Free Business Essays -Organisations and managing labour relations are two very complicated aspects of our every day working environment
INTRODUCTION
Organisations and managing labour relations are two very complicated aspects of our every day working environment. The times have changed; one notices an increase in the number of women who have taken to work, across sectors on a global scale. Yet despite their pursuit of high standards of education and vocational skills, they are still lagging behind in the corporate world, the reason being – discrimination. Discrimination against women at work has different facets, unequal pay, undermined skill set, segregation in certain sectors and jobs, work and home balance and sexual harassment are some of the issues. Although in current times there are still a large sum of cases of discrimination and unjust treatment towards women, the start to this epidemic ranges many decades back. In the late nineteenth century women were not allowed to vote or be part of a political campaign, they were paid less, not given the same employment opportunities as men based on arguments put forward by the male strata of the society. It was much later in the post war period that women actually became a more noticeable part of the labour force. This was due to a lot of factors coming in place; there was an increase in availability of contraception, reduced family sizes, and rapidly innovative technology, which created home appliances to help with domestic work. The mal practice of women working in the same occupation as men and being paid less was widely endorsed and encouraged by trade unions as well as political leaders. It became apparent that such callous disregard for the female gender would continue unless stopped by law. The year 1919 witnessed the enacted of the sex disqualification (removal) act, which did help in opening more doors and creating more opportunities for women. Sandra Fredman (2002, p 34) in her book on discrimination law illustrates through figures the inequality being met to women members of the society. In the year 1999, there were only 18 MPs at Westminster, this in comparison to the Scottish Parliament (37%) and the Welsh assembly (40%) looked very minimal and insignificant a number. Discrimination against women in the labour market has been predominant in the earlier times and though the numbers are more encouraging in the current scenario, yet there is a need for some critical changes. The following sections help carve out a more defined approach towards the different kinds of discrimination against women in the labour market, the disadvantages and effects on their professional lives.
Unequal Pay for Women
Women being discriminated at the work place for various reasons are not something we have not encountered before. This could be in the form of not getting selected for a job, not being entertained when it comes to a male oriented sector like construction, not get promoted when due and lastly not get paid for doing the same amount of work, with the same responsibilities.
Is it a matter of perception or are we just following the same thought process from the past where women were considered the weaker of the two genders, the man is the breadwinner and the woman takes care of the house and family. It is almost like flowing through time without letting go of beliefs and not accepting change. Lets go to the root of the situation, the education system has changed, more and more woman are getting educated, society views are becoming more liberal with the women getting out more. There are single mothers, divorcees, widows and married woman who are out there trying to make a living.
The reasons for them could vary from personal aspirations to family needs. Beyond this when it comes to managing the house or having babies, it’s again the woman who is assumed to take responsibility. This is overtime work with no extra pay. Most men even with changing paternity rules are not using the benefit provided to them and now are under pressure to take more advantage of these entitlements.
Despite all this the workingwomen are discriminated at the work place by being paid less for the same amount of work, time and effort put. Why the discrimination, is that the men cannot get past their pre conceived notion that women are not aggressive enough to chair board meetings, that there should be a glass ceiling for women. This debate is endless.
The tragedy is the lack of knowledge women workers have about pay systems and benefits. The first step is to inform women about pay structures, bring it out in the open so that there is less room to exploit the system further. Women are unaware of salary discrimination, this needs to be changed, the EOC (Equal Opportunities Commission) needs to shoulder the responsibility to bridge the information gap and communicate more openly about the problem. Only when women will be better informed and armed with knowledge on their rights at the work place, will the situation change in their favour. Once the people involved are more informed and interested in bringing about change, there will be no need to make ‘equal pay audits’ compulsory.
Work and home life balance
The work balance life is among the most contemporary issues facing heated discussions. Although this debate does cover both genders it is the women work force, which becomes a more frequent target audience, this is a discrimination of a state of mind and personal aspirations. Women too are now ambitious, cut throat and driven to make a mark for themselves in the business environment. Yet since they are essentially the homemakers, there is this discussion on how they need to balance work and home life balance.
Lets talk about Maslow’s theory on self-actualisation in this context. This will help shed some light on the subject and also why people are so resistant to trade money for more time. As people move up the self-actualisation steps, they need recognition; success and other complementary factors, which make them, feel good. Good jobs, swanky car, premium property, are all signs of success as these factors receive adulation from the society. This is what we start perceiving as success. Once people are hooked to this sort of lifestyle it is very difficult to let go. The family is another important factor which comes in play, they are so used to a certain lifestyle, would they be willing to compromise shopping the best brands if you want extra time to finish a Donna Tartt novel. Well the answer is ‘no’. Yet in the case of men this quality might be looked upon as appealing and in the case of women it is not so. In their case one assumes that they need to realise when to stop chasing these aims and objectives. In this case the discrimination comes not only from the male members in the team but from the women members as well. One needs to learn to respect individual needs and requirements, each individual reacts, works and accomplishes in their own time and space. Some women might like the idea of work but would also like flexible hours to spend time at home with family. This might not apply to the single women who can take the liberty of pursuing a hard driven career. The work and life balance brings in options like flexible hours and job sharing which does make it easier for parents to start spending more time at home. It is observed that male members do not tend to take advantage of these aspects at the work place. It is the women who are assumed to take responsibility of both the work and home aspects.
At the same time there is a flip side to this argument of discrimination on the basis of work life balance. The following figures on job flexibility and job sharing show the following results. A lot of companies are offering flexible hours and job sharing opportunities to their employees. Job share basically entitles two people to share the responsibilities of one job, they split the hours, pay, holidays and benefits between them according to how many hours they each work. Job-sharing is becoming a way to introduce 'part-time' hours into areas where people have usually only worked full time. It's a system of working that seems to particularly suit women. In 1997, of 1,777,000 employees in job-shares, 89 per cent were women. Boots the Chemists introduced a formal job-share scheme in 1988. At that time, only seven per cent of women staff came back to work after maternity leave. By 1997 this had risen to 77 per cent. The argument offered by a lot of writers who talk about discrimination against women at work is that if women are making a serious effort to gain equal status on all grounds then whey pursue special employment schemes and benefits like the ones mentioned above.
Job Segregation
“Gendered patterns of occupational segregation can be explained by the pervasive domestic or patriarchal ideology prescribing certain work roles as appropriate for women and others not: an ideology shared by employers, male workers and many women themselves”. [J Zeitlin (1989), p 54]
Among other segregations, women have been discriminated against on various accounts of occupational hazards. Job segregation is part of this, it is appalling but the fact remains that till late nineteenth century they were excluded from important spheres of medicine and law. At the same time, they were physically made to work in different rooms; perks like promotion and training were less than minimal. This agenda was taken to stand by the trade unions, which were dominated by the men; they felt that offering equal opportunities to women would undercut their positions. “Jobs remain highly segregated, with women in more low paying, low status jobs. The figures are staggering, 93% of engineers and technologists are male; men constitute 96 percent of drivers on the road goods vehicle. In contrast women are clustered in caring jobs; they comprise 90 percent of all nurses; 92 percent of care assistants and attendants, and 85 percent of primary and nursery school teachers.” [Equal Opportunities Commission (1998), Facts about women and men in Great Britain] The labour market has been more than unfavourable to women in almost all sectors and levels within an organisation. The economic pressures faced by a lot of women makes it essential for them to pursue paid work at the same time family unpaid work has not diminished in quantity or quality. The labour market has not made any room for adjustment towards parents who have young families to support. The job segregation takes an advanced step in the lives of single mothers or young mothers. Given the lack of flexibility in the labour market, they are forced to take up some form of livelihood, which might be with less pay to support the family. This has a lasting effect on their lifetime earnings. A lot of these mothers have to undergo life in poverty due to the lack of options in taking up jobs as well as balancing home life along with the pressures of work. The government and organisations are making note of these problems and thus flexibility at work has been accepted as the new option, although it will take time before the idea is completely entrenched in the system.
Sexual Harassment
“Sexual harassment can be described as: Conduct of a sexual nature, or other conduct based on sex affecting the dignity of women. It is unacceptable, if it is unwanted, unreasonable and offensive to the recipient and such conduct creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating work environment for the recipient”. [Sargeant Malcolm (2004), p 86 – 88]
Women often find themselves the victims of sexual harassment at work. It is a very destructive offence, not only does it strip the women of their dignity and identity but also creates a danger for them at the work place. Then there is the choice of succumbing to sexual pressure or losing the job, many female employees have to make the former choice due to economic pressures. In the case of Mrs. Porcelli vs. Strathclyde Regional council, she issued a statement that she was harassed by two male colleagues through sexual innuendoes and sexual comments, which caused her to take a transfer. She was granted a transfer and for the first time sexual harassment was considered under the sexual discrimination act. Although the ground rules on harassment were different and it was believed that only a continuous process of misconduct would account for it, there were two cases, which refuted the above claim. In Insitu cleaning co ltd vs heads, a single verbal comment of a sexist nature made by a fellow colleague during a meeting was considered detrimental. [Sargeant Malcolm (2004), p 86 – 90] This is a serious issue, which is now coming to the forefront; there are special policies and law enforcement being raised to help improve the situation.
Maternity Leave
“The sexual division of labour was predetermined by the division of labour that had existed in the family when the household was the unit of production. The epoch of modern industry far from challenging this division further demarcated it” [S Alexander (1983), p5]
In the past, when women were working in factories, the owners had the right to put them off work when they became pregnant. After that they could not go back to work even if they could physically, the same scenario prevails even in our modern society, which regards men and women as equals. Alison Clarke (2001) talks about an interesting case in her book which helps elaborate the discrimination faced by women in ground of maternity leave. A recent hearing in the European court of justice was Lewen vs Denda; the court ruled that it was not discriminatory to refuse to pay Christmas bonus to a female worker who is on parental leave. This is so, when the sole stipulation pertinent is that the employee should be in effective employment with the company. The court did add that when the bonus is paid in hindsight of the amount of work put in through the year; the employer must comply and pay in agreement to the work put in through the year. It is difficult to understand why the same logic cannot apply to maternity leave. All women irrespective of their line of work or hours are entitled to 18 weeks of unpaid leave from the organisation. Before these regulations were introduced, a lot of women faced discrimination in the form of unfair dismissal, redundancy and removal of right to come back to work after delivery. Since the enforcement of maternity leave rights and regulations, employers are wary of discriminating on these grounds to avoid potential lawsuits.
Promotion, Transfer and Training
It is unlawful for an employer or an organisation to discriminate against women employees on grounds for promotion, training or a transfer. All employees irrespective of their gender or age should be given equal access to opportunities for a raise, promotion or other benefits. More often than not even in today’s day and age, women are shuffled around at lower levels and have to work much harder for a promotion. Not only is there a fight against all the perceptions one endorses about female workers but also to prove skill set and potential to perform at the work place. Women often had to let go of promotion opportunities due to break in their employment period due to parental leave. At times there have been unfair transfers, which were only called upon due to complete disregard of senior management, also a ploy to ensure that the employee would quit the service. Training opportunities to enhance skill set and capabilities was considered a waste of time on women given their gender and family commitments. There is a vast difference now in new high tech companies, where all recruits need to undergo training programs irrespective of gender as its wholly based as part of the induction process. An encouraging figure is the number of women who enrol for the MBA programs on a global scale, given these numbers there are more women joining managerial positions in organisations. The barrier would be the way the organisation structure and culture would favour them or react otherwise. Since more cases are coming through with the attention media has bestowed on women’s issues, a number of organisations are more aware of all possible discrimination law suits they might be faced with if disregarded completely. When one studies discrimination with regards to pertinent issues like promotion, transfer and training opportunities, it is hard not to consider the effect on organisational capability. The above are all tools, which can be used positively to drive the work force, gain maximum potential, motivate to provide results. In the face of discrimination, the women employees would be disheartened, demotivated, deprived of self-confidence and esteem. All this will only result in a weaker work force, less capacity to perform and derive results, lack of motivation, drop in profits and organisation efficiency.
THEORETICAL DISCUSSION
On a more academic note there are theories about discrimination against women in labour markets. They can be classified broadly in three categories – the neo-classical and a human capital theory then there are the labour market segmentation theories and lastly the feminist or gender theory. Though all these theories overlap they add an important dimension to this discussion.
The neo-classical theory assumes that all workers male or female are rational and that all labour markets work in perfect harmony. The employees seek the best opportunities based on their merits and disadvantages. In this perfectly efficient labour market, the employer is looking to gain in terms of maximum productivity and profits from the employment of workers, despite the fact that they pay the employees marginally low due to competition. As per this theory the women bring in too less to the labour market, at one end, they bring in less qualifications, education and experience and take back less in the form of salary and perks. They rightfully deserve lower pay since their productivity levels are lower than the men in the labour market. Also many factors, which might incite interest in certain job areas between men and women are the reasons which might make an employer choose either one for a specific job spec. Thus jobs which have a pre requisite for higher education are offered to men as a bias towards the under development of women’s education.
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The labour market segmentation theory assimilates knowledge from economics and partially from the neo-classical logic theory. Doeringer and Piore (1971, p10 - 16) spoke about the ‘dual market theory’, which helps differentiate between the primary and secondary sectors. There are other labour segmentation theories, which divide the market between the ‘static’ and the ‘progressive’ jobs (Standing, 1989). The first lot of jobs in the primary sector are advanced opportunities offering maximum gains, exposure, excellent working conditions and good pay. The secondary jobs are the ones, which pay less, lack the opportunity for further training or even a promotion and do not offer job security to the employees. As per (Bergmann, 1974, p 2-4) the segmentation is all about low paying jobs for women workers since the sectors they work in are mostly overcrowded and saturated. On the other hand, the male occupations always pay more and do not suffer from such intense competition within the labour markets, also the variety of jobs available are far more.
Finally the Gender theory elaborates on the way the jobs for the female occupants reflect the inherent qualities all women possess and so make these jobs far more suited to their nature than others. This theory stereotypes women in certain roles in the labour market. A common observation in this theory is that the female occupations and jobs are merely an extension of the unpaid role she executes within the periphery of her household. To illustrate this argument better, the theory lists out four positive stereotypes found in women – they all have a motherly instinct i.e. a caring nature, far more honest, attractive physical appearance, additional physical deftness due to their excellent skills at managing house work. According to the theory these aspects help classify the women in a specific slot of occupations they might undertake in comparison to men.
The above are theoretical models, which have been used by academics to ascertain some amount of intelligence in the discrimination met to women workers in the labour market. They are all reflections of what people might think is right or wrong, they have been used in this paper to give some semblance and authority to what has been said through the debate. [http://www-ilo-mirror.cornell.edu/public/english/support/publ/revue/articles/ank97-3.htm]
CONCLUSION
All the above issues are pertinent and proof towards discrimination in the labour market against women. The discussion reflects the various stages and situations in which the social group of women face this discrimination, the live cases help assign a certain amount of reality to the argument. In today’s day and age it is necessary to fight discrimination in the labour market, of any kind, be it race, disability or age and especially the kind, which has been highlighted in this paper. There is a need for change and enhancement in some of the social policies, which will help provide a more dignified platform for women workers, young and old. Most of these issues are not restricted to a geographical location; they are experienced across the globe in all societies and countries. On an International arena it has become necessary to address these issues and offer a solution which offers better employment opportunities, more dignity, safer environments, equal pay and opportunities and lastly recognition.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. S Alexander (1983), Women’s work in 19th century London, A study of years 1820 – 1850, Journey man press
2. J Zeitlin (1989), The sexual division in the Chartist family, A British society of social labour history journal 6
3. Sargeant Malcolm (2004), Discrimination law, England, Pearson Education Limited
4. Clarke Alison (2001), Women’s right at work – A handbook of employment law, London, Pluto press
5. Anderson H. Alan (1994), Effective Labour Relations – a skills and activity based approach, Oxford, Blackwell publishers
6. Fredman Sandra (2002), Discrimination Law, United States, Oxford University Press Inc.
7. Doeringer, Peter B. and Piore, Michael J. (1971), Internal labour markets and manpower analysis, Lexington, D.C. Heath and company
8. Bergmann, Barbara (1974), Occupational segregation, wages and profits when employers discriminate by wage or sex, in Eastern Economic Journal (Storrs, CT), Vol. 1, Nos. 2-3.
9. Standing, Guy (1989) Global feminization through flexible labour, World Employment Programme Research, Working Paper No. 31, WEP 2-43/WP.31. Geneva, ILO.
10. Equal Opportunities Commission (1998), Facts about women and men in Great Britain
11. From the internet - http://www-ilo-mirror.cornell.edu/public/english/support/publ/revue/articles/ank97-3.htm
