The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Essay Sample)

Equal employment opportunity refers to the equal accessibility of opportunities or chances for employment through merit. Equal opportunities’ policies and laws are necessary in any organization mainly because while, in some instances, employers select the best person suitable for a particular job, in most cases, they make biased choices when determining the individual suitable for a particular job. Equal opportunity policies and legislation are put into place to ensure that people are protected against unfair treatment by employers, especially those in the protected class looking for work, and to make sure that employers encourage inclusion and diversity in the workforce. While the eligibility to work in a particular organization usually depends mostly on an individual’s academic performance and skills, it usually becomes odd if the workforce of a particular organization lacks diversity. Even though this is a likely scenario to have employees of a particular race, religion, or gender working in a particular organization, an employee’s behavior becomes questionable when a more qualified individual is denied an opportunity to work for an organization. The factors such as religion, race, country of origin, sexual orientation, and gender usually come into play at this point. Regardless of the need for equal opportunity policies and laws in the hiring process, the policies and laws are required in the long run in an organization since there are different categories of employees. The equal opportunities’ policies and laws are required in the promotion process to ensure no bias. Equal opportunities policies and laws assist an organization as it is likely to be more productive than if the policies were not because they guarantee equal opportunity provided that an individual meets the organization’s needs. Therefore, an organization is more likely to hire competent individuals without bias.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is a federal agency created through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that is meant to administer and enforce civil rights laws that address workplace discrimination. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination based on country of origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or color, among others. The necessity of equal opportunities laws and policies in any organization is quite obvious. Past research has shown that employees usually face discrimination in the selection, hiring, and promotion processes. Multiple scholars have identified a series of gender inequities that demonstrate how women have historically been at a disadvantage in the work sector. In Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989), the Supreme Court ruled that sex stereotypes that played a role in employment discrimination were unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The implementation of equal opportunities and laws has just improved the situation by protecting people belonging to a specific race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or country of origin, among others, against discrimination (Triana et al., 2019, p. 2419-2447). The equal opportunities laws and policies are essential for the recruitment process and the long-running of a business as people of diverse cultures constantly interact within the organization.
Types of Discrimination in the Labor Market
The equal opportunities policies and policies are meant to protect employees from four common types of discrimination; statistical discrimination, taste discrimination, discrimination based on occupational segregation, and discrimination based on monopsony power. The taste discrimination model is also referred to as Becker’s employer taste model and is based on the work of Gary Becker. Gary Becker argued that some employers, employees, or customers display this kind of discrimination by choosing not to come into contact or interact with people longing for other racial groups. Statistical discrimination happens when an employer focuses on determining and comparing the performance of a particular group, such as people belonging to a particular race or gender and others (Krinitcyna & Menshikova, 2015, p. 12-17). Some employers often use this comparison to set the average wage for people belonging to a particular group even when the individual performance differs from the overall performance. Discrimination becomes quite obvious when an individual can prove beyond doubt that they are underpaid compared to other people belonging to a different race.
Discrimination by employers based on monopsony power happens when an employer sets wages for specific employees below marginal revenue product. Most employers usually see it logical that the more inelastic the labor supply, the lower the wage relative to productivity. The monopsonist may obtain high marginal profits by differentiating wages between groups with different labor supply elasticities. Women are more likely to be affected by this form of discrimination as many employers usually feel or think that women do not apply as much effort as many. This ideology is mainly based on a stereotype that ‘men are more powerful than women and can accomplish much.’ Occupational segregation is another form of discrimination commonly applied by employers. Some employers may tend to assign specific roles or jobs to people belonging to different races or gender (Krinitcyna & Menshikova, 2015, p. 12-17). Stereotypes usually play a huge role in this type of discrimination as people belonging to a particular race or gender are often viewed as incompetent. Even an employer does not have past results to prove that.
Discrimination in the workplace based on gender, nationality, religion, and disability can happen in the recruitment and selection of staff, benefits, and conditions that are issued as part of employment, staff rotation, promotion, or dismissal. Equal opportunities’ laws generally focus on the treatment of employees by employers and fellow employees. Equal opportunities policies within an organization mostly focus on how employees should treat each other (Birkelund et al., 2022, p. 337-354). While an employer is allowed to conduct an examination to determine whether a particular job applicant possesses the necessary skills to be a competent employee, in the long run, an employer is required by law to act fairly and ensure that every job applicant is given the same chance regardless of their race, age, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation.
Why Equal Opportunities Policies and Laws are Essential
Equal opportunities’ policies and laws promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace and build confidence and trust among customers, potential customers, and different stakeholders. Equal opportunities’ policies and laws usually make employers enforce and act on laws to protect the identity and respect of employees and those seeking job opportunities. By embracing the equal opportunities policies and laws, employers usually benefit in the long run since they usually gain a broad scope of recognition among people of diverse cultures and demographics (Akintola, 2011, p. 11-17). There are several benefits that an organization enjoys by embracing equal opportunities’ policies and laws. Some major benefits include enhanced employee egangement, better customer service and happiness, and a better reputation for the brand.
Equal opportunities laws and policies help guarantee an equal consideration of all job applications regardless of the applicant’s culture, race, language, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. This consideration assists an organization in evaluating skillset, talent, and the ability of an applicant or applicants to contribute and make a significant value-addition to an organization efficiently. Other than promoting ethics in the selection and recruitment process, equal opportunities policies and laws improve recruitment since an employer is made to evaluate different kinds of people so that they can make informed decisions about the perfect individual for a particular job (Akintola, 2011, p. 11-17). The laws and policies promote the union of skilled employees who work as a team to promote the productivity of an organ