Interference of Government Policy in Companies' Hiring Practices - Coursework Example

HRM Issues Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecture Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date Introduction Ideally an employer is supposed to have the right to hire any employee he feels will help the organization in achieving its goals. However, on the ground there are many factors beyond the employers control that influence who an organization can hire or not. The Australian labour market has a myriad of legal barriers that organization face in the quest to employ the right individuals. An organizations needs to consider the quality and quantity of employees it is going to hire. However, a number of external and internal factors affect the individuals an organization can employ. Among these external factors is Government policy. Government policy affects the recruitment of workers in profound ways. HR planning cannot afford to ignore the legal implication of their hiring practices. Regulations that interfere with government include tax legislation, non-discrimination legislation and restriction on the free movement of people across foreign borders. HR planning is the first and a very crucial function of human resource management. According to Bhattacharyya (2009) human resource planning is concerned with acquiring, utilizing, improving and preservation of human resources. This paper discusses the various arguments for and against the interference of government policy in hiring practices of an organization. The paper discusses how the government interferes with hiring in organization and whether there is a need for the Government to do so. The paper shows that the government engages in a sensitive balancing act as economic theory require government to stay off the affairs of private enterprise. Secondly, it analyzes the argument advanced by organizations towards being allowed freedom to employ whomever they want. Finally, the paper concludes that there is need for government to remain involved in hiring practices to ensure organization do not engage in exploitive hiring practices. Discussion According to Armstrong (2003), government policy influence all the phases of employment starting with the pre-employment phase. The process of pre-employment including job adverts, job description, application form and the interview have to follow stringent legal guidelines. One of the reasons why government intervention in hiring practices is necessary is to prevent discrimination. Given the diversity of the labour market, issues of discrimination are in hiring are almost inevitable. Organizations can however stay from trouble by adhering to legislation against discrimination in employment. According to Gringart and Helmes (2001), it is illegal for employers to discriminate against individuals during the hiring process on the grounds of race, sex, religion, age disability and many other characteristics. The aim of government intervention is to ensure that people of diverse origins are not discriminated due to their differences. While placing a job advertisement use of discriminatory words should be avoided as it may show that the organization is bent on acting in a discriminatory manner. The same conventions are to be observed while compiling the job description as intent to discriminate here too is illegal. Legal requirements for employers during interview also limit the employers hiring options. According to Bennington and Wein (2000), an employer is under legal obligation not to ask questions that seek information that may lead to the discrimination of the employee in the hiring process. Employers are advised not to ask question on an individual intentions to have children or how many children he has, his marital status, race, religion, his sexual preference, whether they suffer from disability or not as these are taken as discriminatory questions (Bennington and Wein 2000). Legislations like the Equal opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 require organizations to have a workforce that is diverse in term of gender. Similarly, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, requires employers to consider disabled applicants on the same level as other able bodied employees (Bennington and Wein 2000). Another common interference by government in employment practices is concerned with the hiring of foreign workers. With Australia facing an ageing population problem where most of its highly skilled workers are retiring Australia is facing a skill shortage (Kaur 2007). Another factor that is causing the skill shortage in Australia is the appeal of Australia graduates in the job market which means Australian executives are moving to take job opportunities overseas. Therefore, Australia needs to hire employees from other foreign countries to fill the widening gap. According to Gringart and Helmes (2001) the government advices companies to take preventive measures to guard against discriminative hiring practices. Employers should engage their human resource department in training to enable them deal with potential discrimination pitfalls. The training should provide information on relevant discrimination laws and how they affect the hiring practice in the organization. According to Bhattacharyya (2009) one of the challenges facing human resource planning in OECD countries is an acute shortage of neccesary skills. According to Shah and Burke (2005) the unemployment level in Australia has been falling since early 2000 and recently it hit the lowest level in 30 years. Low unemployment levels means that organizations have lesser choices for hiring than in markets with higher unemployment levels. Kukoc (2011) claims the tightness of the labour market could hurt economic growth as key industries experience skill shortage. This situation means Australian companies have to plan well in advance for the impeding skill shortage. Further, human resource planning has to contend with governemnt policy that limit the skill pool Australian organization can access on the international labour market. Australian organizations view the international labour market as a viable source of their future labour needs. Ideally, workers are supposed to have the right to freely move from country to country without any impediments to enable them choose the best employment opportunities and allow employee choose those with the skills that fit most appropriately with their strategic skills. Although, Australia allows for a range of work visas there are numerous restrictions for hiring foreign workers. Recently, the government has announced moves to limit the number of temporary workers who come to Australia was announced in February 2013 as organizations where taking advantage of the 457 skill program to hire foreign workers. This move is clear evidence of how the government influences the employment practices of Australian companies. According to Hugo (2006) most of the 457 visa holders provide skills that are in the upper 10 per cent of overall Australian skill levels and are enthusiastic about working in Australia. Thus, the move by the Australian government to limit the number of people who come to Australia on the 457 visa is likely to negatively affect organizations that may have plugged their skill shortage with temporary foreign workers. According to Kukoc (2011) both the skills possessed by both temporary and permanent immigrants are the reason the Australian economy has remained resilient and is currently outperforming other OECD economies. In regard to the international labour market, the government also controls who employers can hire by recognizing or not recognizing professional qualifications. In most cases, foreign workers who are seeking employment opportunities in Australia are taken through rigorous testing to ensure their skill level is in line with Australian skill levels. It may be argued that the government has no role in determining the skill level of foreign employees entering Australia as it is the organizations that bears the loss of employing individuals with substandard skills (Freeman and Birrell 2001). Government policy on skill transfer has impacts heavily on the hiring practices of organizations and the ability of multinational organization to freely transfer it workforce to Australia. According to Hudson (2013) there is need for continued government intervention in hiring practices, because if some employers are given a free hand in hiring they will exploit it. This year the Australian government accused organization of abusing the 457 program to obtain cheap labour. According to Hudson (2013), foreign workers were willing to accept $180,000 while Australian with the same skills asked for $220,000. This disparity is likely to increase the preference of foreign workers over Australians, therefore driving Australians from their jobs (Kaur 2007). Apparently, the move by organization to hire cheaper foreign labour is in line with the HR planning objective of controlling labour costs. The main argument for organization to resist government interference in choosing who to hire is rooted in the Human resource planning concept. Employment planning in organizations is aimed at making sure that an organization has the right number of worker, who possess the appropriate skill, ability and knowledge (Bhattacharyya 2009). To achieve their organizational goals, organizations maintain that they should have a free hand while dealing with internal matters like employment. Conclusion The argument to allow a lissez-faire approach to businesses in the various facets of their operations has been advanced for a very long time. In hiring employee organizations argue they need the right people for the job in question. Despite this being a very strong argument, the control the government exerts in hiring practices is much more important. If businesses are left to hire people as they want discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, age, race and sexual orientation are likely to occur. Disabled people may never get employed even if they can perform a job as well as able bodied individuals. Secondly, if businesses were allowed to hire free from foreign countries, it is clear they would go for the cheapest labour, denying locals job opportunities. However, with an existing acute skill shortage, the Australian government should relax its restriction on the hiring of foreign workers. It has been shown that immigrant employees play a large role in Australia’s continued economic growth. Australia should also make changes to its immigration policy to make overseas skill more easily recognizable or allow organization to assess the skills they find appropriate for their organizations. Furthermore, immigration policy should be changed to allow, Australian companies to freely hire foreign graduates who have been trained in Australia. On the other hand, those responsible for human resource planning must remain aware of government policy that influences hiring in their organizations. Recognition of the implications of government policy on hiring will continues to restrict the choice of individuals an organization can hire now and in the future. It is the responsibility of the organization to adapt it recruitment policy to government regulation and leverage any changes in policy that may favour them. Otherwise businesses cannot afford to contravene government restriction on hiring practices as this has costly legal implications. Other contraventions of government restriction, especially discriminatory hiring practices have a negative image on an organization’s image. To conclude, the government must continue to play an active role in ensuring fair hiring practices in Australia. References Armstrong, M 2003, A handbook of human resource management practice, Kogan Page Limited. Bennington, L & Wein, R 2000, Anti-discrimination legislation in Australia: fair, effective, efficient or irrelevant?, International Journal of Manpower,vol. 21, no. 1,pp. 21-33. Bhattacharyya, DK 2009, Human Resource Planning, Excel Books India, New Delhi. Gringart, E & Helmes, E 2001, Age discrimination in hiring practices against older adults in Western Australia: The case of accounting assistants, Australasian Journal on Ageing, vol. 20, no.1, pp. 23-28. Hugo, G 2006, Temporary migration and the labour market in Australia, Australian Geographer, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 211-231. Kaur, A 2007, Migration matters in the Asia-Pacific region: immigration frameworks, knowledge workers and national policies, Migration and Integration in the Asia-Pacific Region, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 135-157. Ofori-Dankwa, J & Julian, SD 2005, From thought to theory to school: the role of contextual factors in the evolution of schools of management thought, Organization Studies, 26(9), 1307-1329. Hudson , P 2013, Door shuts on thousands of cheap foreign workers, Herald Sun, Retreived on 13th April 2012, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/door-shuts-on-thousands-of-cheap-foreign-workers/story-e6frg6n6-1226583823908 Kukoc, K 2011, Key Issues in Skilled Migration to Australia, Australia-Canada Roundtable on Foreign Qualifications Recognition, 13. Freeman, GP, & Birrell, B 2001, Divergent paths of immigration politics in the United States and Australia, Population and Development Review, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 525-551. Shah, C & Burke, G 2005, Skilled migration: Australia, Monash University, CEET. Read More