978-0470639948 Chapter 7 Solution Manual Part 2

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CHAPTER QUESTION 3: DESCRIBE SEVERAL WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION

ISSUES. WHAT LAWS GOVERN THESE?

Every employee should feel comfortable at work, and every customer and supplier should feel

comfortable doing business with any organization. But that is not always the case. Despite the

diversity progress made, discrimination remains a problem requiring managerial attention.

SELF-CATEGORIZATION THEORY

According to self-categorization theory, individuals define themselves in relation to

others based on a “self-identity” or “social identity” factor and form binding relationships

with people who categorize themselves similarly.

Individuals typically self-identify in terms of race, ethnicity, or gender, though a wide

range of other categories could take precedence, such as being left-handed or rooting for

a particular sports team.

Within groups, members may further self-identify based on some factor that differentiates

group members.

People usually form group coalitions based on race and ethnicity – characteristics that

reflect their family and neighborhood demographics – and then by gender within the

race/ethnicity grouping.

oCaucasians, for instance, tend to associate with Caucasians. Among Caucasians,

males tend to associate with males while females tend to associate with females.

oThe same is true for African-Americans, Hispanics, or Koreans.

Problems arise, however, when dissimilar people are treated as inferior or excluded.

Customers and employees who differ from others according to some prominent

characteristic—race, gender, ethnicity, age, or religion—often report not being respected

by the dominant social group.

Workplace segregation can reinforce prejudices toward members of other groups, which

contributes to communication breakdowns, high conflict, low morale, reduced

productivity, and potential lawsuits.

As shown in Exhibit 1.2 in Chapter 1 “EEOC Charges and Resolutions 1997 and 2009”

there were more than 100,000 discrimination cases filed with the EEOC in 2009, and

settlements exceeded $440 million.

DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

The Implicit Attitude Test (IAT) helps people understand unconscious prejudices they might hold

toward people belonging to other groups. The IAT is a ten minute reaction time test. Have

students do the free test available online at:

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

Review the results and discuss them in small groups. Were students surprised by the results? Do

they believe the results? Why?

WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION

Individuals discriminate all the time. To discriminate means to make a distinction among

possible options.

Two prominent ethical principles must guide decision making when making distinctions

among people at the workplace: fairness and respect for others.

oFairness refers to making decisions according to rules not based on personal

biases

oRespect for others refers to treating everyone with dignity

Managers, for instance, must discriminate among hundreds of job applicants when

deciding which person to hire.

The decision-making rule used to discriminate among the applicants could be ethical,

unethical, legal, or illegal.

When differentiating among job candidates, or choosing which employee to assign a job

task or promote, make sure that the decision-making rule being applied is fair and

respectful.

oWhen hiring, it is ethical and legal to discriminate based on previous job

experience, potential productivity, and educational level.

oIt is unethical and illegal, however, to discriminate based on “protected class”

status, defined as a person’s race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age,

pregnancy, and physical or mental disabilities.

oSome state and municipal laws also include sexual orientation – lesbian, gay,

bisexual, and transgender people (LGBT) – as a protected class.

DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

Review Exhibit 7.2 about “Tattoo Discrimination” and then ask/discuss the following questions:

1. How many students in class have a tattoo? Why did you get one? What percentage of the

tattoos are hidden versus visible to a boss or customer?

2. If you were a manager, would you hire an employee with a tattoo visible on his or her forearm

(wearing short sleeves)? Neck? Face? Why?

3. Does it matter what business you are in (family restaurant, PR firm, bank, truck driver,

warehouse, etc.)? Why?

4. Does it matter what the tattoo said or symbolized (crucifix, rose, confederate flag, satanic

devil worshipping, etc.)? Why?

5. What is a fair and respectful tattoo policy? Why?

GENDER DISCRIMINATION

Gender discrimination refers to treating an employee differently because of his or her

gender.

NOTE: The chapter mentions the sex discrimination class action lawsuit initiated by six

female Wal-Mart employees that grew to represent more than 1 million women. The case

was dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2011 on a technicality dealing with

what counts as a “class action” lawsuit.

Women are discriminated against in job assignments based on physical and personality

characteristics.

oStereotypes of women include being too physically weak, too sensitive, or too

polite to perform certain job tasks.

oMen are stereotyped as being aggressive, less emotionally vulnerable, and

task-focused rather than relationship-focused, qualities assumed to be needed for

executive leadership.

oThe stereotype that men should be leaders and women support staff is attributed

to people growing up in a family and neighborhood where women were

subservient to male authorities.

oCompounding the problem, researchers report that women who behave contrary

to stereotype are evaluated negatively. Thus, women are denied jobs requiring

assertive behaviors, and woman who exhibit assertive behaviors are penalized for

doing so.

PAY INEQUALITY

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits pay discrimination based solely on gender

considerations.

Men and women must receive equal pay for equal work.

Previously, different wages for the same job tasks were justified on the grounds that men

were the head of household whereas women were earning supplemental family income.

The work being performed is considered equal if the two jobs entail equal skill, effort,

responsibility, and working conditions.

Different wages for performing the same type of work are justified only if related to an

employer’s seniority system, merit system, quantity or quality of productivity, or a factor

other than gender.

On average, females earn approximately 69 percent of male salaries.

oIn 2008, the mean salary for all males 25 years and older working full-time was

$64,283.

oFemales 25 years and older working full-time earned $44,595.

oThe Bureau of Labor Statistics, which includes wages for 16 year olds, reports a

higher comparable wage rate of 80 percent.

oThe pay gap increases, rather than decreases, when education is taken into

consideration.

Males with at least a college degree working full-time earned an average

of $95,326, while their female counterparts earned $61,319, or 64 percent

of male salaries.

A variety of explanations other than gender discrimination may explain these earning

differentials:

oCareer pattern choices: Women, in general, choose less-prestigious careers that

have lower market wage rates, such as nursing, secretarial work, sales associates,

and childcare services, whereas men choose higher wage professions, such as

doctors, engineers, information technology, and production operators.

Even within the same field, such as physicians, women tend to choose

lower wage occupations (family practice) compared to men (surgeons).

oSeniority factor: Large numbers of women have only recently entered some

highly-paid occupations, so they are not yet earning the highest wage scale.

oJob demand choices: Women choose less demanding jobs that allow for more

workplace flexibility to care for family and household needs, and pay less.

oOrganization size choices: Women prefer working for small firms, which pay less

than larger firms.

oSalary negotiation issues: Women are less likely to negotiate for higher wages.

oCustomer preferences: Customers perceive male employees as more competent

and providing better service than female employees, thus justifying a higher wage

based on customer satisfaction evaluations.

DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

Interview five women you know, including, if possible, your mother. Ask them about the career

choices they made after college. Did the amount of pay influence their job choice? Why did they

choose their current type of work rather than the one that would earn higher income? Did they

sacrifice career advancement for family reasons? Do they believe that women are paid less than

men for doing similar work? Why?

PREGNANCY

Pregnancy Discrimination Act

In 1978, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) to protect the civil

rights of pregnant women. The PDA classified discrimination based on pregnancy,

childbirth, or related medical condition as a form of sex discrimination.

Prior to the federal legislation, employers used a woman’s pregnancy as a reason for

promotion denials and job terminations.

Employers also denied pregnant women health insurance and other fringe benefits when

on maternity leave.

The PDA ensured that women experiencing pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical

conditions would be treated the same as an employee with an illness or temporary

disability.

The PDA requires that employers provide appropriate job accommodations for pregnant

women, such as temporarily modifying tasks and assignments, which do not cause undue

hardship to the employer.

oAn undue hardship refers to the cost and difficulty associated with making the

accommodation.

Employee health insurance policies must include coverage for pregnancy-related

conditions, and sick or unpaid leave policies must include morning sickness and

childbirth recovery.

Upon returning to work, women are entitled to the same or equivalent job, much like any

employee returning after sick or disability leave

Family and Medical Leave Act

oThe PDA did not require that any specific amount of leave be extended to childbearing

women beyond existing company policies.

oCongress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 in part to address

this issue, and expanded provisions to include any employee needing time off to address

health-related problems.

oThe FMLA ensures a total of 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month

period, and the continuation of healthcare and other fringe benefits during this period,

for:

the care of a newborn baby, a newly adopted child, or a new foster child

the care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious

health condition

an employee’s serious health condition

oThe FMLA applies to all state, local, and federal employers, as well as private sector

firms which employ 50 or more workers.

oAn employee must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months to be

eligible for coverage.

oWith the employer’s approval, an employee can substitute paid medical leave for unpaid

time off

oThe FMLA exempts highly compensated employees, defined as being managers in the

top 10 percent of the company’s pay scale, whose absence could not be replaced and

would cause an undue hardship on the employer.

DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

Assign group membership by gender and ask students to answer the following questions

independently and then share in group:

1. Should a woman interviewing for a job who is 2 months pregnant inform the interviewer about

the pregnancy? Why?

2. Should a man interviewing for a job whose wife is 2 months pregnant inform the interviewer

about the family pregnancy? Why?

3. If you were the boss, would you want to know if the job applicant is pregnant? Why?

4. FMLA provides 12 weeks of unpaid time off. Should a woman go back immediately after birth

or wait the entire 12 weeks? Why?

GLASS CEILING

Glass ceiling refers to situations where the hierarchical advancement of a qualified

woman or minority is prematurely stopped at a lower level because of gender, racial, or

ethnic discrimination.

 In 2008, women represented 46.5 percent of the entire civilian labor force.

oAssuming women and men are generally equally competent, a similar percentage

of women should hold managerial jobs.

oBut, according to 2009 Bureau of Labor Statistics, women accounted for only 25

percent of all CEOs, and 30 percent of all general and operations managers.

oThere seems to be an invisible barrier preventing women from climbing to the top

of organizational hierarchies, which is why the phenomenon is called a “glass”

ceiling.

REVERSE DISCRIMINATION

Reverse Discrimination refers to discriminating against a dominant or majority group

member, such as Caucasian males, in favor of an historically disadvantaged or minority

group member.

Organizations that put in place an affirmative action plan to promote more women to

management positions discriminate against equally qualified men based solely on gender.

If it is unfair for women to have been historically discriminated against based on gender,

isn’t it also unfair to deny men a job, promotion, or assignment based on gender?

Vision Quest National, located in a high-crime neighborhood, operated a day and night

shift. When several women night shift employees threatened to quit, the company

implemented a policy for women to be given a preference for day shift work. A male

night shift employee making the same request was fired. He sued for sexual

discrimination and won the lawsuit.

DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

Have students answer, debate, or discuss the Vision Quest National case. A man and woman are

on a nighttime shift in a high crime neighborhood. Both apply for one opening on the day shift.

Is it unfair to give the opening to a woman based solely on the criterion that she would not have

to leave work in a bad neighborhood late at night?

RACE AND ETHNICITY DISCRIMINATION ISSUES

In 2008, approximately 73 percent of the civilian labor force was Caucasian, compared to

13 percent Hispanic and 10 percent African-American.

Racial and ethnic discrimination refers to treating an employee differently because of his

or her race or ethnicity.

It is illegal to discriminate in job assignments and promotions based on an individual’s

race or ethnicity, even if customers or other employees express a preference for

Caucasians.

National origin prohibitions include discrimination based on a person’s birthplace,

ancestry, culture, and native language.

The formation of racial and ethnic stereotypes is usually the result of segregation.

Racial and ethnic minorities are much more likely to perceive discrimination as a

problem than the Caucasians wielding managerial power.

oAfrican-Americans, compared to Caucasians, are four times more likely to report

that racial discrimination is a serious problem and three times more likely to

attribute racial discrimination as a cause for difference in jobs and income.

RELIGIOUS DISCIMINATION ISSUES

In 2008, approximately 76 percent of the population 18 years and older were Christians –

51 percent Protestant and 25 percent Catholic – down from 86 percent in 1990.

The remainder included 1.2 percent Jewish, 0.9 percent Eastern Religions, 0.6 percent

Muslim, 0.5 percent Buddhist, and 15 percent no religion.

Religious discrimination refers to treating an employee differently because of his or her

religious beliefs.

Job assignments, promotions, and terminations cannot be determined based on religious

reasons.

Employees can practice a religious belief at work if the employee is sincere and the

practice is non-harmful to others.

Employers must provide religious accommodations that are reasonable and do not cause

an under burden to the employer.

Claiming that another employee or customer would be upset or uncomfortable because of

an employee’s religion or religious practice is not an undue hardship.

Employers are also expected to provide flexible scheduling for religious holidays and

respect religious clothing and grooming policies.

An employer cannot forbid an employee from wearing a Jewish yarmulke, Sikh turban,

or a Muslim headscarf, or a religious hairstyle, unless the clothing or hairstyle negatively

impacts job performance.

If one employee is allowed to decorate office space for a religious holiday, all employees

must be allowed to do likewise regardless of their specific religion. An employer cannot

force an employee to participate in a particular religious activity.

AGE DISCRIMINATION ISSUES

Age discrimination refers to treating an employee differently because of his or her age.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 prohibits dismissing, or

not promoting, anyone forty or older because the individual is considered “too old” for

the job.

Job assignments, promotions, and terminations must be based on productivity, skills,

abilities, or any factor other than protected class status, including age.

 Exemptions to the law require a bona fide occupational qualification, such as not

rehiring an aging actor for a young role, or matters of public safety, such as for airplane

pilots or bus drivers.

Common age-related stereotypes include older employees being less productive, less

physically and technologically capable, and less motivated to work hard. Research has

discredited these age stereotypes.

The researchers, however, have found three age-related differences: older employees

were more likely to demonstrate organizational citizenship behavior and comply with

safety rules, and less likely to engage in counterproductive work behaviors.

Due to longevity and accomplishments, older employees in some organizations have

higher salaries. If an organization seeks to reduce labor costs, salaries can be a deciding

criterion, but not age.

Employers can provide employees incentives to voluntarily take early retirement, but not

require early retirement.

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ISSUES

Approximately 50 million Americans have a physical or mental disability, of which 55

percent are employed.

Historically, citizens with physical and mental disabilities had been discriminated against

in areas such as employment, housing, and education.

Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) to prohibit

discrimination against a qualified worker with a disability who can perform the job task

with, or without, reasonable accommodation.

The legislation defines a disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially

limits one or more major life activities of such individual.” Examples include

impairments associated with seeing, hearing, walking, standing, speaking, learning, and

breathing.

The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for the disability,

such as modifying a job assignment, work schedule, facilities, and equipment.

 According to the ADA, factors that an employer can take into account to determine the

reasonableness of an accommodation are:

oThe nature and cost of the accommodation

oThe overall size and financial resources of the facility or business

oThe impact of the accommodation on business operations

Alcoholism is a disability under the ADA.

oAn employer cannot discipline or fire an individual because he or she is an

alcoholic.

oThe employer, however, can prohibit alcohol consumption during work hours for

all employees, including alcoholics, and discipline or fire an employee for

productivity or performance-related factors.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION ISSUES

oHomosexuality exists in all cultures and throughout history.

oAs of 2010, there were an estimated 40,000 legal same-sex marriages in the United

States.

oGays and lesbians are estimated to be between 1.5 and 4.1 percent of the U.S. adult

population, which translates to 3.2 million to 8.8 million people.

oThe percentages of men who are gay, and women who are lesbian, are very similar.

oResearchers maintain that the overall percentages are low estimates due to how narrowly

homosexuality is defined and confidentiality concerns of survey respondents.

oAlthough there has been a long history of workplace discrimination against lesbians,

gays, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, sexual orientation discrimination is not

covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

oNonetheless, more than 15 states and 150 municipalities have passed laws prohibiting

sexual orientation discrimination in areas such as employment, housing, public education,

credit, and public accommodations.

oThe Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), federal legislation under

consideration to protect LGBT people from job discrimination, is modeled after the Civil

Rights Act.

oThe legislation is spearheaded by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,

whose first major victory was getting the American Psychiatric Association to

declassify homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973.

oIn 1994, the U.S. military implemented a contentious “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, a

compromise developed by the Clinton Administration, to address the military’s ban on

homosexuals.

oMilitary leaders opposed to gay and lesbian soldiers maintained that homosexuality

threatened troop cohesiveness in combat units.

oBetween 1994 and 2010, however, more than 10,000 military personnel were discharged

for declaring their sexual orientation.

oIn 2010, Congress passed legislation prohibiting the military from discriminating against

gay and bisexual people.

oSome companies provide “domestic partnership” benefits to same-sex or different-sex

couples, although not required to do so by federal or state law.

oBy 2009, 57 percent of the Fortune 500 companies provided domestic partner health

insurance benefits, including nine of the top ten largest corporations, and 85 percent

prohibited sexual orientation discrimination.

oIn 2010, the federal government developed policies that granted hospital visiting rights to

same-sex partners and extended the Family Medical Leave Act to care for sick or

newborn children of same-sex partners.

DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

Have students do Exhibit 7.6 “Experiences Being Prejudged” exercise individually, and then

share in small groups and entire class.

1. Describe how you have been stereotyped in a positive way. When did the incident occur?

Where did the incident occur? Who said what to whom? Was the stereotype accurate?

2. Where did the incident occur? Who said what to whom? Was the stereotype accurate?

3. Describe how you have been stereotyped in a negative way. When did the incident occur?

Where did the incident occur? Who said what to whom? Was the stereotype accurate?

4. What were your reactions when the negative incident occurred? How did you feel? What did

you think? What did you do?

5. What were the overall consequences of the negative incident? How did the incident affect you

in the future? Did it change your expectations of yourself? Did it change your expectations of

others?