Prohibiting Federal Forms of Discrimination Prohibited by Federal Laws
Fair treatment within the organization entails non-discrimination and embracing of diversity, be it cultural or social diversity as it affects the workplace. The rules governing the relationship between the various levels of the workforce play a significant role in determining the contribution and productivity of each stakeholder involved. This being the case, in as much as the federal laws do not protect or consider the rules prohibiting discrimination in the workplace to be constitutional, there is still need for the organization to adopt specific laws prohibiting discrimination to embrace diversity. This falls in line with the Supreme Court’s rule that the workplace can voluntarily enact these laws such as hiring practices geared towards embracing diversity in as much as they are not recognized by the constitution. This is because these practices are crucial to achieving equality and corporate governance. The value of fair treatment plays a leading role in enhancing corporation within the workplace, encouraging employee development, team building and emphasizes ethical corporate governance.
The Federal Government prohibits some workplace forms of discrimination, including the paying of different wages based on gender to workers substantially doing the same work, according to the Equal Pay Act of 1963. By voluntarily prohibiting this form of discrimination, the organization encourages active participation from both male and female employees, boosting their morale that then translates to productivity. It is only natural that when the female employees get discriminated against by being paid less than their male counterparts, they will cow away from actively participating in their duties and obligations since they are not motivated to work. Their full potential does not get realized, and their quality of production also goes down (Peters & Wolper, 2018). Nevertheless, by ensuring equal to both genders, the organization can avert these issues. Equal pay would most probably only cost the organization slightly more finances than it would have had to spend to pay the workers if the female workers were to get paid less than their male counterparts.
Another form of discrimination prohibited by the federal laws includes the equal rights to retirement benefits. According to this provision, all employees working of an organization are entitled to receive pension schemes and other forms of benefits owed to them for their exemplary services in the organization. An equal right to retirement benefits is one form of discrimination mostly practiced in the modern business world. This kind of discrimination would mean not fully compensating workers once they retire, or only compensating a selected group of retired employees of the organization, while the others are left to deal with an uncertain future (Ruthergien, 2016). The outcome of such a situation includes the creation of an image, by retired workers, lousy enough to tarnish the name of the organization or reduced the level of morale on the remaining active workforce. Otherwise, the remaining active workforce will be left wondering and doubting their future security and the reward for their labor and input towards realizing the company’s objectives.
Thirdly, discrimination on employee compensation system is another form of discrimination in which only a selected section of the stakeholders is given access into the company’s insurance policies and programs, like medical bill covers and life insurances while the rest are left uncertain of their coverages. Insurance policies play a critical role in securing the future of an employee and making them motivated in their work. Everyone desires to work for an organization that they feel is not only concerned with their productivity and input into its operations but genuinely cares for the employee’s future as well (Grollman, 2014). It boosts the confidence, trust and loyalty an employee has in their boss, thus gets them excited and motivated for work. Ethically speaking, the company stands to gain the trust of the employee.
Prohibiting a Federal Form of Discrimination Not Prohibited by Federal Laws
In addition to covering and ensuring adherence to the forms of discrimination prohibited by the federal laws, it is equally important to go a step further in guaranteeing non-discriminatory practices that get condoned in the workplace. This means banning such discriminatory acts that may not be initially prohibited by federal laws. One such unfair act should be the freedom of worship. Most organizations discriminate against the freedom of religion of the workforce in the sense that it only recognizes one day of prayer for the employees, which in most cases happens to be on Sundays. This implies that only those workers who ascribe to Christianity and other forms of religions that worship of Sundays are allowed to room to attend religious services while the rest who have their worship days in the middle of the week get discriminated against by not being allowed to visit their religious ceremonies. This act is discriminatory since the minority group tends to feel sidelined and not recognized or made part of the organizational culture. By exploring secluded in the corporate culture, these workers would tend to feel secluded and not recognized by the organization, hence will be demoralized in their work. But by embracing religious and cultural diversity where every stakeholder is allowed the freedom of worship in their designated days, the workers would feel appreciated and part of the larger organizational family where the organization takes their interests and diversity into consideration (Vickers, 2016). Thus, they will be more open to contributing towards the development of this diverse work environment by bringing in their expertise and insights that to some extent may be based on their religious beliefs, especially on such matters as it pertains to the organizational ethical considerations and practices.
As can be seen, so far one way to reduce discrimination in the workplace is to make it as diversified as possible by embracing different kinds of stakeholders. This entails maintaining a gender balance on the part of the shareholders, embracing age diversity and experience, and diverse cultural standings. The organization stands to benefit a great deal from this diversity as far as its productions are concerned. In terms of age and experience, it is essential that the technical know-how of productions is passed from the seasoned players to the new phases in the market. By embracing this diversity, it becomes easier to show the junior stakeholders the conventional ways of production through such platforms that are meant to guide and mentor them. The junior employees can only get this kind of exposure through the guidance and mentorship of the experienced workers and leaders in the market.
Similarly, as the industry continues to evolve, it becomes necessary to diversify the ways of production by embracing new technology advancements and means of production. Modern diversification skills and expertise get taught in organizations more often to increase productivity. This could be one area the older workforce might have most probably missed out . By hiring junior employees straight from the colleges and other institutions, it becomes easier for the organization to tap into this new knowledge and incorporate it into the organizational culture (Uzuner-Smith & Englander, 2015). This being the case, it is essential therefore for the organization to embrace age and experience diversity to ensure the incorporation of these points of production since each has its advantages and insights they bring into the organization which when incorporated together leads to the creation of the diverse output.
An organization deciding to adopt practices and strategies that would promote hiring of people from different backgrounds, integration, and innovation in the workplace, is a step towards diversification of the workplace. As a result, an organization increases its chances of capturing the global market as well as increasing employee creativity. This is particularly the case because a diverse collection of skill and ideas from around the world gives an organization a competitive edge. The workforce brings an insight into the market trends from around the world they come from and lead the conventional ways into ho the organization can use these market trends and preferences in incorporating its products and services to fit the demand of the different global markets. In other words, the organization, in this case, is better placed to tailor its products and services to match the demand across the globe. Additionally, multilingual employees assist in communicating respectfully with global clients. This plays a vital role in any organization because global clients want to be heard and encouraged to communicate fluently and comfortably. This, in the end, reflects in the manner in which sales are likely to go up for such an organization while at the same time strengthening the mutual respect between the organization and the global clients.
Most essentially, diversity in hiring alone, increases creativity as the organization channels its operations to a better work environment that is comfortable for all stakeholders and is naturally conducive to brainstorm ideas. This is more so the case when it comes to promotion techniques where the workforce feels that the promotion strategies are open for anyone who proves to be a great asset to the organization based on their innovation and creativity. In this case, many who aspire to be promoted go out of their ways to come up with strategies that are meant to impress the organization and increase their chances of promotions. The organization is faced with a workforce that is highly competitive and creative in their problem solving and inventories geared towards boosting productivity while maintaining best practices for the organization (Miller, & Le Breton-Miller, 2005). However, if this is not handled correctly, it could lead to the creation of a highly competitive, individualistic and divided workforce that is unable to work together as each employee fights so hard to outdo the other in their inventions and innovations to increase their chances at promotion. This could lead to disunity and hostility in the work environment largely.
When the organization does not put in place measures to prohibit such forms of discrimination as equal pay, it leads to the violation of the ethical consideration of not harming any employee in the organization. This is because it leads to financial strains on the part of the underpaid employees who at the end of the day have bills to pay just as the employees who are adequately paid do. Otherwise, the ethical and financial consideration in such is the fact that oppressive systems would harm underpaid workers in the sense that they cannot comfortably meet their obligations in life or as American citizens with bills and taxes to pay. Age discrimination also undermines voluntary participation as an ethical consideration. It should be prohibitive because some employees are not given enough room to actively participate in making decisions and to offer their insight regarding how operations run. The ethical consideration of voluntary participation holds that every employee regardless of their age or level of expertise should be given enough room to voluntarily and actively participate in the affairs of the organization. This includes, and is not limited to, being engaged in policy implementations, being actively involved in decision making through meetings, more particularly in such meetings that are meant to discuss the affairs that directly affect them. Additionally, each employee should be given equal and free avenues to learn and gain experiences through pieces of training and mentorship programs which should be offered freely without any prejudice or whatever (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015). However, when an organization does not voluntarily prohibit age discrimination, more so as far as exposure to opportunities of self-evaluation and development are concerned, it directly violates this ethical consideration.
Still, on ethical considerations, it is crucial that the organization observes hiring and promotion practices geared towards embracing diversity to build on the ethical considerations of justice and human relations. Both of these emphasizes on granting equal opportunity to all members of an organization. The ethical eligibility of granting equal opportunity is on the fact that workers need considering in line with their competence and ability instead of cultural backgrounds or gender. In other words, justice and equality are about embracing diversity and giving workers equal opportunities to prove themselves and their ideas. About hiring, an organization that does not embrace equality and justice in their recruitment violates this form of discrimination, in addition to exposing the organization to the risk of losing a great asset for the company. This is because most of the potential workers discriminated against during hiring procedures could be potentially great innovators.
Similarly, on promotion, discriminating against potential candidates because of cultural diversity puts the organization in a spot where it could lose on a great asset by not giving every worker an equal chance to prove that they are worthy of the post. Not only does this form of discrimination violate the ethical consideration of granting every employee equal opportunity, but also plays a significant role in promoting hostility and enmity within the workforce in which a section of the employees would resent whoever is encouraged in their place due to discrimination (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). In the end, not only does this act strain the relationship between the supported staff and their colleagues, but also dramatically affects their work interaction, in which case it becomes difficult for these two to work together or follow the commands or directives issued by the party that is considered to have been favored.
Based on the benefits of prohibiting age discrimination, it is essential to adopt the laws prohibiting this form of discrimination. This is, mainly because it saves the employer the resources and expenses incurred in hiring new employees every now and again. Age discrimination for workers above the age of 40 implies that employees in their late 30s might resort to quitting before they are laid off forcefully. For any employer, high rates of employee turnover are never in the best interest of the company since it reflects on slowed or low-quality production since the employees nearing the age of 40 starts looking for alternatives before they are inevitably laid off. To avert this, it is essential that the organization adopt this law prohibiting age discrimination towards a particular class or category of employees. However, when it comes to equal pay discrimination, more insight should be given into the matter. In as much as it is true that employees deserve equal pay and that gender lines should not dictate this payment, it is also important to point out that assuming equal pay regardless of the amount or level of production an employee engages in could be disadvantageous to the company and the workforce as well. On the part of the organization, it would be to some extent paying more for relatively low-quality production. For instance, if a departmental manager is supposed to be paid the same amount as an operational manager, then it would mean that the company would spend a high amount to pay for the services of one of these managers over the other. Similarly, this could lead to demotivation on the part of the workers who feel they do much work compared to others yet at the end of the day get paid the same amount. This being said, the prohibiting of equal pay discrimination should not be adopted without clearly laying these provisions.
However, it is essential that the retailer, in this case, adopt hiring and promotion practices designed to diversify the workplace. This is because this plays a significant role in increasing productivity and competitive advantage on the part of the organization as far as the diversification of ideas is concerned. It also builds on the positive reputation the community at large has on the company that goes a long way in establishing business connections and associations with the suppliers and the clientele at large. Lastly, this practice should be adopted for the simple reason that it increases creativity and innovation, leading to high-quality production due to the cross-fertilization within the organization among the various heterogeneous groups involved.
Conclusion:
To cap it all, the prohibiting of any and every form of discrimination plays a vital role in not only embracing diversity but also largely in building the organization’s reputation and its interactions with the suppliers and clients as well. It is crucial therefore, that the retailer adheres to these laws prohibiting discrimination to encourage innovation and to embrace cultural diversities and ideological differences, which at the end of the day form the basis of diversified products and operations by the retailer.
References:
Ferrell, O. C., & Fraedrich, J. (2015). Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. Nelson Education.
Grollman, E. A. (2014). Multiple disadvantaged statuses and health: the role of multiple forms of discrimination. Journal of health and social behavior, 55(1), 3-19.
Miller, D., & Le Breton-Miller, I. (2005). Managing for the long run: Lessons in competitive advantage from great family businesses. Harvard Business Press.
Peters, J. S., & Wolper, A. (Eds.). (2018). Women’s rights, human rights: International feminist perspectives. Routledge.
Ruthergien, G. (2016). Employment Discrimination Law, Visions of Equality in Theory and Doctrine. West Academic.
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016).Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Uzuner-Smith, S., & Englander, K. (2015). Exposing ideology within university policies: A critical discourse analysis of faculty hiring, promotion and remuneration practices. Journal of Education Policy, 30(1), 62-85.
Vickers, L. (2016). Religious freedom, religious discrimination and the workplace. Bloomsbury Publishing.
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