Business ethics: Workplace discrimination

 
Business ethics: Workplace discrimination
Discrimination is a common phenomenon in the labor market. Employment
discrimination occurs when the employers hire workers “based on race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin” (Gaskill). It is the known fact that nowadays people are less discriminated than
before. In this research paper I will discuss what types of discrimination people may face in the
workplace, how to avoid them and what people should do in these situations.
The US government issued laws and acts that prohibit discrimination, such as the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. This act made African Americans and women equal in the workplace, but
there are many cases when people are discriminated. The US government decided to establish
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that would investigate workplace
discrimination. However, discrimination still exists in the workplace. There are a lot of great
laws that are working, but the problem is that not all of them are enforced. I agree that
discrimination should be prohibited. However, not only government should fight this problem,
companies should have policies, issue reports, codes of ethics and surveys about discrimination.
According to Evelyn Hendrix, Department Faculty at Lindenwood University, unfair
discrimination based on religion, race, disability, sex and pregnancy is illegal. However, fair
discrimination is wise based on experience, qualification and job specifications. During her
career, Evelyn Hendrix faced unfair discrimination. Her co-worker had a pay raise because he
had children. She thought that it was unfair because they were on the same level of
management. Evelyn Hendrix complained to her boss about this situation, but the boss thought
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that it was fair. Evelyn Hendrix didn’t report it to government because she enjoyed her job
(Hendrix).
Origin of Discrimination
Racism is an origin of discrimination. Racism is a “belief that the race of people is
inferior to another” (Gaskill). According to California State University racism motivated four
practices in the USA, as slavery, racial segregation, job discrimination, denial of voting rights.
Slavery occurs when people treating others as their property. It was practiced in the USA before
the Civil War and was prohibited on January 31, 1865. Racial segregation is “the separation of
humans into racial groups in daily life” (Gaskill). It was prohibited in 1964. Job discrimination
was prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Denial of voting rights occurred after the Civil
War, and made it difficult to vote. It was prohibited in 1965 by the Voting Rights Act.
Sex Discrimination
Sex discrimination happens when “people are treated differently because of their sex”.
EEOC solves thousands cases based on sex discrimination. It is not so bad then it used to be for
women. During the 20th century women gained rights and got equal status among men. For
example, women held only 17 percent in management area in 1970. Today women hold more
than 40 percent and 50 percent of professional jobs. There was a huge progress for women.
However, only one fifth of top managers were women in 2011 and very small percent were
women of color.
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Table 1. Woman’s Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s, 1970-2008
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Editor's Desk, Women’s-tomen’s earnings ratio, 1979-2008. Web. 3 Dec. 2012.
Different studies prove why women’s paycheck is smaller. Most of the time women chose their
careers based on what they like. Besides, women chose jobs with more control over the
schedule. Oppositely, men chose future jobs based on high salary and status in society.
How to Avoid Sex Discrimination
One of the strategies is to pair female executives with senior executives. They will get
support and advice in promoting. In reality, most of the female executives have an adviser and
think that they helped them in promotion. Another strategy is not to exclude women from
informal communication. According to recent research, 50 percent of women think that
exclusion from informal communication interferes their promotion. Secondly, employers should
take all complaints about sex discrimination very seriously. Furthermore, company should 
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create a strong policy that indicates what is considered as sexual discrimination. Company
should use EEOC’s website as guide to create a policy.
Age Discrimination
Age discrimination occurs when the manager treats his employees less favorably
because of their age. Older workers are practically always discriminated in the workplace. Most
of the time discrimination is placed on the belief that it is hard to learn new things for older
workers, as how to use technology, computers, emails and smartphones. Besides, it is believed
that elderly workers get sick more frequently, and are more expensive to employ than younger
workers. One of the top