, the government and other stakeholders need to do a lot in terms of ensuring that there are strict laws to bar employers from discriminating in places of employment, suggests. At the same time, citizens need also to be enlightened as regards their rights and to report cases of discrimination. This paper will examine instances that suggest that employment discrimination still arise in the workplace. It will also examine the laws regarding workplace discrimination, as well as what the law require an employee to do so as to combat discrimination. Finally, the paper will discuss what needs to be done to prevent workplace discrimination. To begin with, workplace discrimination remains a major problem in the U.K. The conclusion is drawn from the recent cases of racial, gender, ethnic, religious and age discrimination at the workplace, which has suggested that the issue is still rife in the U.K. and the world at large. Employment discrimination by definition refers to the biased treatment of people based on gender, race, color, age, and religion, which results in inequality and treatment (Cheatle 2001, p.6). Workplace discrimination restricts the freedom of individuals to pursue their personal and professional ambitions. This is because it denies an individual the opportunity to use his or her skills in a certain job. Despite the fact that workplace discrimination is illegal in the U.K., the rate is still high according to a report. Verkaik (2005) notes that racial discrimination is still a big problem in the U.K. This is despite measures the U.K. government has put in place to curb the vice. In this regard, reports indicate that race is still being used by some employers to discriminate against others in employment. For instance, a study shows that blacks, as a minority group in the U.K. tend to be discriminated against by their white employers at the workplace. This is after a study showed that there is a high probability of a white person being hired for a position in the U.K. than a black person, regardless of the candidates’ qualifications and experiences according to BBC News (2012). Willis and Robb (2012) report an interesting case in which a black U.K. woman has been racially discriminated against in the hiring process. They report that a young university by the name Jorden Berkeley from London spent several months applying for jobs from big companies in the U.K. Nevertheless, her efforts failed to bore fruits thereby frustrating bringing a lot of frustrations on the woman. At first she thought that her failure to get responses for job offers were because she had no enough experience required for the job. However, this proved not to be so, after seeking the services of a career adviser for away forward (Verkaik 2005). This is because it turned out that she was not getting job offers from the companies because of her race, which her name was suggestive of. However, after being advised to drop the name that suggest that she comes from the black minority, she immediately began receiving several job offers including from the companies that had earlier denied her the offer (Verkaik 2005). This incidence clearly suggests how racial discrimination at work is still a major problem that the U.K. government still needs to tackle. At the same time, Willis and Robb (2012) found a huge disparity of unemployment between ethnic minority women and the white women in the U.K. This scenario is said to have persisted since 1980s according to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) as reported by Willis and Robb (2012). The APPG report indicated that the overall unemployment rate in the U.K. among women from ethnic minority backgrounds was higher compared to that of the white women in the U.K. In this regard, the report showed that whereas about 14.3% of women from minority backgrounds were unemployed, only 6.8% of white women were unemployed in the U.K. then. At the same time, the study indicated that the rates were higher among the Bangladesh and Pakistani women in which the figures rose to about 20.5%. These figures are a clearly suggest that ethnic discrimination at the workplace is still a common occurrence. The U.K. is said to have the most competitive football league in the world attracting people from all diverse backgrounds. Nevertheless, racial discrimination is still a major challenge in the English premier league and to the entire football fraternity if recent incidences of racial abuses are anything to go by. In this regard, several instances of racial abuses have been reported that are mainly directed towards the black players, clearly suggesting racial discrimination at work. One recent case was that in which John Terry, the Chelsea and former English captain was accused of having racially abused Anton Ferdinand, a black player from Queens Park Rangers in 2012. In this case, it was alleged that Terry racially referred to Ferdinand as a "fucking black cunt" and "fucking knobhead." These words were very offensive in the sense that they were used against Ferdinand in a wrong way to suggest that he is backward and primitive in a way. However, Terry was found not guilty for the abuse due to failure of evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt that he indeed uttered such words as a direct abuse towards Ferdinand (Wagner 2012). At the same time during the proceeding of this case, reports also indicated that Ashley Cole from Chelsea was racially abused on twitter by white British football fans. John Obi Mikel also alleged racial abuse from a referee who officiated the match between Chelsea and Manchester United in 2012. In addition, Luis Suarez of Liverpool was also found to have racially abused Patrice Evra in a premier league match between Manchester United and Liverpool in 2012. All these cases among many others clearly show that racial discrimination is still very high in the U.K. and the world at large (Wagner 2012). Workplace discrimination in England is also seen with regards to gender pay gap. In this case, BBC News (2012) reports indicated that there is a wide gender pay gap between men and women in the U.K. The BBC News reported that U.K. women still earn 14.9% less on average than men on the same. The news also reported that the gap is wider in the private sector jobs than in the public sector jobs. However, the gap is projected to increase in the near future being that the looming public sector cuts is likely to push more women into private sectors. These warnings concurred with an earlier report, which suggested that a woman in the U.K. could earn up to £423,000 less than a man on the same job. The average figures from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) 2012 Gender Salary Survey found out that the gender pay gap in the U.K. stands at £10,060. This was a slight drop compared to figures released in 2011 in which the gap stood at £10,546 according to BBC News (2012). Bird (2012) noted that for every £100 a man earns, a woman gets only £85. The disparity gap in London stands at 23%, which is higher than the national average of 14.9%. The pay gap is not only witnessed in terms of salary awards, but also in bonuses in which women earn far below what their male workers earn for the same job in the U.K (Verkaik 2005). This is after a survey on wage inequality found out that women earn less than half of £7,496, the average bonus than men usually takes home (Bird 2012). These statistics on the gender pay gap shows the extent to which workplace discrimination is in the U.K. It is surprising that the pay gap is this high despite the laws put in place aimed at ensuring that equality prevails in workplace something that women have been clamoring for years since independence. Several reasons have been cited as the main contributors of the pay gap between genders. Bird (2012) argues that women are paid less because most employers tend to undervalue their work in preference of their male counterparts. This has seen jobs that were traditionally done by women get low pay than those dominated by men. Bird (2012) also reveals that some women are being discriminated against based on the motherhood penalties in which employers pay them less since they tend to divide company responsibility with those of their families. For instance, some women are paid less because of taking maternity leaves in which their work has to be taken over by others as noted by Bird (2012). There are also cases involving age discrimination at workplace affirming the fact that discrimination is present in several forms in the U.K. One such case involving age discrimination was that of Achim Beck, a U.K. banker who accused his employer of having discriminated him based on his age. He said that his services were terminated prematurely by his employer who wanted to hire a younger person instead of him (Wallop 2009). His termination of his services did take place and the employer ended up hiring a 38-year old employee. Reports indicated that Beck worked for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce for barely a year before being sacked (Wallop 2009). This is just one among the many cases that involve workplace discrimination based on age in the U.K. However, since the enactment of age discrimination six years ago, employees discriminated in this manner have a recourse and can file a suit against any company found to engage in discrimination in their employment practices. Sexual harassment is also another form of discrimination at the place of work. Some employers tend to harass their employees sexually as a report indicates that some employers in the U.K. ask for sexual favour in order to be able to either hire or promote female candidates. Nevertheless, sexual harassment is taken as a form of discrimination under the U.K. labour laws, thus illegal. The incidences are currently on the rise in the U.K. as reports indicate that many incidences of sexual harassments are being reported by the U.K. women on a daily basis. For example, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) reveals that more than half of women employees have complained of some form of sexual harassment. One of the most memorable suits involving sexual harassment was the 1985 case in which Jean Porcelli concluded that cases of sexual harassments are protected under the Sex Discrimination Act. In this case, after losing the case twice before an Edinburgh tribunal, she finally won the case in which she was awarded damages by the court for sexual harassment by her employer. The EOC helpline reported to have received more than 647 sexual harassment-related calls in April 2004 alone. Cases on sexual discrimination were also found to be rampant within the armed forces in which a survey by the EOC found out that one in every five Navy woman has been subjected to one form of sexual harassment. At the same time, the study found out that one in every eight Army woman in the U.K. have suffered from one form of sexual harassment (Wallop 2009). Some employees also still suffer in the U.K. because they cannot get employment or promotions based on their disability status. This is because many employers in the U.K. tend to prefer those who are not physically challenged for positions in preference of the disabled. However, research indicates this is a global phenomenon as many disabled people in the world are unemployed. The United nations figures indicate that between 80% to 90% of disabled people of working age in developing countries have no formal employment, whereas the figure sands at between 50% to 70% in developed countries like the U.K. (Berthoud 2011, p.13-26). The survey also showed that in most industrialized countries, the rate of unemployment for the disabled working age is more than twice that of those without a disability. In addition, research has indicated that a disabled person about three times likely to remain without a job in the U.K. despite their desire to get employed (Berthoud 2011, p. 27). This is because many employers in the U.K. and the world over discriminate against them. The U.K. employment equality law It is an illegal act under the U.K. labour law to discriminate against any person at the workplace based on gender, color, race, disability, age, belief, sex, religion, or sexual orientation. Workplace discrimination is outlawed in the U.K. by a number of legislations that have been passed to prevent employers from discriminating workers. The legislations include the Equity Act 2010, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the Union, and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as well as Equality Act 2006. These laws prohibit an employer from hiring, promoting, or treating employees discriminately and any employer found to have deliberately discriminated a worker is culpable and can be sued by a worker who feels that he or she has been discriminated at workplace. However, not all discriminations are unlawful in the U.K. For instance, it is lawful under the U.K. labour laws to discriminate an employee based on his or her age. Nevertheless, the employer is required to justify the reasons for discriminating the employ (Barnard 2011, p.31-36). What does the law require an employee to do to combat discrimination? Discrimination at the workplace has indeed persisted for several years now and has not shown any signs of ending any time soon. The onus of prevention of discrimination at the workplace is vested in both the employer and the employee according to Cheatle (2001). This is because the law prevents the employer from employing workers discriminately while at the same time gives rights to workers in case of discrimination at the work place. In this regard, the law requires an employee to report any incidence of discrimination at the workplace so that a legal action can be taken against the person or the employer (Cheatle 2001). This is because there are laws in place that have been enacted in the country that bars any person or employer from discriminating his fellow or an employee at the workplace. In fact, the consequences of a lawsuit are huge and can prove costly to any person or organization found guilty by the court for discrimination at the workplace. This has been witnessed ion some of the discrimination cases that have ended in courts. For instance, after John Terry was alleged to have used a discriminatory abusive language against Ferdinand in 2012, the law granted the Ferdinand the right to file a legal suit against Terry, which indeed led to thorough investigations to unearth the truth behind the allegations (Wagner 2012). Despite being found not guilty for the racial abuse as alleged, the court fined him for using racial language against Ferdinand as he alleged that he used the language to question Ferdinand and not to abuse. In Achim Beck’s case, who sued his employer for terminating his services based on his age, the court found the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce that had sought for his services have discriminatively terminated the services of Becky. This is after the bank failed to prove to the court that age was not a driving factor in the termination of Beck’s services. In the end, the court awarded Beck’s damages involving huge sums of money to be paid by the bank for unfair termination of Beck’s services (Wallop 2009). These typical cases show that the country is actually in the right direction towards ensuring that equality is observed in places of work throughout the country so as to ensure that every U.K. citizen is given a chance to contribute to the country’s development. This is particularly important now that the country is stagnated following recession caused by the recent financial crisis. How can they prevent discrimination at work? As earlier stated, every employee has a responsibility to play as far as prevention of discrimination at the workplace is concerned. As such, certain things can be done by an employee to prevent discrimination at the pace of work. First, any employee who feels been discriminated against should report the matter to the employer (Cheatle 2001). This will help in alerting the organization of discrimination and the person instituting it. Once the person or the manager involved has been identified, the organization can then institute disciplinary measures against the person or the manager thereby helping in curbing the vice as was witnessed in the case between Patrice Evra and Louise Suarez’s alleged racial abuse. However, in case the employer appears complaisant, the employee should make the employer aware that she or he is taking the matter seriously. This is because some employers tend to ignore some of the issues particularly those, which they have aided themselves. Nevertheless, an employee can seek for legal redress in case the organization is not doing anything to avoid engaging in discriminatory practices at the workplace (Cheatle 2001). However, it is advisable for an employee to seek for the services of an attorney for representation in court of law. Conclusion Workplace discrimination is indeed still rampant in the U.K. implying that the government and the rights group still need to do a lot in order to contain the vice. This is because many people in the U.K. are suffering from workplace discrimination, which denies them the opportunity to participate in the development of the country. However, it is worth appreciating that the government in conjunction with the rights groups has tried to reduce the rate of employment discrimination in the country as seen through laws that have been passed over the years. References BBC News (2012), Gender pay gap at risk of worsening, say campaigners. Seventh 7, 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20223264 (Accessed on 26 Feb. 2013). Barnard, C. (2011), New Developments in Employment Discrimination Law. The UK Report. Trinity College, Cambridge. Pp. 31-54. Berthoud, R. (2011), Trends in the Employment of Disabled People in Britain. Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex. No. 2011-03. Pp.1-53. Bird, A. (2012), The gender pay gap is still too big. The Guardian. June16, 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/16/gender-pay-gap-audits (Accessed on 26 Feb. 2013). Cheatle, K. (2001), Mastering Human Resource Management. London: Palgrave. Muir, H. (2012), “Has racial discrimination been eradicated from the workplace?” The Guardian. October 9, 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/09/racial-discrimination-eradicated-from-workplace (Accessed on 26 Feb. 2013). Rogers, S. (2011), International womens day: the pay gap between men and women for your job. The Guardian. March 8, 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/mar/08/international-womens-day-pay-gap (Accessed on 26 Feb. 2013). Verkaik, R. (2005). Thirty years on, women still face discrimination in the workplace. The Independent. December 29, 2005. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/thirty-years-on-women-still-face-discrimination-in-the-workplace-520948.html (Accessed on 26 Feb. 2013). Wagner, F. (2012), John Terry England Captaincy: Is This the End for the Chelsea Captain? Bleacher Report, February 2, 2012. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1050912-john-terry-england-captaincy-is-this-the-end-for-the-chelsea-captain (Accessed on 26 Feb. 2013). Wallis, H, & Robb, S. (2012), Workplace discrimination prompts whitened job applications. BBC News. December 12, 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20608039 (Accessed on 26 Feb. 2013). Wallop, H. (2009), 42-year old wins age discrimination case. The Telegraph. December 30, 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6906484/42-year-old-wins-age-discrimination-case.html (Accessed on 26 Feb. 2013). Read More