Capitalism has made amazing strides in reducing the level of overall poverty with the help of concepts such as free market. The rise in employment opportunities is another bonus as more and more things get decentralized. But as with all things good, there are some things which trouble the noble causes all the while sitting in the underbelly of divisions in our society.
Discrimination is one of those things which also happens to be the ugliest side of the coin in the employment sector. Ideally, employment should depend only on two factors – the ability of a person to perform the job within the required parameters and the compensation in return.
The ability aspect is quite straightforward. If the person’s is able to perform a particular job, that person is as good a candidate as any other person with an ability on a similar scale. However, if the position demands a single person, it becomes difficult to hire a person based on the ability alone.
And so, the concept of compensation takes hold of the situation. Again, in an ideal scenario the person with a similar or same level of ability as any other person is suitable for the job, who demands the least amount of compensation. It translates to a lower overhead for the employer, which means more profit. Whether that profit is transformed into more employment opportunities is a different matter, but a viable consequence.
However, hiring practices frequently take other factors in account. And the importance of these factors in the process is highly debatable. For example, there are some jobs which are advertised with certain prerequisites which have no direct relationship with ability or compensation. However, some employers go beyond reason and relate things such as gender, race, color, physical ability (or disability), nationality, and age, among others. And in doing so, they modulate the situation so that they can hire people who are ‘a better match in the company’s group dynamic in the workforce’.
As if the racial tensions and gender bias was not enough, these other factors ensure that the employers can deploy preferential hiring; sometimes at the cost of ability as well. And this leads to discrimination.
However, governments have recognized this issue and formulated laws which compel organisations to be ‘equal opportunities employer’ certified. These employee discrimination laws ensure that the hiring for a particular position is unbiased and the opportunity is open to everyone regardless of any differential factors.
Unfortunately, it does not end there. Organisations became smarter and introduced bias in compensation, promotion and even termination of employment. So, it became necessary to learn on your own to deal with such situations and opt for the right Sexual Harassment Training online.
Discrimination on grounds of anything is despicable enough. But when it affects your employment, it’s akin to rubbing salt on an open wound. If you think you have been a victim of such discriminatory practices, know that there are laws which exist to protect you. Consult an employment discrimination lawyer or an attorney to get yourself sorted.