...Discrimination in the Workplace Joshua Najar Alejandro Komiyama Liria Nilzandra *out of country* Texas Tech University Sociology 1301, Section 004 November 7, 2015 The United States likes to believe that everyone living in it is equal to one another. Unfortunately, even in today’s world discrimination is still prevalent in our society. James Henslin, author of the book “Essentials of Sociology” defines discrimination as “an act of unfair treatment directed against an individual or a group” (G-2). One specific place in our society that still has discrimination is the workplace. A workplace can be described as “a place where people work, such as an office or factory” (Dictionary.com 2015). A company’s workplace can discriminate against a person’s race, ethnicity, gender, age, and religion. These discriminations will affect the person’s salary, work conditions, and determine if they get hired or not. Throughout time the United States has made several laws to protect certain groups against discrimination in the workplace. These laws have tremendously helped those groups however, they are still illegally discriminated against. There are numerous ways to analyze why there is discrimination in the workplace but we will be using the three sociologic perspectives. The three sociologic perspectives that we will use to analyze this topic will be the Structural Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interaction. The Structural Functionalist Analysis will focus on how discrimination...
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...Employment Law: Workplace Racial Discrimination October 3, 2011 Employment Law: Workplace Racial Discrimination A number of federal and state laws prohibit racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is the practice of letting a person's race or skin color unfairly become a factor when deciding who receives a job, promotion, or other employment benefit. It most often affects minority individuals who feel they have been unfairly discriminated against in favor of a Caucasian (or white) individual, but there have been recent cases where whites have claimed that reverse discrimination has occurred—that is, the minority received unfairly favorable treatment at the expense of the white individual. Racial discrimination in the workplace has been a challenging issue for the United States since awareness rose in the 1960s. Blacks and other minority workers have faced intimidation, harassment and subtler forms of racism such as the difficulty of landing a job or promotion, even when they have the requisite qualifications. The United States has been actively combating racial discrimination in the workplace for 46 years, yet challenges remain. Many people do not really know much information on how racial discrimination at workplaces may take place, but many concerns can be answered with these following questions: 1. How long has racial discrimination at workplaces been going on for? 2. What are the laws on racial discrimination about? 3. What are some reasons for racial discrimination...
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...Gale Encyclopedia of Small Business: Racial Discrimination http://civilliberty.about.com/od/raceequalopportunity/tp/Racial-Discrimination.htm Racial discrimination is the practice of letting a person's race or skin color unfairly become a factor when deciding who receives a job, promotion, or other employment benefit. It most often affects minority individuals who feel they have been unfairly discriminated against in favor of a Caucasian (or white) individual, but there have been recent cases where whites have claimed that reverse discrimination has occurred—that is, the minority received unfairly favorable treatment at the expense of the white individual. Court rulings handed down through the years have determined that a company's responsibility not to discriminate based on race begins even before an individual is hired. Companies can be held liable if pre-employment screening or testing is determined to be discriminatory, if applications ask unacceptable questions designed to screen for race, or if the overall selection process is deemed to be unfair. One of the main indicators that racial discrimination has occurred in the hiring process involves the qualifications of the job applicants. While a slight difference in qualifications between a minority and nonminority candidate do not automatically indicate racial bias (if the lesser qualified nonminority candidate is hired over the minority candidate), a drastic difference in qualifications has almost always been upheld...
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...and relevant theories (e.g. youth participation to the labour market, discrimination, exploitation, etc.). Your essay should be: focused (what’s the point/problem?), academically informed (use of theories) and properly referenced, detailed (including statistical data, who is involved, etc.), balanced (you need to present the different view points), critical (who is right or wrong, for which reasons), and conclusive (so what? What to conclude). ETHNIC AND CULTURAL AWARENESS AT WORKPLACE Abstract This paper examines how Hispanic struggles within the workplace to negative factors such as discrimination, unfairness, injustice and harassment. It also places emphasis on historical and comptemporary antedecants, multiculturalism, and oppression. Introduction In an ideal world, every person is treated equally when it comes to getting a job, advancing in their career, and being treated fairly in the workplace. However in reality, we know this is not the case. Racial discrimination does still exist in hiring, firing, and promotions and unfortunately discrimination against Hispanics in the workplace is on the rise. As the economy worsens and job losses mount in America, there is an increase in discrimination toward Hispanics in the workplace in America. Racial discrimination poses a large problem in the American workplace. Racial discrimination affects people all over the world. In defining racial discrimination, the National Research Council differentiates between differential treatment...
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...{DRAFT} YAZRUL FARHANA WILLIE PRINCES SITTI HAIDA DISCRIMINATION AT WORKPLACE IN MALAYSIA INTRODUCTION Discrimination against minorities at workplace in Malaysia Malaysia is a country with people raging from different racial and ethnic groups. That has what led Malaysia into one of a country that is unique compared to other countries around the world. However, the diversity of races in Malaysia can lead to discrimination. There are many issues about discrimination have been expressed, and most of these issues are very serious and should not be ignored. For our coursework, we select three news articles based on the issue of discrimination that occurred in Malaysia. The three selected articles were about the discrimination against gender, and race which is very common issues in Malaysia due to the multiracial community and the increasing population of women not just in Malaysia, but all over the world. Discrimination against race is a very significant issues occurred in Malaysia. Even more in the context of employment. Based on the Job seekers in Malaysia experience discrimination, by L.Suganya, The Jakarta Post, in the year 2013, there is an issue from a Facebook users claims that she could not get a temporary job as a sales person in a retail outlet because she wears a hijab (long headscarf) or tudung (short headscarf), created a debate with other users. This issue became viral in social media as it involving the racial issues. Based on this story, the...
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...knowledge of what is expected of them on the job and how they are expected to act. This will allow the employees to put into practice the correct code of ethics and those policies and procedures that the company has put into place. Fair business practices dictates that a company must put forth good effort to deliver the best level of ethics on a continued basis so that employees, applicants and customers may receive them because they are entitled to them. The goal of this paper is to examine the ethical and legal theories that apply to an ethical situation in the Coca-Cola Company and look to find how the situation could have been avoided. Recently Coca-Cola was sued for a racial discrimination case in the workplace. This paper will look at the study of “legal and ethical issues regarding racial discrimination in Coca Cola and their possible solutions in order to provide a safe environment for their employees to work”. The situation of...
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...full and equal opportunities for employment and education for women, minorities, and other individuals belonging to disadvantaged groups. This paper will assess the rudiments of Affirmative Action as it applies to public and private sector employers. The paper will also evaluate what employers are subject to affirmative action plans, what the plans require employers to do, and what happens if employers do not meet the objectives of the affirmative action plan. Affirmative action has been around for many years. Fullinwinder (2009), “Affirmative action means positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in the areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded” (para. 1). When an employer uses preferential treatment to choose a candidate that the company should hire based on race, gender, or ethnicity affirmative action generates disagreement. Most individuals think issues that are mounted by affirmative action derive from the issue of race. Please remember that affirmative action does not apply to all employers. In fact affirmative action applies to organization or companies that employ 50 or more employees who have contracts with the federal government. These companies or organizations have to support the government with goods or services worth $50,000 or more. These contracts state that the employer must not discriminate in the workplace. Affirmative action can also be looked upon as exercising equal employment...
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...the group retirement plan policy just as if the worker were still doing the job. Once the worker comes back to work, equivalent pay, worker benefits along with other employment factors are restored. The eligibility needs for the worker under FMLA are “working for a covered company for a minimum of one year, 1250 hours during 12 months and with a minimum of fifty other workers hired within seventy five miles with the same company” (DOL, 2010). Companies might not meddle, restrict or refuse workers of individual legal rights provided under FMLA. This can include terminating workers or discriminating against workers under coverage offered by FMLA. Moreover FMLA needs covered companies to publish the text of the law for all workers in the workplace. FMLA was changed during 2008 for the objective of permitting workers to correctly balance family and work requirements by taking care of loved...
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...employment and Affirmative Action. While Affirmative Action seemed to be a hot topic in the past, it is still one that should continue to be addressed. Affirmative Action is needed in the American workplace to improve morale and create equity among all Americans. The history of Affirmative Action (AA) is a long one. The first federal law passed was The Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law started the term, “Equal Opportunity Employment” and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The first legislation to pass was Executive Order number 11246 on September 24, 1965 (Aberson & Haag, 2003). This essentially stated that employers needed to take affirmative action to ensure no one was discriminated against for their race, religion, color, or country of origin. In more recent years, employers have added sexual orientation, abilities, and ethnicity to their list of nondiscrimination. Unfortunately, during these times white men were not always accepting of women and minorities in the workplace. Women who joined the workplace in the 1960s and 1970s were expected to do chores for the men in the workplace. They would also be sexually harassed and abused by their male coworkers (MacLean, 1999). Minorities were still treated unfairly and with inferiority. On many occasions minority civil rights organizations stepped in to assist women in their struggles. For instance, in New York City in 1977, women were finally given the right to join the Fire Department. The firemen...
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...summarize University of California Regents vs. Bakke case summary, the court’s ruling, how the court’s ruling may possibly impact the organization and for businesses in general, legal precedence the ruling sets for most businesses, and the role the federal enforcement agency plays in ensuring the organization’s compliance to regulation standards. Case Summary The University of California at Davis developed and implemented a special admissions program to increase enrollment of “disadvantaged” applicants, which meant minority students. The number of minority students increased. The special admissions goal was to fill 16 of the 100 positions with “disadvantaged” applicants whom would be selected by a special admissions committee. Allan Bakke, a Caucasian male, was denied admission to the school twice. Bakke brought a suit against the university on the grounds of Civil Rights Act violation and reverse discrimination, alleging preferential treatment of one group (minority or female) over another group opposed to equal opportunity (Byars & Rue, 2008). Court’s ruling The Supreme Court ruled in a five-to-four decision in favor of Allan Bakke and deemed the schools admissions system to be illegal. However, by another five-to-four vote, the Court held that at least some forms of race-conscious admissions procedures are constitutional. the Court stated that race or ethnic background may be deemed a plus in particular applicant’s file, but it does not insulate the individual from...
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...people belonging to a minority population ("Affirmative Action"). After the assassination of JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. This act started a wave of affirmative action that would later impact every American opportunity ("Civil Rights Act"). At the end of the decade businesses across America were enforcing provisions set forth by the Civil Rights Act, along with other legal enforcements that assisted minority groups of race, disability, gender, ethnicity and age. Though he was against the idea of meeting quotas in the workplace, President Richard Nixon in 1969 used the city of Philadelphia as a test when he "required federal contractors to show "affirmative action" to meet the goals of increasing minority employment" (Brunner). The quotas also found a way into the federally funded educational institutions as by this time numerous regulations had been initiated insisting the entrance of minority group members (Eisaguirre 2). While there were many supporters of affirmative action who saw this as the only way to change the historically discriminative American society, many others saw a trend of reverse discrimination in the nation (Eisaguirre 3). Although I believe that the plan of affirmative action has been beneficial to attain equal rights in our society, I don't think that these ideas can be as successful in today's society as originally thought. It cannot be denied that America's history is full of mistreatment of minority individuals. Women...
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...the lingering effects of generations of past discrimination as an effort to improve the employment and educational opportunities of women and members of minority groups through preferential treatment in job hiring, college admissions, the awarding of government contracts, and the allocation of other social benefits. Race, sex, ethnic origin, religion, disability, and age are the main criteria for inclusion in affirmative action programs. Affirmative action was initially embark at the federal level following the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1978, 1995 and 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court placed limitations on affirmative action programs as various rulings imposed further restrictions. In 1996, Proposition 209 in California prohibited government agencies and institutions from upholding affirmative action as race could not be the preeminent factor. (Affirmative Action, 2013) 2. Reverse discrimination is the unfair treatment of members of majority groups resulting from preferential policies, as in college admissions or employment, intended to remedy earlier discrimination against minorities. (Reverse Discrimination, 2013) 3. Comparable Worth is the concept that women and men should receive equal pay for jobs calling for comparable skill and responsibility. The first knows use of comparable worth was in 1983. (Comparable Worth, 2013) 4. I feel that the Affirmative Action concept is an appropriate form of remedy in the workplace because It helps maintain a balance of fairness...
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...counteract the lingering effects of generations of past discrimination as an effort to improve the employment and educational opportunities of women and members of minority groups through preferential treatment in job hiring, college admissions, the awarding of government contracts, and the allocation of other social benefits. Race, sex, ethnic origin, religion, disability, and age are the main criteria for inclusion in affirmative action programs. Affirmative action was initially embark at the federal level following the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1978, 1995 and 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court placed limitations on affirmative action programs as various rulings imposed further restrictions. In 1996, Proposition 209 in California prohibited government agencies and institutions from upholding affirmative action as race could not be the preeminent factor. (Affirmative Action, 2013) 2. Reverse discrimination is the unfair treatment of members of majority groups resulting from preferential policies, as in college admissions or employment, intended to remedy earlier discrimination against minorities. (Reverse Discrimination, 2013) 3. Comparable Worth is the concept that women and men should receive equal pay for jobs calling for comparable skill and responsibility. The first knows use of comparable worth was in 1983. (Comparable Worth, 2013) 4. I feel that the Affirmative Action concept is an appropriate form of remedy in the workplace because It helps maintain a balance of fairness...
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...Part A Article: Gender Diversity in the Workplace Author: Lisowska, Ewa. Kobieta I Biznes Date of Article: 2009 This article talks about women in the workplace in Poland. In Poland women represent 45% of the total number of employee. This is observed in most of the European Union counters. Over 50 years this was very different, they had fewer woman because they prefer men, and the workplace was still only for hiring white, fit (not disable) and young males. Companies are trying to aim towards diversity and equality, and are establishing equal chances for everybody of both sexes. The polish labor market is fully implementing equality, but there is still discrimination against women. In this article they talk about why diversity, including gender diversity is so important. Women in Poland represent over half of the population, which is about 52%. The women are educated on various levels than men. The women that are deployed are better education than the working men. It does not matter in Poland because all of the decision making position in business or politics are taken by men. There have been significant changes in the last few years. Women have increase interest in male jobs, like police, transportation, bus and tram drivers. Women advancement has still been hindered. Another problem is that women are discriminated against when it comes to pay. Even if they are in the same positions the man are paid more. This is observed in the European Union. Gender diversity...
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...PROBLEM Discrimination is distinct from racial prejudice (attitudes), racial stereotypes (beliefs), and racism (ideologies) that may also be associated with racial disadvantages (Quillian 2006). As the diversity of the American workforce increase, organizational researchers have been increasingly interested in issues of discrimination and prejudice on the job. (e.g. Dovidio and Gaertner, 2000; Frazer and Wiersma, 2001; Trentham and Larwood, 1998). The workplace increasingly is more diverse than ever before. For decades African Americans, women, and many minorities were excluded from participating in most of the desirable jobs and institutions. Even when declared unconstitutional, the discrimination against minority groups often persisted (Beauchamp & Bowie, 1993). Although some work organizations are making progress in their efforts to combat discrimination, African Americans particularly still face a series of unique problems imposed on them through the complex interactions of racially motivated negative attitudes and actions of individual and organizational policies and practices not encountered by Caucasians (Chima, 1999; Stromen & Seltzer, 1991). Some of the major problems African Americans face include: employment process biases, channeling into "minority" positions, lack of access to network and mentors, promotion and advancement difficulties, and emotional and psychological maltreatment (Queralt, 1996). Attributes characteristics such as “lazy” and “unreliable”...
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