Discrimination Laws
Order Instructions:
Identify a couple of the major discrimination laws.
How are these laws intended to protect employees?
Are these laws necessary and effective, or instead do they restrict the manager’s ability to properly manage?
SAMPLE ANSWER
Discrimination Laws
Discrimination is witnessed when an individual is unfairly treated based on their national background, gender, ethnicity, race, color, age, religion, sex orientation or disability among others. There are various types of discrimination laws as discussed below:
Equal employment opportunity
‘Discrimination during hiring/recruitment’ is meant to ensure that employees have equal opportunity in accessing employment as long as they have qualifications required in a certain job opening. It protects employees from being discriminated against based on personal characteristics and thus ensures that they have equal chances of getting employed like other candidates seeking employment.
Equal treatment at work
Employees are protected against discrimination at the workplace by ensuring that employers provide non-discriminatory terms and conditions at work. This ensures that employees’ backgrounds does not influence nature of employment, hours of work, salary and other remuneration packages, training, promotions, transfer, dress standards, discrimination based on stereotypes (Congressional Digest, 2013, p. 9-10).
Unfair dismissal
Employees are protected from unsatisfactory discrimination, except for various exceptions allowed, such as genuine financial reasons, serious misbehavior and poor work performance (Jones and Walker Solicitors, 2012, p.42). This law protects employees from dismissal based on personal characteristic, reaching a certain age, injury and pregnancy among other issues. It also protects them from employer breach of contract and dismissal without notice.
How the laws protect employees
Discrimination laws ensure that an individual’s characteristics do not influence how they are treated at work or opportunities available to them. They protect employees from any form of discrimination base on national origin, sex, race, color, sexual orientation, gender, age and disability among other differences (Congressional Digest, 2013, p. 9-10).
Absence of discrimination laws would render various groups of individuals, mostly minorities, disadvantaged in the job market. Without discrimination laws, certain classes of people such as the disabled would find it difficult to obtain and keep jobs because they would be outdone by their able-bodied counterparts.
Discrimination laws are aimed at guaranteeing fair conditions for all employees and ensuring that employers do not take advantage of individuals who may appear vulnerable. Without such laws, employers would have the freedom to fire people at will, without proper justification or based on personal prejudice. It gives employees some level of security and protection against injustices based on employer bias. It also opens opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to certain classes of people.
In terms of mental health, discrimination laws protect employees from psychological effects resulting from unfair treatment and expectations. The laws provide a fair playing ground for potential employees to compete, as long as they possess the requirements as provided by the employer. They also ensure that employees are comfortable at their workplaces without fear of being discriminated against. This is especially important for minorities who have historically faced discrimination at the workplace.
Employers and discrimination laws
While discrimination laws mostly favor employees, the employer’s attitude towards these laws as well as measures taken to ensure that discrimination is avoided determine how they affect the management functions. They are not only useful but are also necessary in promoting a good working environment. Sema et al (2013, p. 76), notes that employers should aim at ensuring zero discrimination in order to prevent law suits (Czubkowski, 2013, p. 1841-1842). Once clear guidelines are laid out, chances of the discrimination laws affecting management functions are minimal.
The work environment however presents various situations, which may leave the management in a dilemma (Abraham, et al, 2015, p. 337-338). While discrimination laws are aimed at protecting employees, they may work to the detriment of managers and thereby restrict them from performing their duties effectively. An example is the law on unfair dismissal, which may lead to poor performance among employees, given that they are protected by the law against dismissal. In such a case, the management may have difficulty enhancing productivity at the workplace because dismissal could result in potential law suits. This is especially so where the management does not have proper records of an employee’s poor performance. Furthermore, the law requires that for an employer to terminate an employee, he or she must have been given a warning regarding their performance and given a chance to improve (Jones and Walker Solicitors, 2012, p.42).
Discrimination laws prohibit employers from placing advertisements that seem to favor a certain group of individuals, or which appear to discourage certain individuals from applying. Practically however, there are certain jobs that require people of a certain nature to handle and managers may find it difficult to fill those positions without appearing to discriminate. A company for example may prefer to hire men for jobs that require major travelling and long hours, as opposed to women who are known to have significant family roles and attachments that may make the job difficult for them to pursue. Such practices are however restricted in the discrimination laws, which makes it difficult for employers to effectively select employees (Thompson Solicitors, 2012, p. 1-2).
Conclusion
The various discrimination laws ensure employee protection and are of great importance in promoting equality within the workplace. Employers must therefore be careful to ensure that they set clear standards to prevent possible law suits. It is also clear that discrimination laws may interfere with the management’s ability to execution duties; leading to undesired outcomes such as low productivity.
Reference List
Abraham, M, Kaliannan, M, Mohan, A, & Thomas, S 2015, ‘A Review of SMEs Recruitment and Selection Dilemma: Finding A ‘Fit”, Journal Of Developing Areas, 49, 5, pp. 335-342, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 October 2015. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7d1cce9f-663c-409b-8ae9-8f73e8f2e79f%40sessionmgr110&vid=0&hid=117
‘Antidiscrimination in the Workplace’ 2013, Congressional Digest, 92, 10, pp. 9-11, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 October 2015. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=e0fcf1ba-e4f6-431c-af8a-338eb61dc71c%40sessionmgr112&vid=0&hid=117
Czubkowski, KS 2013, ‘Equal Opportunity: Federal Employees’ Right to Sue on Title VII and Tort Claims’, University Of Chicago Law Review, 80, 4, pp. 1841-1883, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 October 2015. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=eb392212-64a8-4b99-bdfd-cd48004a5266%40sessionmgr110&vid=0&hid=117
Russel Jones & Walker Solicitors, 2012, ‘Unfair dismissal — your rights after the termination of your employment’ , Management Services, 56, 1, pp. 42-44, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 October 2015. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0931666a-6c23-4215-b1fa-570036582817%40sessionmgr112&vid=0&hid=117
Sema, E, Melo, I, Rusi, I, & Katro, K 2013, ‘Equal treatment in employment and occupation in terms of important international legal instruments’, International Journal Of Management Cases, 15, 3, pp. 74-83, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 October 2015. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=64719aed-e3ef-46ef-aa66-b7be300eac96%40sessionmgr112&vid=0&hid=117
Thompson Solicitors, 2012, ‘A summary of the law on: Unfair Dismissal and Redundancy’ http://www.thompsonssolicitors-ni.com/employment-rights/unfair-dismissal-and-redundancy.pdf
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