Discrimination and How It Relates to Management

In the context of employment, discrimination can generally be defined as treating a group or an individual less well in hiring, recruiting or any other conditions and terms of job due to the group’s or person’s color, race, religion, age, national origin, sex, veteran or disability’s status. These categories are termed as protected groups since they are singled out for safeguard by EEO (Equal Employment Opportunities). The subcategories of individuals within each protected category are termed as protected groups. The EEO laws offer protection from unlawful discrimination to all protected classifications and not the minority groups only. Therefore, employment job discrimination against a man is simply illegal as the one aimed at a woman. The only exception to this law regards the application of an affirmative action program (as explained later) whereby under certain circumstances, permits employers to treat employees of a particular protected group preferentially.

An employee (whether male or female) refers to the people who execute different roles, responsibilities and duties in order to accomplish an institution or organization’s goals. Organizational performance and productivity are affected by worker’s performance and employee performance is influenced by gender discrimination. An employee performs essential tasks for the organizational survival irrespective of their genders. Research by Hameed & Waheed, 2011 was aimed at establishing some dimensions and factors of gender discrimination that are responsible for the impact on employee productivity or performance. They established two dimensions of gender discernment which are included in this work. That is sex discrimination in facilities and promotion. Furthermore, facilities and promotion gender discriminations are more responsible for a worker’s performance level.

Gender discrimination can exist in several scopes that include differences in wages and salaries, discrimination in promotions, inequality linked to different facilities and goods given to different genders and hiring discrimination. An employee is viewed as the back bone of a firm and performs key tasks responsible for the well-being of the business. Therefore, a worker’s productivity is affected by sex discrimination. According to Hameed & Waheed, 2011, in Pakistan males dominate the labor industry and therefore they enjoy job preferences.

According to Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, 2016, there are two kinds of discrimination; direct and indirect. The former refers to discrimination where an individual proposes to treat or treats someone unfavorably due to personal characteristics which are protected by law. It often occurs because individuals makes unfair assumptions concerning the abilities of people with particular personal characteristics. For instance, declining to employ somebody on grounds of their age where an employer considers them as too old to absorb new skills.

The indirect discrimination happens in situations where unreasonable conditions are enforced which disadvantages individual possessing personal characteristics which are protected by the law. It also occurs when a practice/behavior and workplace policy appears to all employees in the same way, but disadvantages somebody due to personal characteristics that are protected by law. For instance, a need for workers to work in 12 hour shift may seem to treat all employees fairly. However, this move disadvantages workers with caring or family responsibilities. If the policy is unreasonable, it is termed as indirect discrimination.

Sexual harassment is an undesirable behavior of sexual nature. It consists of practices which can reasonably be anticipated to make an individual feel humiliated, intimated or offended. Sexual harassment may be verbal, written or physical. It is unlawful to help or authorize another person to sexually harass somebody or discriminate against them. This implies that one should not instruct, ask or encourage anybody else to undertake such actions. Victimization refers to threating to subject or subjecting an individual to unfavorable conditions because they have proclaimed their rights under identical opportunity law, assisted somebody else to launch complaints, declined to undertake an action that results to discrimination, victimization and sexual harassment or even made a complaint themselves. According to Advameg,Inc, 2016, the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1991 outlaws sex discrimination.

Pager & Shepherd, 2010 identifies an essential feature of all definitions of discrimination as focus on behavior. Discrimination is different from racial attitudes (prejudices), racism (ideologies) and racial stereotypes (beliefs) which can be linked to racial disadvantage. Discrimination can be motivated by racism, stereotypes and prejudice but the meaning of discrimination does not assume any fundamental cause. Though there has been some significant achievements in the labor force eminence of racial minorities, remarkable disparities still remain. In comparison to Whites, African Americans are twice likely to be jobless (Hispanics are only slightly so). Additionally, according to Pager & Shepherd, 2010, the wages of both Hispanics and Blacks endures to lag behind that of Whites. A number of researches have assessed the extent to which discrimination is responsible in shaping the current labor marketplace discrepancies.

Stigma is both a distal and a proximate cause of job inequity for individuals with mental inability who encounters direct discrimination due to prejudice from workmates and employers attitudes and indirect discrimination because of structural impediments against competitive job, generalized policy neglects and past patterns of disadvantage (Stuart & Heather, 2006). Against such background, legislative policies and modern mental health rehabilitation which focus on full social participation and citizen rights are to be welcomed. However, Stuart & Heather, 2006 complains that the recent findings shows that the laws remains susceptible to the very prejudicial behaviors they are envisioned to abate. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) of 1990 was formulated to abolish discrimination against persons with special abilities (Advameg,Inc, 2016).

Hameed & Waheed, 2011 ascertains that human resource managers must be careful while promoting and hiring workers and giving facilities to employees so as to avert any gender biases because of its direct relationship to a worker’s productivity and that can decrease the productivity of an organization. Moreover, they should provide goods and facilities according to the ratio of men to woman. The promotion of workers must also be based on seniority and merit. The human resource managers should appreciate the significance of female employees and recognize the international scenario of quotas in hiring and women fair representation and facilities in a firm. Failure to comply with such requirements leads to bad reputation and defame in the world corporate sector which can decrease the international business corporation as well as lose huge numbers of business orders. The reduction in the business orders numbers across the world affects survival and profitability of organizations. Thus, according to Hameed & Waheed, 2011, the top management should avoid discriminatory practices in facilities, hiring and promotion of employees irrespective of their gender. Loyal and positive culture builds an organization and hence increases profitability and productivity of a business.

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, 2016 alludes that the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 has set out eighteen personal characteristics which employment discrimination to be unlawful. The federal anti-discrimination regulations are also applicable to Victorian employers. The workers are guarded against discrimination at all phases of employment. They include recruitment which comprises the manner by which positions are advertised and conduction of interviews, unfair employment’s terms and conditions, denial of promotion, transfers, training opportunities, performance pay and other job-related benefits which are unfairly retrenched, demoted or dismissed. According to Advameg Inc, 2016, the CRA of 1964 was amended by the Pregnancy Act of 1978 thus widening the interpretation of gender discrimination to comprise childbirth, pregnancy, or related medical conditions.

DIISR Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Policy, 2014 ascertains that worker’s sustained discrimination or harassment can have an overwhelming impact on the lives of victims. The individuals may suffer anxiety, stress and fear which can exacerbate or cause physical sickness, increase absenteeism, decrease their work performance or even make them to quit employment. If unchecked by human resources department, harassment may also destroy the workplace by creating conflict and tension that can lead to the divided team, poor staff morale, absenteeism, higher stuff turnover and reduced productivity (DIISR Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Policy, 2014).

The aim of accomplishing a harassment-free workplace is not anticipated to impose restrictions on persons working styles or on workplace social activities and related relationships. Instead, its objective is to identify that people of distinct backgrounds and interests requirement to treat each other with courtesy and respect if the section is to be an efficient organization. All workers have a role in maintaining suitable standards and monitor their won conduct. Supervisors and managers have extra responsibilities and are required to be familiar and aware of the department’s rule on workplace discrimination, actively promote and support the policy, take action in eliminating discrimination, set a good example and encouraging works to instantly report any workplace harassment.