Cultural Groups and Equal Payment - Term Paper Example

?Full 18 November Equal pay for Equal Work. Why have some cultural groups not received equal compensation forsimilar work? Why did organizations not act in a responsible way to bridge this compensation gap in the workplace? The concept of being paid for a specific amount of work on the basis of a fixed work rate is referred to as performance-rated payment. Many business researchers and theorists believe that this is the best method of payment and the satisfaction of the employees is met according to the how much effort they put into it. Money itself is the most vibrant form of incentive for increasing the productivity of employees. This is why organizations use the various methods to evaluate employees. Employees who work properly do not have the fear factor of supervisors. This is because they are scaled according to the amount of work they have done which has been seen in material form. These employees do not have to wait on supervisors to accept the amount of work they have done and they are compensated by the amount of work they have physically completed. This essay would analyze the situation of the cultural groups with regard to the difference in their payment scales. The performance-rated payment system is frowned upon in some societies. This example could be seen where employees who work at call centers are paid a specific sum regardless of the amount of work that has been done. In countries such as India, call center employees are paid a fixed wage rate of Rs. 15,000 (USD 300) per month. They are not even compensated by the amount of work they have done whereas for employees working in call centers in USA are paid roughly USD 2000 per month and after reaching a specific target they are compensated with overtime premium amounts and bonuses. This shows how the wage rates in other countries determine how the employees are used and not equally compensated. Performance based work rates are appreciated in these types of countries as it increases the quality of work and gives the employees reasons to improve themselves. Equal payment for equal work is a concept which itself focuses on the title. Employers might not be paying equal wages to workers for a certain task and might be using some kind of medium to keep it that way. Some restaurants and stores hire illegal immigrants on lower wage rates than that of a legal citizen. They use this to their benefit and utilize the pay difference to boost the store profits. The equal pay for equal work context also works in the context of sexual discrimination. Women across the globe are not treated with the same respect that male employees are offered and their benefits are also not properly compensated for. Free market supporters believe that the rules and legislations that are passed are not properly kept in light and it does not protect the people that it has aimed to protect. Where an employer has to hire someone, that employer would prefer hiring a male worker instead of a female because of the workload that the male can take on. Most female employees have this in mind when applying for a job. The employer now has the benefit of hiring a worker who is skilled and will be working for less compensation for work. Employees try to work against the system by formulating labor unions to help them get the rightly deserved compensation that they are asking for. The USA has a law which focuses on equal pay/compensation for work that has been done. The law revolves around mainly focusing on gender inequalities for employees working in a work place. All forms of pay are covered in this law including bonuses and benefits that the employee would get are covered in this law. (Commission). The government also introduced the Equal Pay Act (EPA) which would require employers to pay men and women equally for any work that they do which is similar. This law was passed in 1963 where the crux of the labor related problems were seen. This law itself covers every state, federal government and mostly all private employers. (All). This law gives the ability of suing employers for inequality according to the rules that come under this. Some employees think that their bosses should align their payments according to their experience and how the resume is different. This does not apply because the jobs that these employees have to do are the same that other employees of less experience can do. Therefore the pay structure should remain the same that others are being offered. There are other workplaces where the structure of payment is fixed to a certain level. These are large organizations or military based organizations where the work is also of a standard level and everything else is standardized in the same format. (Downs). Women have generally been earning 77 cents whereas every man has been earning a dollar. (Union). The paycheck fairness act was introduced to ensure that these employees were paid according to the amount of work that they were doing. It was a promise of enabling female workers to be compensated with the same amount of pay that male workers were offered. Female workers, mainly those of color, were the ones that had to suffer this gender inequality the most. The cross-culture problems were the ones that gave the employers the upper hand advantage of being able to gain maximum benefits out of these culturally obstructed individuals. The fact that they belonged to another race was the reason that they had to cave in to having lower pays as those who were white and had legal rights as Americans. The introduction of employers equal pay audit came into light when problems with addressing payments was a problem and equal payments were not made to those of color or gender discrepancies. This would compare the protected groups who work in the organization and evaluate why the company has pay gaps between them and those who are of the same culture. These then would involve exploring why these gaps exist and on which grounds they are kept in such a pattern. Potential discrimination is targeted so as to see where unequal pay for the same equal work is done and how it does not directly focus as the other gaps. (E. a. Commission). The benefits of the pay audit help to enable the company to refrain from going off track the law. And would show other companies which are doing business with the employer that they stay and value all employees equally. (E. a. Commission). It is against the law to discriminate the arrangements of payment that are made between two individuals of the opposite sex. In the same way it is illegal in doing so with individuals who are from another race or have a disability. In the same way, in some organizations, individuals who are married are treated badly and do not have a say in ensuring that equal treatment is done. The organizations that are behind this can, on the other hand, treat them better than other employees and this is not unlawful to those who are not married. In the same way, it is not unlawful to treat a disabled person better than a person who is not disabled. This shows respect that the barriers are acknowledged and disabled people cannot participate in all activities that enabled people can do. In some aspects, women expect to be paid the same amount for work done but cannot they do the equivalent amount of work expected to be done. In this case, the woman can only challenge the decision to be paid less if the work that she is doing is rated equivalent. In some cases employers argue that women should be given a lower wage rate because of the pregnancy and chances of her leaving. Men are more reliable in this case and are given a constant job whereas women are likely to leave if they are married or pregnant. But the law abides the employers to ensure that they are equal to female employees are during their maternity leave, they are paid unless the contract says elsewise. Some employers think of it as a good method to increase their level of business with other businesses and take it as a medium of good business practices. Pensions are also targeted during this maternity leave and some females have the tendency to quit working after they have a child. Therefore, contracts sometimes take a maternity leave as a permanent leave and seal the contract in that case. Gender segregation is a high degree of problems that can be seen in the health workforce too. But this also brings in mind the male advantage which includes all the factors that can be compared with overtime. (Standing). The importance of ensuring that stakeholder presence is there is another factor that keeps organizations in light of rules and regulations. Companies tend to keep internal motives in mind of profit building and low wage rates in mind. These factors can in the short run increase the share values of companies but in the long run when these companies are found contemplating with the legal issues in negative ways they are subjected to hard legal methods which bring down the productivity and sometimes may even bring a halt into the systems. (Standing). When equality is not summoned in the global market, issues of brain drain can arise where the qualified individuals decide to leave the country because of inequality concerns and seek refuge in countries which acknowledge their qualifications. The international labor organization also agrees with the issue of pay differentials that is the most common form of inequality. Migrant workers face the most inequality issues. Minimum wages demanded by governments are methods that they are trying to utilize to tackle the issue of migrant workers facing lower wages than those that are set by the government. The markets may be imperfect but the role of a fixed minimum wage and a constant realistic check by the authorities could help determine whether or not the rules are followed. Often the unskilled international migrant worker expects to a higher pay than that which they receive in their home country. These missions may be tackled but the migrant worker does not have other factors in mind of how the living standards are different and how the pay structure revolves around those to enable a settled lifestyle for employees there. A proper check and balance system needs to be built around this to ensure that these are kept in mind and to keep the satisfaction of the employees and employer in mind. References All, NOLO: Law for. The Equal Pay Act: Equal Pay for Women. n.d. 18 November 2011 . Commission, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity. Equal Pay/Compensation Discrimination. n.d. 18 November 2011 . Downs, Paul. Equal Pay for Equal Work? Not Necessarily. 15 September 2010. 18 November 2011 . Union, American Civil Liberties. Equal Pay for Equal Work: Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. n.d. 18 November 2011 . Read More