Human Resource - Research Paper Example

Do you believe Oiler’s employee rights were violated? Explain your position. Oiler’s employee rights were clearly violated because he was fired from his job for expressing an aspect of his personality in his own time. As is evident, Oiler had an impeccable record and his out-of-work activities did not impact his work or his ability to work in the organization. For any organization, what the employee does during the time off work should not affect the way they are judged on or perceived in the organization (Crow, Fok and Hartman, 1988).

Oiler’s transgender nature was never exhibited during the office premises. It has been noticed that, issues of sexual preferences and gender are much more sensitive because individuals who have different preferences feel discriminated in many avenues of life (Burns and Krehely, 2005). Most organizations proclaim that they do not carry out any form of discrimination, but in practice they do and violate the rights of the employees. This is exactly what happened with Oiler. Oilers contributions to the organization as well as his work record were not taken into consideration when making the decision regarding his termination.

Furthermore, the disturbing fact was that the laws of the federation and the state did not have any protection for the transgendered employees. Therefore, not only were employee rights of Oiler violated, he did not receive any protection from the state or federation either. 2. What do you see as the consequences of organizations that punish employees for certain off-the-job behaviors? Explain. Punishing employees for certain off-the-job behaviors can create a negative perception among the employees as well as the public because the organization does not practice equality and non-discrimination (Weiss, 2007).

Termination of the employees for such reasons would be a negative publicity as clients and employees would exercise caution in approaching the organization in the future. Another consequence would be that the employees can feel very insecure, just as in the case of Win-Dixie, where they thought that they could be terminated for any reason. This would not be a healthy condition for the organization because the employee morale would become low and this would have a direct result the performance.

It can also result in a loss of trust and increase the churn rate or the attrition of the organization. Externally, the image of the organization would be affected in a major way because the image would be that the organization is capable for discriminating the employees for any reason. This creates a negative perception for the organization in the industry (Davison and Burke, 2000). Thus, the consequences of carrying out punishments for some specific off-job behaviors can have impacts both internally as well as externally. 3. Would you consider Winn-Dixie an organization that exhibits characteristics of progressive discipline or the hot stove approach?

Defend your position Winn-Dixie takes the hot stove approach with regards to Oiler. The hot stove approach has four fold basic disciples using the analogy of a hot stove. They are warning, immediate, impersonal and consistent (Erven, 2005). The employee is provided with a warning through the rules of the organization; therefore, the rules serve as a warning. However, in Oiler’s case, it was little tricky because there were not many rules related to equality of transgender individuals. ‘Immediate’ means that an action would be taken as early as possible to make sure that there is no further violation.

In Oiler’s issue, it was the immediate termination from employment. Consistent means that every employee who violates the rule would be meted out the same treatment. This created issues in the organization as other employees lost trust after Oiler was terminated. Impersonal means that no matter what the level of the employee is, they would get punishment for any possible violation. Hence, the way in which Oiler’s case was taken up by the management of Winn-Dixie shows that a hot stove approach was chosen.

If the approach of progressive discipline was chosen, then the organization would stick with the employee until there is no longer a problem or when they realize that there is no further scope for change (Howe, 2004). In such a case, the employer also takes corrective steps on their part to ensure that they are not wrong. If Winn-Dixie had taken this approach, they would have worked around their regulations to ensure that there is no discrimination in the organization. References Burns, C and Krehely, J (2011) Gay and Transgender People Face High Rates of Workplace Discrimination and Harassment.

americanprogress.org Retrieved July 16, 2011 http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/06/pdf/workplace_discrimination.pdf Crow, S., Fok, L. and Hartman, S. (1988). “Who is at Greatest Risk of Work-related Discrimination—Women, Blacks, or Homosexuals?” Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal 11(1) 15-26. Davison, H and Burke, M.J. (2000). Sex Discrimination in Simulated Employment Contexts: A Meta-analytic Investigation. Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol.56, p.225 Erven, B (2005) Discipline for a Fair Workplace, Lawn & Garden Retailer. 4 (2) p 35-38 Howe, T (2004) The True Meaning of Progressive Discipline.

Charityvillage.com Retrieved July 16, 2011 http://www.charityvillage.com/cv/research/rhr14.html Weiss, J (2007) Transgender Workplace Diversity: Policy Tools, Training Issues and Communication Strategies for HR and Legal Professional. North Charleston : BookSurge Publishing