Equal Opportunity Policies and Practices - Essay Example

Topic: Lecturer: Presentation: Equal Opportunity Policies and Practices in Organizations across Europe Equalopportunity policies and practices began in 1970s whereby equal pay for equal work was being stressed. Issues such as work conditions, social security, recruitment, training and promotion were the challenges facing organizations in Europe. The equal opportunity legislations put in place at the time included; Equal Pay Act of 1976 and amended in 2000, Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and amended 1999, Race and Relations Act of 1976. These were to guard against discrimination in employment at work places (Healy et al. 2011). Other anti-discrimination legislations came into effect later to ensure there was no discrimination according to gender, sex, race, age, religion and disability. Disability Discrimination Act was passed in 1995 and was amended in 2005, Age Discrimination Act in 2006 while Gender Equality Act came into action in 2007. The European Union has put in place various statutory bodies to ensure the legislations are enacted such as the equal opportunity commission, disability rights commission and the equal and human rights commission which covers all the other equality policies (Klarsfeld, 2010). Most organizations across Europe have put in place equality policies but in some other organizations especially the small scale firms lack equality policies. Despite all these measures put in place it is still evident that inequalities exist at workplaces. For example, the European working conditions survey of 2005 revealed that men dominated senior management positions with 79% compared to 29% women (Eurofound, 2008). The same survey also revealed existence of sectoral segregation with majority of women in the service sector and men dominating manufacturing and construction sector. European countries have put various measures in place to ensure organizations implement the equal opportunity policies in their management practices. In Finland, funds are channelled to the female dominated sectors to enhance pay increments so that women can have same pay as men. The UK carries out voluntary pay audits to ensure equal pay policies are adhered to. Equality plans are enacted in Sweden while France strives to narrow the gender pay gap and address labour market segregation by use of national intersectoral agreements (Eurofound, 2008). The extent to which organizations in European countries attach importance to equal opportunity policies varies. Some view the policies and practices as a means to achieve business success while others perceive the policies as a burden as they favour employees thus some companies have such policies in place while others especially the small organizations and the private sector disregard them. For example, according to the department of trade and industry the policies are prevalent in the public sector whereby 97% have equal opportunity policies compared to 57% for private sector enterprises (Anderson et al.2004). They are also found in workplaces with union recognition as opposed to those that don’t recognize unions; 90% and 53% consecutively. The department also established that those areas with higher level of females and ethnic minority had equality policies. The equality policies are enacted in various aspects of people management in organizations such as, recruitment and selection, training and development, job evaluation, promotion, work-life balance, and disciplinary and grievance procedures among others. Organizations have learnt to appreciate diversity in the workplace and hence embraced equal opportunity policies that bar discrimination based on race, religion and ethnic affiliation. Diversity is driven by various factors in different organizations. According to CIPD (2006), most companies (68%) are driven by legal compliance. 64% are driven by desire to recruit and retain staff while 46% are driven by social justice. All employees are treated equally and the views and opinions of each employee are valued. Many large organizations have branches in different geographical area and hence have employees from different cultures and religious affiliations and to gain their commitment and eventually better performance and organization success, organizations tend to put in place equal opportunity policies. Harzing & Ruysseveldt (2004) argue that multiculturalism increases creativity and innovation, enables organization to attract and retain talented or skilled workers as it is regarded as the employer of choice, enhances flexibility as well as creating opportunity for worldwide learning. The organizations also send employees for international assignments and failure by the employee to accomplish the mission is costly and hence the organization has to embrace diversity and hire qualified staff despite their country of origin. Scullion (2001) notes that not many workers are willing to take up international assignments and thus an organization that has equal opportunity policies is better positioned to attract such employees. To enhance diversity, various measures are put in place. The recruitment and selection policies are formulated in a way that ensures non-discrimination. For example, British telecoms policy shows commitment to offer equal opportunities to everyone in the company regardless of race, religion, sex, marital status, disability and other non-job considerations (Kubr, 2002). Intel is also committed to equality and diversity. All its employees are supposed to behave in ways that reflect the firm’s position and worldwide internal organization surveys are conducted to ensure compliance and the results and related action shared with employees (DTI, 2001). Other organizations have equality audits and action plans as a requirement by their countries. For example in Sweden, firms with more than 10 employees maintain equality plans while the same applies to firms with more than 30 employees in Finland to monitor recruitment and selection, pay and sexual harassment (Galligan et al. 2007). Some organizations like outcomes in the UK encourage people from ethnic minorities to apply for jobs as a way of embracing diversity (Outcomes UK, 2011). It offers training and development to the underrepresented groups so that they can advance their careers and be equal to the rest of the employees. If an employee feels discriminated in recruitment because of race, sex, age or religious affiliation, he/she can sue the organization through an employment tribunal or office of the ombudsman and hence most companies ensure compliance to avoid costs associated with suits and to retain their image. Organizations also offer off days to religious groups to allow them celebrate religious holidays as a way of appreciating diversity and equality in workplace. Diversity is also achieved by ensuring gender equality. This is achieved by offering flexible working schedule to allow work-life balance. Women jobs are considered to be more flexible than men and most women work part-time but end up working long hours. Prime et al (2008) argues that women have greater work-life balance issues and family-work conflicts hence need flexible jobs to address their issues. As a result, women are not placed in leadership positions hence men dominate senior management. The EWCS survey showed that 71% men were in leadership positions compared to 29% for women (Eurofound, 2008). A study carried out in 14 European countries to determine whether work-life balance practices enhance career development for women to senior management showed that payment of additional amount of maternity leave was the only effective means of advancing career for women. However, there was growth in employment for women (Straub, 2007). Due to job flexibility, in 1995-2006, female employment rate increased by 8% from 50-58%while that of men increased by 2% from 70-72% (Eurofound, 2009). To a certain extent men are also favoured by flexibility policies as they are able to negotiate working hours by spreading the annual hours over time. Women are also given health insurance in pregnancy and maternity to encourage them to continue working. Job evaluation practices can help to curb inequalities. Organizations tend to apply performance related pay to the workforce so as to enhance quality and improve performance. This activity however can end up creating inequalities in work place. To enhance gender equality, gender is removed from job titles. A universal system of valuing work and general occupational classifications is required to curb inequalities (Galligan et al. 2007). In Romania, wages are paid according to complexity of work. Women are employed in lowly paid jobs in the service sector while men are highly paid in construction, engineering and agricultural sector hence gender pay gap still exists despite the numerous measures to eliminate it. Disability is another area covered by equality policies through the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995. According to Banfield & Kay (2008), in 2001 one in five people of working age in private households in UK had long-term disabilities. Organizations strive to ensure the disabled are given equal opportunities like normal employees. This is done by modifying instruction manuals, making sure they have easy access to the premises, providing auxiliary aids and even hiring an interpreter to assist them. Sexual harassment in workplaces is prohibited and disciplinary procedures are used to eliminate such practices. In conclusion, organizations across Europe recognize the importance of equal opportunity policies and practices in people management though in varying degrees. Large organizations are faced with complex HR issues and therefore view enactment of the policies in the organization as a way to reduce conflicts and achieve business success. The public sector organizations are the ones who mostly make use of the policies as compliance measures. The presence of trade union in an organization also affects the way the management effects the equal opportunity policies. Those organizations without a trade union do not put much emphasis on formulating such policies. Small organizations view the policies and practices as favourable to employees hence do not emphasize on them. It is also evident that despite the policies, inequalities still exist in terms of gender pay gap, occupational and sectoral segregation and in leadership. References Anderson, T., Millward, N., Forth, J (2004) “Equal Opportunity Policies at the Workplace: Secondary Analysis of WERS98”. Department of Trade and Industry. http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/emar Banfield, P., Kay, R (2008) Introduction to Human Resource Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. CIPD (2006) “Diversity: An Overview”http://www.cipd.co.uk Department of Trade and Industry (2001)”Work-Life Balance: The Business Case” http://www.dti.gov.uk Eurofound (2008) “Mind the gap – Women’s and Men’s Quality of Work and Employment: Background Paper” http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef0839.htm Eurofound (2009) “Patterns of Recent Employment Growth in EU: Implications for Gender Equality, Background paper”. http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2009/35/en/1/EF0935EN.pdf Galligan, Y., Clavero, S., Calloni, M (2007) Gender Politics and Democracy in Post-Socialist Europe. Germany: Barbara Budrich. Harzing, A.W., Ruysseveldt, J.V. (2004) (Eds.) International Human Resource Management. 2ed. London: Sage Healy, G., Kirton, G. and Noon, M (2011) Equality, Inequalities and Diversity: Contemporary Challenges and Strategies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Klarsfeld, A (Ed) (2010) International Handbook on Diversity Management at Work: Country Perspectives on Diversity and Equal Treatment. UK: Edward Elgar. Kubr, M (ed) (2002) Management Consulting: A Guide to the Profession, 4ed. Geneva: International Labour Office. Outcomes UK (2011) “Equal Opportunity Policy: General Commitment to Equal Opportunities”. http://www.outcomesuk.com/about-outcomes-uk/corporate-information/equal-opportunities-policy. Prime et.al. (2008) ‘Managers’ Perceptions of Women and Men Leaders: A Cross Cultural Comparison’. International Journal of Cross Cultural Managemen, 8(2): 171-210 Scullion, H (2001) “International Human Resource Management”. In J. Storey (ed) Human Resource Management. London: Thompson. Straub, C (2007) “A comparative Analysis on the Use of Work-Life Balance Practices in Europe: Do Practices Enhance Females Career Advancement?” Women in Management Review, 22(4): 289-304. Read More