Business
Identify 3 of the major discrimination laws. How are these laws intended to protect employees? Are
these laws necessary and effective, or instead do they restrict the manager�s ability to properly
manage?
The following conditions must meet in the essay:
1) I want a typical and a quality answer which should have about 1100 words.
2) The answer must raise appropriate critical questions.
3) The answer must include examples from experience or the web with references from relevant
examples from real companies.
4) Do include all your references, as per the Harvard Referencing System,
5) Please don�t use Wikipedia web site.
6) I need examples from peer reviewed articles or research.
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Introduction
Various discrimination laws have been enacted to protect employees at workplace
regardless of their terms or duration of their engagement. Both the employer and employee
should be aware of these laws that regulate acts of discrimination at workplace.
Pregnancy Discrimination
This is one of the major discrimination witnessed at work. It involves treating a
woman either an employee or applicant unfavourably due to pregnancy, childbirth, or
medical conditions related to pregnancy. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits
discrimination in any facet of employment; hiring, firing, pay, job assignment, promotions,
layoff, training, benefits or redundancy (EEOC 2014).
This law states that a female employee who is temporarily unable to execute her
duties due to conditions under this act, should be treated the same way as would any other
temporarily disabled employee. It forbids harassment of a woman due to pregnancy,
childbirth, or medical conditions associated to pregnancy. The act allows a pregnant woman
to take a maternity leave (EEOC 2014).
Disability Discrimination
Disability discrimination is the treatment of a qualified disabled employee or
applicant unfavourable because of their status. Disability is the physical or mental
impairment of an individual. Disability can be due to a chronic condition that one may be
suffering from, for instance cancer that is in remission. It is unlawful to mistreat an employee
who is disabled or has a relationship with a disabled person, for instance spouse (Blanpain,
Walgrave & Jacqmain 2014).
This law requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to employee or
applicant with a disability, unless if the accommodation will cause undue hardship. A
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reasonable accommodation may mean any change that the organisation can make to favour a
disabled employee (Ford 2014).
The act protects those related to employees with disability. It forbids discrimination
when it comes to hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training and any
term or condition of employment (EEOC 2014).
Harassment of disabled employees is illegal in this act and any action that perceived to be
offensive to such an employee. Disabled employees should be helped whenever necessary
during their engagement (EEOC 2014). It is the employers’ responsibility to have in place
measures which help in reporting and dealing with disability mistreatment situations (Ford
2014).
Equal Pay and Compensation
The act states that men and women who do equal work and work in the same
workplace should be given equal pay. Work should be substantially equal even if not
identical. This law requires that all compensations and benefits be equal regardless of race,
sex or disability in same workplace and equal qualification (EEOC 2014).
Paying one gender more than the other is a big violation under this act. The employers
are required to reward their employees equally in regard to the duties they have delivered to
the company and not as per their physical, sexual or age differences (Mallory, Hasenbush &
Davis 2014).
How are these Discrimination Laws Effective?
These laws are very effective to an organisation. The effectiveness of the laws largely
depends on the management in the organisation. An organisation should put in measures to
enable the laws to work. This responsibility rests squarely on the leadership and management
of the organisation. Managers are the first in line when it comes to the implementation of
these laws (Selmi 2014).
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Some acts may not be seen as discriminatory by a majority of employees or
applicants. Take for instance, a woman who cannot secure a job in a construction industry
due to a perception that it is a male dominated field. Consider a scenario where a young lady
is fired by her boss because the boss feels that she is ugly as a secretary. The manager hires
another female secretary. Such acts constitute discrimination as the intentions and their
outcomes can only depend on the employer decisions (Pattson, Sanders & Ross 2014).
Looking at the two scenarios, one concludes that in the first one the employer’s
decision seemed overall though its result disadvantages women. In case two, the employer’s
motive is unacceptable but not discriminatory to women as the vacancy was filled by the
same gender (Pattison, Sanders & Ross 2014)
Impact of the Laws to managers.
The understanding of these laws by the managers in any company can greatly help
them run companies with ease. When discriminatory acts exist in an organisation, managers
get hard time to run the firms. Organisation’s management can be difficult if the
discrimination laws are misunderstood. The aggrieved can file civil suits in law court
negatively affect a firm’s reputation. It implies that the laws should protect those who are
members of such organisations (Ford 2014).
An organisation consists of individuals with different strengths, abilities and
capabilities. Managers may be viewed as discriminative when they assign some duties to
employees they feel can deliver them well because of abilities and talents. Managers may fear
reactions from the company about doing right things that may appear as discriminatory.
A look at Stemcor Company, London
Stemcor is one of the companies that has benefited by enforcing the discrimination
laws among its employees. The company is one of the leading steel firms in the world. It has
a bullying and harassment policy on employees’ portal. The policy states that the company
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shall not entertain any form of bullying or harassment. Equal opportunity policy of the
company states that the firm is a discrimination free zone and the employer is an equal
opportunity provider to all employees (SGEP 2012). This means that discrimination laws
have had a positive role in the firm’s success story.
Conclusion
Discrimination laws are an essential tool in any organisation that visions success.
Since their enactment, the laws have been introduced to a majority of business entities though
their impact depends on the leadership and management of a specific company. It is the
responsibility of those in managerial positions to ensure and ascertain that every employee
understands and respects the laid provisions of discrimination acts.
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Bibliography
Blanpain, R, Walgrave, J & Jacqmain, J 2014, Unlawful Employment Discrimination: A
Discussion of Belgian Law and Related Issues. Georgia Journal of International &
Comparative Law, vol.20 no.1, p.123.
Ford, RT 2014, Bias in the Air: Rethinking Employment Discrimination Law. Stanford Law
Review, vol. 66 no.1381
Mallory, C, Hasenbush, A & Davis, GK 2014, Employment discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity in South Carolina.
Pattison, P, Sanders, DE & Ross, J 2014, The Squiggly Line: When Should Individual
Choices Be Protected from Employment Discrimination? Southern Law Journal,
vol.24 no.1, p.29.
