Job Discrimination

Racism The prejudice that members of one race are Inherently superior to members of other races. or Abusive behavior of one race towards other races Example: The Case of Denny’s restaurants, Maryland(USA). Which refused serving black customers and paid $54 million for settling discriminatory issues.

Job Discrimination defined The literal meaning of the term “discriminate” is “to wrongfully distinguish one object from another”.  It is usually in-tended to refer to the wrongful act of distinguishing among employees or job candidates not on the basis of individual merit but on the basis of unfairness.

Examples of job discrimination: 1:Short listing a person for a job without merit but based on personal relations. 2:Firing a person based on personal prejudice. 3:In USA black Americans were subjected to low paying and low prestigious jobs. 4:Preferential hiring based on gender.

Discriminatory Practices by Employers Hiring and firing Compensation, assignment Transfer, promotion Job advertisements Recruitment Use of Company facilities Training programs leaves

Forms of Job Discrimination 1. Isolated and Intentional Discrimination. 2. Institutionalized and intentional descrimination. 3. Isolated and unintentional descrimination. 4. Institutionalized and unintentional descrimination.

1. Isolated and Intentional Discrimination. A discriminatory act may be part of the isolated behavior of a single individual who intentionally and knowingly discriminates out of personal prejudice. Examples…  A manager is targeting a subordinate by giving him tough tasks.  Intentionally adopting abusive behavior towards a subordinate.

2:Institutionalized and intentional discrimination. Discriminatory act may be part of the routine behavior of an organization, which intentionally and knowingly discriminates out of its personal prejudice. Example….  A company policy that woman not to be placed in supervisory positions because "the boys in the company don’t like to take orders from females”  Muthut Finance group prefers (Keralites) for any post in their company.

3. Isolated and Unintentional Discrimination A single individual in the organization who unintentionally and unknowingly discriminates against someone.  Writing He in place of HE/SHE In an official letter.

4. Institutionalized and Unintentional discrimination A discriminatory act may be part of routine practice of an organization which unintentionally adopts discriminatory practices. Example:  Organizations in which the best-paying jobs are routinely assigned to men and the low-paying jobs to women.  Affirmative action in hiring and promotion.

Organizational cost of job discrimination Increased absenteeism and turnover Court awards Deterioration of staff morale Damaged interpersonal relationships Psychological distress Employee productivity losses

How do we estimate whether an institution or a set of institutions is practicing discrimination against a certain group?

Average Income Comparisons Income comparisons provide the most suggestive indicators of discrimination. For example: If we compare the average incomes of nonwhite American families, with the average incomes of white American families, we see that white family incomes are substantially above those of nonwhites. Income comparisons also reveal large inequalities based on gender.

Distribution of Income Among Working Men and Women, 1994 USA Income ($) percent of men Percent of women with that job with that income 1 to 2, ,500 to 4, ,000 to 9, ,000 to 14, ,000 to 24, ,000 to 49, ,000 to 74, ,000 and over 6 1

Laws Affecting discriminatory Practice 1:Civil right Act of :Civil right act of :Equal employment opportunity act of :American with disabilities act of :Family and Medical act of 1993 These laws cover all Gov’t and private organizations and educational institutions with 15 or more employees.

1:Civil right Act of 1866 According to this act discrimination is prohibited on the basis of Gender race national origin Under this act employee can sue for discrimination.

2=Civil right act of 1964 Civil right act of 1964 was divided into parts and the most important part is (Title VII)…… Title VII prohibits discrimination in Hiring Promotion Firing Performance evaluation practices of employment based on race, religion, color, gender and national origin.

3=Equal employment opportunity act of 1972 Under this act a commission was set and granted the authority to effectively prohibits all forms of employment discrimination in hiring,assigning, promoting, firing etc based on race, religion, color, gender or nationality. EEOC(Equal employment opportunity commission) as an administrative agency to investigate complaints that individual submit. Employees can file grievances against their organization.

4=American with disabilities act of 1990 (ADA) does not protect all forms of disability like psychiatric disabilities. However it extends employment protection to most forms of disability status. Note: Under this law a person should be hired if he posses the relevant qualification and acceptable disability.

5=Family and Medical act of 1993 FMLA Provides employees in organization to take up-to 12 weeks of unpaid leaves for family matters like Child birth Own illness Care for sick family members If employees are intentionally not given these leave he can sue his employer.

Affirmative Action Affirmative Actions seek to rectify the effects of past and ongoing discrimination against women and racial minorities. These programs are designed as temporary measures to increase the employment and educational opportunities available to qualified women and minorities by giving them preference in hiring, promotion, and admission.

Whistle Blowing Whistle blowing occurs when an employee report the organization to an outside or inside agency for what the employee believe is an illegal or unethical practice.

Whistle Blowing Internal whistle blowing Whistle blowing can be internal (reported to the executive in the organization). External whistle blowing Whistle blowing can be external (reported to the external public interest group lik e media) Note: Whistle blowing becomes ethical when you have the intensions to correct the problem

Justification for Whistle Blowing 1:When the firm through a product will commit serious and considerable harm to public,the employee should report the firm. 2:When employee immediate supervisor does not act, the employee should report to higher management. 3:The employee must have documented evidence that is convincing.

Steps for Creating a Whistleblowing Culture Create a Policy: Clear communications about the process of voicing concerns, such as a specific chain of command, or the identification of a specific person in the organization, such as an ombudsman or a human resources professional Get Endorsement From Top Management : Top management, starting with the CEO, should demonstrate a strong commitment to encourage whistle blowing. This message must be communicated by managers at all levels, who are trained continuously in creating an open-door policy regarding employee complaints.

Investigate and Follow Up Managers should be required to investigate all allegations promptly and thoroughly, and report the origins and the results of the investigation to a higher authority. For example, at IBM, a long-standing open-door policy requires that any complaint received must be investigated within a certain number of hours. Assess the Organization's Internal Whistleblowing System: Take regular feedback from employees about organization internal whistle blowing system.