Treatment of workers in the with place is considered a fundamental right in the US. This means that anyone who practices acts of discrimination against another can be punished under the law. Discrimination can be defined as any action or practice that sets apart a single individual on the basis of their differences. The United States has put in place measures that protect the rights of the worker in the workplace. These laws are regulated and enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They govern different practices including those directly and indirectly affecting workers. Examples include any situations that create hostility or extreme negativity in the workplace. It includes discrimination on the grounds of race, age, religion, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender and disability among others. If the Supreme Court were to declare all the federal discrimination laws unconstitutional, the employers would not longer be bound by them. However, employers would be at liberty to enforce internal mechanisms that are similar or additional to the federal laws. This paper demonstrates how this laws are significant to an employer and to the overall well being of employees (Oppenheimer, 2016).
It is important for an employer to voluntarily enforce some of the legally prescribed anti discriminatory laws. The main benefit of enforcing these rules voluntarily is that this creates a cohesive working environment for the entire work force. A liberal and poorly regulated work place environment is sure to produce internal wrangled of varying intensity. The following is a demonstration using several federal anti discrimination laws. The first is the Equal Pay act. This prohibits favoritism or special treatment based on the gender of earners. This applies to men and women who perform similar duties and work for the same duration. Such a situation could escalate if the employer does not enforce the Equal Pay. For instance, a woman who works in a male dominated field may be unfairly discriminated on the basis of gender. She may be paid less although she is given a similar workload. This will lead to disgruntlement and lowered motivation. The workplace would then become a male cartel where women are side lined. Other women would shy away from joining this team.
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Another law that employers prefer to enforce is the age discrimination laws. Employers are required to specify the reasons why they are prohibiting members of certain age groups from accessing certain jobs. However, voluntary enforcement of equal opportunities for all ages is beneficial for the employer. For example, a workers of a similar age bracket may be detrimental to the organisation. An certain department may be paralyzed if all its employees are young parents. This could happen during flu season where a percentage will stay home to nurse sick children while the other half are sick as well. Another example is older workers all retiring around the same time. Their will be a rocky transition as the organisation hastily tries to fill the gap. The same argument applies for National Origin Discrimination. An organization may miss out on skilled labour when they choose to employ persons of specific heritage. The organisation also assumes the environment of a club and loses its universality (Rosenthal, 2016).
An organisation may also choose to put in place measures to address discrimination that is outside the stipulated laws and federal policies. This situation may arise after the management observe several practices that hinder the full succesful operation of the business. The organisation is sure to incur additional costs in enforcing this policies. For instance, a retail store manager may realize that his personnel who assist customers are fatigued. It may be observed that the staff do alot of work while on their feet. The organisation may decide to reduce their working hours and shifts below the minimum accepted by the government. This will be done to ensure that their staff get an ideal time to rest and rejuvenate their strength before they resume their duties. The employer will need to hire additional staff to balance thus equation. The same case applies where an employer sets up separate rooms of worship in order to accomodate all the different types of believers in their employ. Thus will demand respect from all co workers. This extension can also apply when an employer gives extra maternity leave to his female employees. This will increase the job satisfaction among employees because of their guaranteed job security. This will benefit the organisation as it will have employees who are motivated to do well in their duties. Though the implementation will cost the company, it will reduce the cost of turnover of staff due to disgruntlement. It will also attract employees of a higher cadre and commitment (Zarsky, 2014).
Maintaining diversity in the workplace can be a tricky balance. It requires careful consideration and a good deal of tact to ensure that the workplace represents all spheres of society. The gender rule is one that has been actively implemented through slow and painful changes. The employers sometimes ensure diversity by training some persons from minority groups as a special consideration. This is often done when the applicants for certain jobs do not meet the diversity requirement set in place. Costs of facilitating this procedure falls on the employer. However, the benefits of diversity directly benefit the employer as well.
People of different ages, gender and cultural background all offer different insight. The varying approaches to creativity produce a health balance in the work place. It helps people to develop an open mind when engaging with people from different circumstances than theirs. Such workers develop tolerance and extensive people skills and experience. The organisation can also tap the resources in form of language and talent skills. These can be used to introduce the business to various global markets. The most succesful expansion projects are built from the input of persons who are experienced with the said market. Diversity also improves employee performance because of the learning that takes place between different employees (Rosenthal, 2016).
Organisations can still operate without voluntary implementation of anti discrimination laws. Several ethical considerations arise in such a case. First, such an organisation is reputed to be unfairly discrimination to certain persons. This will put off put off some potential talented staff from joining this work force. Additionally, the present staff employed will always be looking out for an escape from the stifling situation. They will always be a high turnover of staff when employees move to greener pastures. The workplace will also be characterised with unhealthy competition and division of staff among similarity groupings. Defying the legally mandated anti discriminatory laws will also affects the company. Operations will be shrouded in secret. The perpetrators will always be looking over their shoulders to avoid the wrath of the law and of rights activist groups (Jayasinghe, 2016).
Based on growth observations above, it will be prudent for the retail company to implement the hiring f promotion policies laid out in the law. This will ensure that the organisation benefits from a cohesive and productive work place environment. This will provide the best interests for employees as well as a structured approach to operations. This is the recommended course of approach to ensure that a company builds and maintains a legacy. It also determines sustainability of the vision set in place. Finally, these anti discriminatory laws give the workers dignity and the ability to operate as equals.
References
Jayasinghe, M. (2016). The operational and signaling benefits of voluntary labor code adoption: Reconceptualizing the scope of human resource management in emerging economies. Academy of Management Journal, 59(2), 658-677.
Oppenheimer, D. B. (2016). The disappearance of voluntary affirmative action from the US workplace. Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 24(1), 37-50.
Rosenthal, L. D. (2016). No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The Lack of Protection for Volunteers Under Federal Anti-Discrimination Statutes. BYU L. Rev., 117.
Zarsky, T. Z. (2014). Understanding discrimination in the scored society. Wash. L. Rev., 89, 1375.
