Systemic injustice in the workplace
Introduction
Employment discrimination refers to the legal purpose and no legal reasons based on race, color, religion, politics, nation, social origin, gender, household registration, disability or health status, age, height, body language, and so on reasons, to take such as discrimination, exclusion, or give preferential measures of any violation of the equal rights. Discrimination, in short, means treating people unequally. In this article, we will look at some examples of systemic injustice in the workplace and discuss the harm it causes, then through some of our analyses to illustrate how to correct this situation.
How Most Chinese Companies’ Work Patterns Destroy Employees? (Guoquan Wang)
When it comes to the Chinese work model, we have to talk about the 996 work model. 996 is a work schedule where employees start at 9 am and finish at 9 pm and work six days a week. In addition to the regular working hours, there may be extra overtime hours and overtime pay that does not match the overtime hours. Some people may think it is a good thing to get paid for how much work they do. At the same time, many companies are using a communist value of labor to implement capitalism. The result is a squeeze on employees and vicious competition. The beneficiary is the company and the society as a whole is the bearer. In the former case, Japan, a series of social problems arose from the massive overtime work. Problems include low fertility rate, unmarried people, Low happiness, aging, and shortage of workers due to the drastic reduction of the young population. In addition, the consequence will also inhibit the development of the service industry, because employees earn money but no time to consume services. If you agree with 996, it is the same as materializing people. What is materialized people? It is not treating a person as a person, not as a person who has life, feelings, subjective will, and possibly his or her own limitations. Rather, it is to see a person as an object, a thing that can be manipulated, placed, occupied, or casually discarded as needed. And this objectification deals with huge destruction to our human opportunity and ability to experience happiness and joy. Certainly, companies will blur the concepts involved and transmit to employees the notion that hard work equals work overtime equals high pay as a justification. Once the problem is identified, the most important thing is to solve it. Employees need to properly protest and take legal action to protect their interests.
How does race factor into system injustice in the workplace? (Yufan Duan)
Diversity, equity, and inclusion have become a hot topic for companies with more attention from the public regarding the issues of injustice in the workplace. Employees indicate that they demand diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
However, injustice in the workplace is a common issue since about 20% of workers in the United States have experienced workplace bully and discrimination. For this section, I would like to talk about the reasons behind injustice in the workplace, especially due to race factors. According to Gallup data, about 25% of black workers have reported that they have encountered discrimination at work.
For example, on September 21, 2019, CNN reported serious racism at General Motor’s factory in Toledo, Ohio. At least nine employees sued the company for horrible racism in the workplace. There were KKK’s nooses hanging at the factory with slogans of “White-Only” near the restroom. One of the employees who is African American complained that he was verbally threatened by one white employee to go back to his country. When he reported the issue to General Motors, he was told that if he wants to keep his job he should keep quiet. GM replied to the angry public through Twitter “This is not us. We have zero tolerance for any racial discrimination. We are. Efforts are being made to clear this situation out of GM.”
There is still a long way to go to solve the injustice in the workplace and change the stereotypes against certain groups due to their races. Companies need to have regulations against racism in the workplace as well as efforts to enforce diversity and inclusion.
How does discrimination at work affect the company? (Xiaonan Zhang)
Often when we talk about discrimination, our behavior is influenced by stereotypes of certain groups or individuals. Unfair discrimination often occurs when we assume that everyone in a group is the same, that is, we don’t see individual differences. Such discriminatory views often do great harm to the company itself and its employees. However, there are many cases of discrimination against in each company, and more cases are unknown to the public. Discriminatory behaviors occur frequently, including rude treatment or rejection of those who are discriminated against.
Discrimination takes various forms:
- Deterrence: To publicly threaten or challenge employees of a specific group
- Ridicule and insult: From negative stereotypes, sometimes ridicule can have serious consequences.
- Ostracism: Some people are constantly denied promotions, social activities, discussions, or informal teaching activities, which may be intentional by others.
- Rudeness: Disrespectful treatment includes treating someone in an aggressive manner, constantly interrupting someone, or ignoring their input.
Discrimination can take many forms, and its consequences can vary, depending on differences in the work environment and the personal biases of the members of the workforce. Forms of discrimination such as exclusion and rudeness can be difficult to observe, or simply because the person is unaware of the consequences of his or her actions. Whether intentional or not, discriminatory behavior can have serious consequences for a company, including reduced productivity, reduced employee behavior, negative conflict, and increased employee turnover. Unfair discrimination can also cause qualified candidates to be overlooked in the initial hiring or promotion process. Even if there is no law on company discrimination, there are still many employees who are discriminated against.
Possible Solutions
Workplace discrimination puts psychological pressure on people and limits fair and healthy career development. Therefore, the primary goal of a company should be to focus on the physical and mental management of employees and to achieve efficiency through a good corporate culture.
- Plan employee salaries properly: In the workplace, the salary of employees is also the condition of unequal treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to plan the salary reasonably so that employees can see that they are respected and valued.
- Give employees the opportunity to grow: At any time, the growth of employees is the premise of maintaining the stability of the company’s talents, giving them enough space for growth, so that they can realize the value.
- Help employees plan their careers: For employees, many may have no plans for the future. If the enterprise can make reasonable plans according to the personality and ability of employees, it is also a good way to eliminate prejudice.
- Provide training and promotion opportunities: For enterprise employees, the most important thing is the training opportunities, only good at improving the training opportunities for employees, so that employees feel valued.
- Strengthen regular communication: For some disharmonious employees in the workplace, we must regularly strengthen communication, resolve through communication without regret, and also increase the cohesion of the team.
These solutions can help companies eliminate discrimination and unequal treatment as much as possible, but it is not easy for a company to do well in these aspects. This requires a lot of experience and a mature management system. Therefore, for employees, the most efficient way is to improve their ability and tolerance, to calm down their mentality, and not to be the aggressor and oppressor. People should keep a serious attitude towards all kinds of discrimination. We won’t accept it, but we won’t lose our minds and take extreme actions because of it.
Conclusion:
Workplace injustice includes discrimination, harassment, and bullying, which are caused by sociodemographic factors such as gender, disability, race, and etc. The dilemma for all kinds of businesses is how to ensure employees’ rights in certain social issues, particularly sophisticated social, political, and economic issues. One of the topics that might be tough to address is race.
Even while the legislation protects workers from being discriminated against in the job because of their personal qualities, it only applies to specific protected groups. As a result of the loopholes, not every discrimination or unjust treatment is prohibited.
Because no one can control what other people think, businesses and leaders must adopt a code of conduct to minimize bias and discrimination in the workplace. People have the freedom to believe anything they want, but they are not permitted to speak or do whatever they want at work since it may infringe on the rights of others. Bias will sabotage the company’s overall performance and cohesion. To avoid workplace injustice, it is vital to identify the border. The culture of a corporation is critical in combating discrimination. The first step a firm may take to address social problems and, eventually, remove bias is to have a clearly defined set of beliefs and values.
References
Citation: https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/us/gm-toledo-racism-lawsuit/index.html
https://bencrump.com/blog/racial-injustice-in-america/#Black_LGBTQ_Discrimination_in_America Blog in BEN CRUMP trial lawyer for justice, “RACIAL INJUSTICE IN AMERICA”.