Protection of Equal Employment Opportunity (United State and China)

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Protection of Equal Employment Opportunity (United State and China)



Protection of Equal Employment Opportunity

Introduction

The purpose of this article is to deal with Protection of Equal Employment Opportunity as they have evolved and are implemented in China and the United States. The steps involved in implementing each policy are discussed first, followed by a description of the prominence of each policy and their evolution. The rationales for the policies are then examined, followed by some evidence on their impacts. The article concludes with a summary and some general observations.

Gender wage discrimination and occupational segregation appear to be universal phenomena in countries throughout the world. The policy responses, however, have been quite different. In the United States and China, pay equity and employment equity have been important responses. In fact, these policy initiatives have been most developed in these countries; hence, their experience is relevant to other countries in developing policy initiatives in this area.(Granick,1991)

Equal opportunity for work of equal value tends to be the term used internationally, comparable worth tends to be used in the United States, and pay equity used in China, although the latter term is increasingly used generally. Similarly, the terms employment equity and affirmative action are used interchangeably, although the former tends to be used in China and the latter in the United States.(Sorensen,2002)

Both policies tend to be at the more interventionist end of the spectrum within their more generic class of policy responses. Within the class of policies designed to deal directly with male-female pay differences, a variety of sub-policies exist. Equal pay for equal work requires that the jobs have to be identical before comparisons can be made. Equal pay for substantially similar work requires that the jobs have to be the substantially the same but can differ slightly in some dimension (e.g. heavy lifting) providing that this is offset by differences in another dimension. (Granick,1991) Invariably, equal pay policies have evolved towards the later interpretation. Equal pay for work of equal value allows comparisons across dissimilar jobs providing they are deemed of equal value as determined by a job evaluation scheme. As discussed subsequently, proportionate pay for work of proportionate value is emerging as the next step beyond equal value.(Cooke,2002)

Similarly, within the class of policies designed to deal directly with differences in employment opportunities, a variety of sub-policies exist. Conventional equal employment opportunity policies prohibit discrimination in the various dimensions of the employment decision - recruiting, hiring, training, promotion, and dismissal. Employment equity in contrast is not designed to create an equality of opportunity, but rather an equality of outcomes, even if that means creating more opportunities for some groups at the expense of others.

DEFINITIONS & THEORETICAL ISSUES

Employment equality - or affirmative action, to use the phrase that is more commonly used in the United States - is part of the federal contract compliance programme under Executive Order 11246 (1965) and subsequent amendments. That legislation requires affirmative action on the part of employers involved in federal government ...