Introduction
Discrimination at the workplace denotes to any kind of practice that is aimed at segregating a person, or a group of people that have certain features or characteristics from the rest of the employees. Fair treatment in the workplace presents several benefits both to the employees and the employers. Workplace discrimination is prohibited by the federal government. Employers must assess the benefits and costs of voluntarily prohibiting federal forms of discrimination, and hiring and promotion practices aimed at diversifying the workforce (U.S EEOC, n.d) . In this essay, the paper examines the business case for ensuring that all employees protected within the federal anti-discrimination laws and the business case for prohibiting and other kinds of discrimination in the workplace.
Analysis of the benefits and costs of voluntarily prohibiting forms of discrimination prohibited under the federal anti-discrimination laws. Several federal laws prohibit any forms of discrimination in the workplace. Firstly, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, or national origin. Secondly, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 protects employees, both men and women who carry out substantially equal work in the same workplace from sex-based wage discrimination. Thirdly, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects people over forty years who seek employment or may be dismissed because of their age (U.S EEOC, n.d) . Fourthly, Title I and Title V of the American with Disabilities Act prohibits employment discrimination against persons with disabilities that qualify in all sectors of the employment. Imperatively, Organizations that voluntarily prohibits any forms of discrimination addressed by these laws stand to benefit from a diverse workforce that is not only innovative but also tolerant to different views and ideas. For instance, a retailer that voluntarily prohibits any forms of discrimination as prohibited by the law stands to benefit from a positive brand reputation, enhanced performance, and increased customer numbers. These outcomes translate to a better financial performance and improved bottom line. However, employers must meet costs of not discriminating against their employees (U.S EEOC, n.d) . For instance, persons with disabilities may require unique facilities like ramp to access their workplace. Again, these organizations need to ensure that they offer such employees necessary social benefits and pay them equally like other employees.
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Benefits and costs of voluntarily prohibiting any other form of discrimination not covered by the federal anti-discrimination
While the existing legislations cover different forms of discrimination in the workplace, most of them do not cover how organizations can deal with gays, lesbians, transgender, and bisexual employees. These individuals also deserve to be treated equally in the workplace without any discrimination (Jennifer et al., 2012) . Further, the legal frameworks are silent on how to treat immigrant workers in the workplace. However, organizations stand to benefit from these two groups of uncovered employees since they will be creating a diverse workforce that will allow an organization to build its brand image, and encourage cultural competence among its employees. Further, embracing LGBT persons and immigrants by voluntarily prohibiting discrimination will enable these firms to attract more talent and develop a responsive workforce. However, they may lose substantially to those who oppose same sex marriages and LGBT individuals (Jennifer et al., 2012) . As a retailer, it may be difficult to contain decreased customer volume in the long-term.
Benefits and costs of voluntarily adopting hiring and promotion practices aimed at achieving workforce diversity. Diversity policies are critical to the long term sustainability of businesses, especially for retailers. Organizations that implement workforce diversity policies in hiring and promotion benefit from long-term competitiveness and short-term improved performance (Dike, 2013). Evidence suggests that diversity strengthens organizational and human capital capacities. Firms that implement diversity create value for their customers and reduce potential lawsuits. Further, they benefit from flexibility and creativity to enhance their success and competitiveness. However, these policies have costs and challenges. For instance, diversity may lead to loss of personnel and work productivity because of prejudice and discrimination (Green et al., 2015). Again, there may be legal suits to challenge some appointments while negative attitudes and behaviors may present barriers to diversity (Dike, 2013). In addition, the cash costs associated with the implementation of diversity policies cannot be ignored by the organization. For example, training new employees on cultural competence, implementation of programs to change internal cultures require resources.
Ethical considerations
Organizations need to carry out their processes and operations in an ethical manner. When organizations fail to voluntarily prohibit forms of discrimination laws and practices, they are viewed negatively by their customers, and other stakeholders. Discrimination of any form is unethical and retrogressive. Ethical business practices implore on employers to be fair in the treatment of employees in the workplace (Jennifer et al., 2012) . They must demonstrate that they are human and do not wish to see others facing unfair treatment. Ethical business practices are critical in building brand reputation, and increasing customer volumes. In addition, ethical considerations exist when employers fail to adopt hiring and promotion practices to diversity the workplace. For example, an organization may be viewed as discriminatory if it does not have a diverse workforce (Green et al., 2015). Again, the organization may lack ethical values for its employees in the long run, and be considered as unethical to work with. Such a reputation will lower its competitiveness in the market, and make it difficult to attract talent from a diversity labor pool.
Final Recommendation
It follows that as an organization, the retailer should ensure that all employee protections as outlined in the legislations are implemented because of the benefits that they offer; especially value creation and competitive advantage. These legislations will project the organization as ethical and law-abiding, especially in an era where the constitutionality of these provisions is in doubt. Further, it must also adopt hiring and promotion practices designed to diversify its workforce so that it enhances creativity, flexibility, and brand reputation. These practices are critical in improving its performance and competitiveness in the market place.
References
Dike, P. (2013) The impact of Workplace diversity on organizations, ARCADA. Accessed from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.858.2388&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Green, K., Lopez, M., Wysocki, A., Kepner, K., Farnsworth, D., & Clark, J.C (2015) Diversity in
the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and the Required Managerial Tools, Accessed from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HR/HR02200.pdf
Jennifer, C. P., Brad, S., Christy, M, and Nan, D. H. (2012) Evidence of Persistent and Pervasive
Workplace Discrimination Against LGBT People: The Need for Federal Legislation Prohibiting Discrimination and Providing for Equal Employment Benefits, 45 Loy. L.A. L. Review 715 (2012) Accessed from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Pizer-Mallory-Sears-Hunter-ENDA-LLR-2012.pdf
U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (n.d) Discrimination by Type. Accessed from
https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/
