CHAPTER SEVEN Gender Discrimination

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 7-3 Gender Myths 1.Women are better suited to repetitive, fine motor skill tasks 2.Women are too unstable to handle jobs with a great deal of responsibility or high pressure 3.Men are better in the workplace because they are more aggressive 4.Men do not do well at jobs requiring nurturing skills

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved When women marry they will get pregnant and leave their jobs 6.When women are criticized at work, they will become angry and cry 7.A married woman’s income is only extra family income

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 7-5  Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment against any individual based on his or her sex  Equal Pay Act prohibits discrimination in pay for equal work unless based on a seniority system, a merit system, quantity or quality of production, or any other factor other than gender Statutory Basis

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 7-6  Pregnancy Discrimination Act states gender discrimination includes actions based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions and prohibits discrimination in fringe benefits for pregnant employees

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 7-7  Gender discrimination can be difficult to recognize  Although gender discrimination covers both males and females, most claims are filed by women  Gender discrimination is found in many organizations and in many types of claims  Many women report job discrimination as their biggest problem Does It Really Exist?

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 7-8  Segregation by gender widespread among executives and management  Civil Rights Act of 1991 established Glass Ceiling Commission  Workplace decisions must be based on ability to perform, not on gender  Gender discrimination is bad business  Employers should be aware of both subtle and overt discrimination

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 7-9  Laws cover full scope of employment process, unless there is a BFOQ –Advertising for available positions –Asking gender specific questions on applications or interviews –Requiring one gender to work different hours or positions –Disciplining one gender but not the other for the same act –Not providing training for one gender Gender Discrimination in General

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved –Establishing different seniority systems –Paying different wages –Providing different benefits –Providing differing terms or conditions of employment –Terminating employment for different reasons  Decisions are made on a case-by- case basis

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved  Employers should first look for obviously discriminatory policies  Other cases may be more difficult to recognize –For example, height and weight requirements may exclude women Recognizing Gender Discrimination

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved  Employment discrimination based on gender and some other factor such as marital status, pregnancy, children or age  Policies like these obviously do not apply to men  While BFOQs are permitted, the courts construe them very narrowly “Gender-Plus” Discrimination

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved  Gender stereotyping – workplace decisions based on ideas of how a certain gender should act  Grooming codes can be discriminatory if they hold different genders to different standards  Customer or employee preferences are not legitimate reasons to treat employees differently Gender Issues

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved  Logistical considerations cannot be used to forgo hiring a certain gender unless unreasonable financial burden can be shown  Equal pay and comparable worth –Equal pay for equal worth required under the Equal Pay Act –Comparable worth is addressed under Title VII

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Gender as a BFOQ  BFOQ is a bona fide occupational qualification  Title VII permits gender to be used as a BFOQ  Most attempts to use gender as a BFOQ have failed in the courts

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Pregnancy Discrimination  Supreme Court determined that pregnancy discrimination was not gender discrimination under Title VII  Pregnancy Discrimination Act amended Title VII to include pregnancy discrimination –Includes pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved  Covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act  Requires eligible employees to receive up to 12 weeks unpaid leave during a 12 month period for the birth of a child, adoption of a child, to care for a spouse, child, or parent who is seriously ill, or because of the serious illness of the employee Parental Leave Policies

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved  Purpose is to protect the fetus or the reproductive capacity of employees  Prohibits employees from performing certain jobs because of potential harm to employees or their fetuses  Only excludes female employees  Excluded jobs tend to pay more or have more promotion potential Fetal Protection Policies

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved  Do not tolerate gender bias  Back up policies with enforcement  Take claims of gender discrimination seriously  Promptly and thoroughly investigate all complaints  Conduct periodic training and audits  Review policies to make sure they do not contain hidden biases Management Considerations