Global business ethics lesson 07

65 Discrimination LESSON 7 DISCRIMINATION CONTENTS 7.0 Aims and Objectives 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Harassment 7.2.1 Sexual Harassment in Certain Industries 7.2.2 Preventing Sexual Hara

65 Discrimination

LESSON

7

DISCRIMINATION

CONTENTS

7.0 Aims and Objectives

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Harassment

7.2.1 Sexual Harassment in Certain Industries

7.2.2 Preventing Sexual Harassment at the Work Place

7.2.3 Sexual Harassment Policy

7.3 Discrimination

7.3.1 Discriminatory Practices

7.3.2 Source of Discrimination

7.4 Racism on the Job

7.5 What the Law Says

7.6 Tracking the Problem

7.7 Let us Sum up

7.8 Lesson End Activity

7.9 Keywords

7.10 Questions for Discussion

7.11 Suggested Readings

7.0 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

After studying this lesson, you should be able to understand:

z The harassment and discrimination

z The methods of avoiding discrimination

z The sources of discrimination

z The racism on the job

7.1 INTRODUCTION

Every member is like a field of force in the market and in the society in which, he/she

operates When so many forces interact the resultant force is likely to drag an

unwilling member in a direction in which he (or) she does not want to move This

happens among the two sexes, the people in different age groups, religious beliefs and

value systems Cost, creed and religion also interfere in the peace and harmony of the

society Though it is said that ‘Blood is thicker than water’ everyone is same under the

skin Therefore the individual freedom honor and liberty should never be tampered

with

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Global Business Ethics 7.2 HARASSMENT

Harassment at the work place has become one of the complex problems facing organisations Organisations across the world are witnessing protests and encountering lawsuits from the victims in terms of millions of dollars of compensation The former have been compiled to look into the issue and are also initiating strategic policies to create a harassment free environment, where in both men and women work together for the organisational growth and development Many organisations have relieved the cost of sexual harassment and hence accepted their responsibility to prevent it by establishing programmers to deal with sexual harassment on the job

Harassment is defined as an unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or other behaviors that affects the dignity of men and women at work This includes uninvited and unwelcome physical, verbal or nonverbal conduct

This may include:

Touching, Jokes, Remarks, Use of sexually explicit language, Looks, References to a person's private life attitudes, Sexual Innuendoes with a sexual connotation, Comments on dress, Persistent leering at a person or at part of his/her body

7.2.1 Sexual Harassment in Certain Industries

z Cinema industry

z Airline industry

A study conducted in Australia, more than one-half of the sample of cabin attendants who were interviewed have admitted that they have been harassed In Cinema industry, it is equally bad where the female jobs are more equal to men's job, such harassments are more Reports from Japanese airlines also says that there is a steep increases of abuses and attacks on cabin crews, which have almost tripled in 1996 Many a times the cases of sexual harassment don't come to light If it is publicly made known for the women in India about the harassment, they would be in rough weather from the society Unmarried girls may not get suitable partners Hence such matters will be hushed up by the parents

ILO's study on violence at the work place shows that it is a serious issue It has become no more extraordinary phenomenon but a matter of daily incidence The incidence noted in European countries are as under:

z Germany 93%; UK-73%; Netherlands-58%: Spain-40%; Norway- 41%; In Japan too, because Of severe recession resulting in down sizing of industries, large number of women complain of sexual harassment as per the Tokyo Manager's union

z We have read in news papers about the court cases of Clinton and Lewinski and

as well as a case in a leading IT firm at Bangalore 'Infosys Technologies.' Employees tend to be creative and innovative in their jobs Motivated employees want

to do a good job If work place is smeared by any kid of harassment, they face difficulties in focusing attention to their jobs - Inappropriate behaviour goes unchallenged as we tend to accept them in offensive Many a times, fear of reprisals or ostracism comes in the way of lodging a formal complaint against a fellow worker, even though his/her behaviour is bad/worse Such meek acceptance leads to psychologically wrecking situations, which finally becomes unbearable for the victims

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Figure 7.1: Different Types of Sexual Harassment (Major)

Sexual harassment has become a concern to their employers who treats it as a

disciplinary offence; earlier regarded as personal dispute between employees in which

the employer was in no way involved

The problem has grown like a mushroom

7.2.2 Preventing Sexual Harassment at the Work Place

z Strong company policies to be formulated

z Company's policies are to be enforced

z Early/continuous training to employees provided

z Communicate sexual harassment policies on a regular basis

z Prevention is the best tool to prevent the same from occurring Mention clearly to

the employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated In some countries like

Saudi Arabia, stringent punishments are given to the abused

z Supreme Court in India has issued guidelines for this Experts feel sexual

harassment is imperative to think comprehensively Instead of searching for the

single solution good for any problem and situation, the full range of causes, which

lead to sexual harassment, should be analyzed and a variety of intervention

strategies executed Enhancement of security for workers, providing rehabilitation

and psychological counseling etc is required to help victims to cope with the

aftermath of such violence at the work place

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Global Business Ethics

Major Features of Programs

Developing a firm policy against Harassment

Taking appropriate action against the offenders

Setting up an procedure for reporting violations; Investigating all complaints thoroughly and fairly

Computing the policy to all employees and providing training, where necessary to secure compliance

are

1

2

3

4

Figure 7.2: Major Features of Programmes to deal with Sexual Harassment

7.2.3 Sexual Harassment Policy

A firm statement is issued at the high level in the organisation that certain conduct will not be tolerated The policy statement should convey:

1 The serious intent of management

2 The kind of actions that constitute sexual harassment

3 The policy should educate and also warn

Communicating the Policy to all the Members of the Organisation

This is to be done properly Effective communication involves making the policy known to every one gaining understanding and acceptance of the policy Most of the companies include sexual harassment awareness in initial training programmes in their job training/implant training, ongoing education programmes, utilize videos of situations, simulation games to heighten employee sensitivity to the issues

Setting up a Procedure for Reporting Violations

z Policy should include a well publicized procedure for handling incidents of sexual harassment with assurances of non-retaliation against an accuser For making a complaint, employees should be informed about the procedure to follow like:

z Specific person/office to which complaints to be made

z Alternatives available to them for making complaints

z Those who handle complaints should be aware of the procedure to follow

z Further, the policy on the whole should assure all parties about confidentiality

z From the accuser

z From the accused

z The investigation should take place with relevant facts and the rules of due process, in view of the harm that might result from false accusations Though ideal to have a formal complaint procedure, companies can have an informal process through which a situation may be resolved to the satisfaction of an victim, with a well suited for less serious, infrequent incidents among peers

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Taking appropriate action or any disciplinary action like:

z Pay reduction

z Job transfer

z Loss of a bonus

z Demotion

z Termination

Should aim at a minimum to deter the offender and perhaps to deter others in the

organisation The victims of harassment might have suffered some job loss or

have been deprived of some opportunities Hence a proper resolution may also

include compensating the victims for harm done

Eight principles had been recommended for the creation of harassment free work

place:

z Top management must stress that sexual harassment policy with clearly defined

procedures that demonstrate top management’s conviction to eliminate sexual

harassment

z The organisation managers must understand the policy and adhere to its contents

z The organisation must create an atmosphere of open communication and trust in

which employees can voice their concerns

z The organisation must recognize that there can be “impact without intent”, but

that ignorance of the law is no excuse

z The sexual harassment policy should recognize that unwelcome behavior is “in

the eye of the beholder”

z All employees must be educated about what constitutes harassment and have the

trust to respond promptly and appropriately

z The company must periodically review, adjust, and reinforce each of these steps

7.3 DISCRIMINATION

Discrimination describes a large number of wrongful acts in employment, housing,

education, medical care and other important areas of public life This takes different

forms in the above areas What is common is that a person due to the above is

deprived of some benefit, opportunity because of membership in some group toward

which there is substantial prejudice

Today’s work place, although diverse, is ridden with discrimination of various kinds

Discrimination can occur based on gender, age, disability, race, religion, nationality,

etc

It is a form of unequal treatment but not all unequal treatment is discrimination An

employer shows favouratism in deciding promotions

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Elements

Involves decision that directly affect the employment status of individuals / terms and candidates of the employment

The unequal treatment results from prejudice or some other morally unjustified attitude against members of the group to which an individual begins; Individuals are not treated on the basis of individual merit but on the basis of membership

in a group.

Figure 7.3: Discrimination Elements

Employment policies that do not explicitly involve classifying employees by race, sex, religion or other impermissible characteristics can still serve to exclude members of these groups in disproportionate numbers,

Discrimination is not solely a matter of intention but also of consequences 'Disparate treatment' is the discrimination of the first kind while the latter is 'disparate impact' The various forms of discrimination are shown below:

Discrimination Forms

Determination against the Handicapped

On the basis of Sex

Religious discrimination Age Discrimination

Natural Origin Discrimination

Younger employees preferred by shunting old ones to have more update skills and innovative basis

Employer could have employment policies that exclude Mexicans but not others like Vietnamese, Indians

This is different from discrimination based on sex or race E.g., Employers refuse to hire or promote individuals because they are Jews, Indians etc, in

US

Based on male or female and not

on the sex related matter such as sexual orientation or martial status

Treated differently in order to have less compensation

Figure 7.4: Discrimination Forms

Check Your Progress 1

Define the following:

1 Harassment ……… ………

2 Discrimination ……… ………

71 Discrimination

7.3.1 Discriminatory Practices

The discriminatory practices now widely recognised are as under:

Discriminatory Practices

Conditions of

Employment

Screening Practices

Recruitment Practices

Promotion

Practices

Figure 7.5: Discriminatory Practices

Recruitment Practices

Firms that rely solely on the word-of-mouth referrals of present employees to recruit

new workers tend to recruit only from those racial and sexual groups that are

represented in their labour force For example: If the firm's labour force is only Hindu

community males, this recruitment policy will tend to discriminate other religions and

women

Screening Practices

Job qualifications are discriminatory when they are not relevant to the job to be

performed Aptitude or intelligence tests used to screen applicants become

discriminatory when they serve to disqualify members from minority cultures who are

unfamiliar with the language, concepts and social situations used in the tests but who

are in fact fully qualified for the job

Promotion Practices

Promotion, job progression and transfer practices are discriminatory when employers

place majority on job tracks separate from those open to women and minors (Similar

to recruitment practices e.g Hindu males as compared to other communities and

women)

Conditions of Employment

Wages and salaries are discriminatory to the extent that equal wages and salaries are

not given to people who are doing essentially the same work Fixing an employee on

the basis of his/her race or sex is a clear form of discrimination Layoff policies that

rely on a seniority system wherein women and minorities have the lowest seniority

because of past discrimination

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Global Business Ethics

Figure 7.6: A Policy for Non-discrimination

7.3.2 Source of Discrimination

Discrimination during the Recruitment Process

No matter whether employers are recruiting through employment agencies, job centres, careers offices or schools, they have a duty not to discriminate on the grounds

of sex (including gender reassignment), sexual orientation, race, marital status, disability, membership or non-membership of a trade union, and religion or religious belief

They must neither give instructions nor bring pressure to discriminate in any of these ways In relation to pregnancy, any decision not to appoint a woman on the grounds that she is pregnant is likely to be found to be discriminatory against sex

Exceptions: There are some jobs for which the sex or race of the successful candidate

may be a genuine occupational qualification' and in these circumstances discrimination in advertisements, in the interview procedure, in job offers, in offers of promotion, training or transfers is acceptable

Sex

A person's gender is a genuine occupational qualification for a job in the following circumstances:

Where the essential nature of the job calls for someone of a certain sex for reason of physiology, e.g a female model

Where it is necessary to preserve decency or privacy, because the job is likely to involve physical contact with people of the opposite sex in circumstances where those people may reasonably object to the job holder being of the opposite sex, or because the holder of the job is likely to do work in the presence of people who are in a state

of undress or are using sanitary facilities and therefore might reasonably object to the presence of a person of the opposite sex The application of this genuine occupational qualification depends on all the circumstances; it must be necessary rather than merely preferable to have a member of the opposite sex in question to perform the job

Being a woman is not necessarily a genuine occupational qualification for a job as a nanny or domestic help; each case depends on its own facts If, for example, the mother likes to bath with the baby and the nanny is expected to come into the bathroom during bath-times, this is a factor which may be taken into account in assisting a defense of sex discrimination by a male nanny who is unsuccessful against

73 Discrimination

a woman in a job application However, in many cases concerning male nannies, the

genuine occupational qualification defense will not apply

Where the nature or location of the job means that the jobholder must live in the

premises provided by the employer Because it is impractical for them to live

anywhere else and the premises are not equipped with separate sleeping

accommodation or sanitary facilities for men and women, it is unreasonable to expect

the employer to equip the premises with such accommodation or facilities

Where the job is in a single-sex establishment or single-sex part of an establishment

for people requiring special care, supervision or attention, and the essential character

of that establishment or that part makes it reasonable to restrict the job to a person of

the same sex as those for whom the establishment or that part of it exists

Where the job is for the provision of personal services to people in order to promote

their welfare, education or other similar services and those services can most

effectively be provided by someone of a certain sex

Where the job involves working outside the UK in a country whose laws and customs

are such that the duties could not, or could not effectively be performed by a man (or

by a woman)

Where the job is one of two held by a married couple

Race

A person's race is a 'genuine occupational qualification' for a job in the following

circumstances:

1 Where the job involves dramatic performance and someone of a particular racial

group is required for authenticity

2 Where the job involves working as a model for producing works of art, picture or

film and a person of a racial group is needed for authenticity

3 Where the job involves working in a restaurant open to the public in a particular

setting for which someone of a particular racial group is required for authenticity

4 Where the job involves the provision of personal services to a particular racial

group in order to promote their welfare and those services can be best provided by

someone from the same racial group

As with sex and race discrimination, there are some jobs for which the sexual

orientation or religion or belief of the candidate may be a genuine occupational

qualification

Age

There is no express legislation prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of age, but

there is a voluntary code of practice which attempts to tackle the problem of age

discrimination The Government has announced proposals to introduce laws to stop

age discrimination by 2006

Colour blindness what are the rules and the reality about racism in recruitment and the

workplace in Ireland?

For the first time, Ireland is opening its doors to significant numbers of people from

different countries and racial backgrounds In such a situation, the monster of racism

inevitably rears up

Colour of Money

Racism affects decisions about employment before a person even gets a job, in the

recruitment process This includes throwing out applications with 'foreign' names and

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Global Business Ethics assuming that nationals of other countries are less likely to have the right to work in

Ireland or grasp a sufficient level of English

Some employers may be intentionally racist, disliking Africans and refusing to hire them Others may not think of themselves as racist but may never end up hiring, for example, an Asian man, because of a subconscious belief that Asian men are sexist Much of this sort of discrimination goes unnoticed and undocumented Even in the

UK, where ethnic monitoring of applications has been standard practice for many years, it is difficult to prove that an employer discriminates on racial grounds in recruitment

Think about it How many applicants who fail to get a job ever find out the reason why? How many will ever know who actually got the position and what factors were taken into account?

Most companies recruit people not only on the strength of their qualifications but also

on the basis that they will work well with colleagues Here the employer may consider race and nationality important to 'fitting in' with the existing team

One construction industry personnel manager explains the concerns his bosses had when deciding whether to employ a Nigerian forklift driver: "It was pure racism – there were no actual grounds They were worried about certain individuals in the company, less evolved in their attitudes."

The attitude shift is to some extent a two-way street and there needs to be a sensitive look at what immigrants themselves can do In this case, the Nigerian was employed, but when he didn’t turn up the next morning he told the manager calling up to check

on him that he didn’t want to come in because it was raining so heavily

"There is a difference in understanding the need for an early start and time-keeping," the personnel manager explains "My feeling is that this is a cultural thing, much like the Germans see us Irish in our work ethic There is a need for certain cultural induction for asylum seekers, including English-language classes

"But the one guaranteed way of us becoming a shit poor country again is to stop immigration All the people bitching about immigrants will have their pensions paid

by the sons and daughters of immigrants."

7.4 RACISM ON THE JOB

The evidence from countries like the UK and US suggests that being hired is only the first hurdle that the minority employee must jump Promotions may be withheld due

to intentional or unintentional racism Working conditions may be anything from lonely to downright unbearable

Some minority staff are given the silent treatment and excluded from social activities Others may find themselves the objects of verbal or even physical abuse based on their race

Award-winning Nigerian businesswoman Felicia Olima saw the ugliest side of racism when she first set up her IT business in Dublin

"I had so many calls to the office telling me to leave," she said in a recent Irish Times interview "They went to my house and sprayed my car with acid…They said they were going to burn the house down."

7.5 WHAT THE LAW SAYS

The Employment Equality Act (1998) makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person in terms of access to employment, training, promotion, working conditions or dismissal because of race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins)