IMPACT OF DISCRIMINATION ON PRODUCTIVITY IN THE WORKPLACE

Workplace Discrimination

Workplace Discrimination

Introduction

Racial discrimination has long been a problem in social history. The discrimination of ethnic minorities has been a controversial issue, existent in society, and workplaces for many years. The implementation of ethnic monitoring and positive discrimination in employment has increased the number of ethnic employees and gone a long way to mend the bridge of inequality which has burdened society for a long time.

Another method introduced to try and counter the racial inequality in employment is that of Affirmative Action. Affirmative action calls for minorities and women to be given special consideration in employment, education and contracting decisions, to increase their number in the workplace. Affirmative action is a controversial issue which has been debated by many.

Discussion

It has been mentioned in this case that Maria who is a Hispanic, filed complaint; unfairly eliminated for consideration for promotion and Alex who is male promoted. She is only person of color & only female in dept. it can be easily seen that there is racial and gender discrimination here because Alex Has been consider for promotion because of his gender and race while Maria has perform better through out the year.

Racial discrimination in the workplace exists. The challenge is proving it exists and making a change.

Federal law makes in unlawful for an employer to fail or refuse to hire, to discharge an individual or to discriminate in any way with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment based on race (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, p.179, 2001). Additionally, statute 42 U.S.C. 2000-2(a) declares an employer may not limit, segregate or classify employees or applicants in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment or employment opportunity or otherwise affect his status as an employee, because of an employees race or color (Bennett-Alexander and Hartman, p.179, 2001). So why is there still racial discrimination in the workplace? Quite simply, employers either do not follow, do not understand or some combination of the two, the anti discriminatory laws, specifically Title VII and the previously stated statute. Some employers discriminate knowingly while others unconsciously make it harder for groups of certain ethnic background to get promoted or hired. The statistics proving minorities, or people of color, have historically have a low glass ceiling resulting in lower pay and less promotability in the workplace. Who exactly are these people of color that are often the target of racial discrimination in the workplace? The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) has designated five racial categories:

White

Black or African-American

Hispanic

Asian or Pacific Islander

American Indian or Alaska Native

As one can clearly see, the categories are connected to ones race or national origin, not necessarily ones "color." Charges based on color may usually occur when there is a mix of races or national origin and the term color best describes the type of discrimination that took place. Currently, Whites make up 69% of the workforce, making them by far the largest group ...