CHAPTER 15

Equal Employment
Opportunities
And
Affirmative
Action
What do you mean by equal job opportunity, job
discrimination and affirmative action?
 EQUAL JOB OPPORTUNITY is a labor policy that
prohibits business from discriminating against
otherwise-qualified people with disabilities.
 Employers must not discriminate in:
o job application procedures;
o the hiring, advancement, or discharge of
employees;
o employee compensation;
o job training;
o and any other terms, conditions, and privileges
of employment.
 JOB DISCRIMINATION refers to the unjust act of
differentiating one group of people not on the
basis of personal merit but on the basis of
partiality or bias.
 In the workplace, when you distinguish between
two people on the basis of non-job criteria, then
that act may constitute a pattern of job
discrimination.
 AFFIRMATIVE ACTION involves policies (used in
the United States, Canada, and other European
countries) to increase opportunities for ethnic
minorities by favoring them in hiring and
promotion, college admissions, and the awarding
of government contracts.
 Depending upon the situation, minorities might
include any underrepresented group, especially
one defined by race, ethnicity, or gender.
What is a better approach to the issue of job
discrimination?

 It ought to be on paper.
 A company's internal policies and practices should
assure its own employees that they will be free
from discrimination on the basis of “race, color,
sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status (United Nations, 1948).
 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

 It is the agency in the U.S. responsible for

enforcing
Business federal
is sometimes
laws that blamed for job
make it illegal to
discriminationagainst
discriminate when a itjobmakes unfavorable
applicant or an
decision because
employee against the employees
of the person’s because of
race, color,
unwarranted
religion, prejudice
sex (including against the
pregnancy, members
gender of
identity,
thesexual
and group orientation),
where he/shenational
belongs.origin, age (40 or
older), disability or genetic information.
 Covered employers with at least 15 employees.
 (In terms of hiring) some practice of selection
o based
Genderon unwarranted prejudice
it is discriminating whenthat may be
the recruitment
discriminatoryCLASSIFIED
procedure ADS
are theofff:a company includes explicit
references to the exclusion of women, a
o regional background
clear and simple case of non-acceptance
Those “who are not graduates of
onUST,
La Salle, the basis
Ateneoofand
gender. It can happen,
UP need
especially with
not apply" obsolete business
o place in theorganizations,
economic pyramid
that women are still
considered the 'weaker or unreliable' sex.
o school of education
 Is there discrimination here?

A Quebec-based software company largely owned by a

Canadian magnate was scouting for a senior officer to head a
department whose former head just retired. A Filipino
assistant manager who could not speak French knew the
ropes around that department well enough, was competent,
hardworking, and very much deserving of the position.
Many of his colleagues were anticipating the position
would be awarded to him. But, to everyone's surprise, the
position was instead given to another employee who was
perceived by the majority as less qualified. The anointed one
was a French-speaking Canadian, and that is why most
probably management promoted him to that job.
 It is understandable-and even encouraged in that
company- that a French-speaking senior officer be positioned
in a strategic place where the majority of the clientele is
French speaking. But the decision of management to promote
the Canadian assistant manager who was considered by many
as less qualified for that job may be preposterous.

 In this particular case, it is debatable whether the Filipino

was discriminated against on the basis of non-job criterion.
 Before jumping into any kind of conclusion,
Is there discrimination here? it is wiser to
suppose that people in any organization constantly
compete against each other for jobs and promotions.
 We may even hear people say that IT DEPENDS…to a large
extent, on good fortune or bad luck, suwerte o malas in
Filipino.
What are the factors to
consider?
 Sison and Palma-Angeles (1997) think that it
really depends on several factors, such are the ff:
 Who his competitors are
 What abilities his competitors have
 How interviewers see him
 How he performed during the exams and
interviews
Is it easy to detect
discrimination in the
workplace?
 The truth is that it is:
NOT EASY to detect whether or not there is
discrimination in the workplace.

 Spotting employment discrimination is a big

headache because it is generally hard to know
whether specific individuals were actually
discriminated against.
 When a homosexual, a married woman, a worker
from the Visayas or Mindanao (probinsyano or
promdi), or any minority individual is rejected in
any competitive process, there is generally no way
of saying whether that individual's rejection is the
result of bad luck or the end of any systematic
discrimination.
 Perhaps the only way of knowing whether the
process itself is systematically discriminating is by
looking at what happens to the group where
he/she belongs.
 If the group where the minority individual belongs
is regularly rejected in a competitive process
(when in reality their talents, qualities, and
abilities as a group match those of nonminorities),
then we may presume that the process is
discriminatory. Otherwise, it may not be that
easy to detect whether there is employment
discrimination or not (United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, 2003)
What are the elements of job discrimination?

1. When a judgment, decision, or treatment (not based

on personal merit such as seniority, performance
rating, or other qualifications) is intended against
anyone of the workers and his/her particular group.
2. When a judgment decision, or treatment springs
from prejudice or bias, from false stereotypes, or
from other ways of unfair attitude aimed at a
particular group to which the worker belongs.
3. When a judgment, decision, or treatment is
disadvantageous, pejorative or simply harmful to
the worker, perhaps costing his/her job, promotion,
or pay raise.
How do you know
whether those elements
apply to our example?
 In process analysis, let us try to determine as objectively
as possible whether these elements are present in the
aforementioned case by asking several questions based
on these three elements:

1. Was the decision of management to bypass the

Filipino assistant manager in favor of the French
assistant manager based on personal merits such as
seniority, performance rating or other qualifications?

Or the criterion to promote the French manager has

nothing to do with merits, qualifications, and
credentials?
2. Did the decision spring from false stereotypes such as
“the French are more competent, aggressive, or
trustworthy than Filipinos, Asians in general, and
other ethnic groups?”

The presence of this element may be hard to prove.

3. Was the decision disadvantageous to the Filipino

assistant manager in terms of a promotion or a
better pay?

If these three elements are present, then most likely

racial discrimination was a shadow behind the
promotion policy of that company.
  This quote from the founder,
Ray Kroc, sums up their belief
in the value of diversity.
 A good portion of
McDonald's success can be
attributed to the diversity of
ideas that flow within their
system.
 Ray taught them the
business value of differing
viewpoints:
“lf you've got two officers and they both think
alike, one of them is unnecessary.”
- Ray Kroc
Diversity is integrated into the management of
McDonald's.
 Diversity goals are integrated throughout business
planning for all regions around the world
 We provide diversity education throughout the
organization through seminars, workshops and
presentations.
 Diversity education is an ongoing process, creating
awareness and building skills for managing an
inclusive, diverse workforce at McDonald's.
Is there discrimination against women in the
workplace?

 It may appear that women are routinely looked

upon as the:
weaker sex
less competent
and less committed than men
- to think that we live in the wireless and digital age.
Because of subjective biases, it appears that there
are still tribes of managers who tend to undervalue
the jobs women do (Beauchamp, 1998).
 The major challenge women have to confront
relates to the fact they are the ones who
biologically bear children and carry most of the
burden of rearing and caring for them.
 Business somehow tends to discriminate since
employers think they will be forced by law to
provide the mandatory family leave, eight weeks
of paid maternity leave, unpaid leave for a new
parent, “sick leave” for mothers whose children
are sick, etc.
 Employers are equally afraid they must provide
childcare support by setting up a childcare facility
at or near the workplace and other unending
benefits for women. You often hear employers
complain: "If the Labor Code compels business to
provide all accommodations for them, who would
want women employees?”
 Almost always, HR managers are inclined to
distinguish between a career woman and a
mother, with the latter usually discriminated
against in favor of the former.
What are the stereotypes against women?

• There are fields of occupation, which are

traditionally suitable for women because of their
"sensitive, vulnerable, and fragile" nature.
• There are types of work, which may not be fitting
to women due to their biological condition like
monthly period.
• The inability of women to cope up with certain
job requirements since their common gender
personality and aptitude traits make them
unsuitable for those jobs.
Such generalizations about women are not only
biased or prejudicial but also untrue. Because of
wrong perception, women are not assigned to the
tasks traditionally directed to men and the result is
that some women are never given the necessary
break to prove themselves (Burchell and Fagan,
2004).
What is the lesson
learned from the 1997
film G. I. Jane?
 Veritably, times have changed. In the real world -
not by pure chance, luck, or accident – women
have become heads of state in Israel, Pakistan,
India, Nicaragua, Ireland, Finland, Great Britain,
New Zealand and other nations.
 In the Philippine Military Academy, female
graduates were on top of Batch 1998, and Batch
2007. The class valedictorians of Batch 1999 and
2007 were women. In the United States Army
(traditionally a male bastion), there is respectable
woman combatant with a rank of a three-star
general.
A pregnant female bank teller was ordered by
management to go on leave as soon as her belly
got big enough that if she were to face against
the wall her belly would touch the wall before
her feet do. Outraged by the sexual
discrimination, she demanded that all
employees male and female should undergo this
face-the-wall test, to which the management
reluctantly complied. The bank sent on leave
one female teller and three men, all vice
presidents.

“All in a Day's Work”, Reader's Digest

How is discrimination related to right to work and
right to life?
 It is unethical and socially irresponsible for any
employer to dismiss or discharge employee merely
on account of his/her marital status.
 Hiring, firing, promotion, or demotion must be
subjected to an objective, unbiased, and fair
criteria.
 Workers ought to be treated equally on the basis of
individual merit and not on the ground of sexual
orientation or marital status.
 Everyone's basic righto work should be upheld since
this is essentially related to the right to life and the
support of his/her dependents (Quinn, 1997).
What are the ethical principles involved in job
discrimination?
 Discrimination in the workplace is wrong and
socially irresponsible because of the following
reasons:
1. Discrimination in hiring is a disservice in the long
run. To hire the best and the smartest, it is wiser to
select somebody whose talents and personal traits
qualify him/her as the most competent for the job.
If you so hire and appoint someone on the basis of
other criteria unrelated to competency, then
subsequent job performance necessarily declines
and productivity goes down. That’s one pragmatic
argument against employment discrimination.
2. It is actually double jeopardy. Both the object and
the subject of discrimination turn out to be the
losers. The company could have possibly hired the
worker discriminated against, the one who might
turn out to be the best and most suited for the job.
But because it was bias. The company did not pick
the best possible applicant, suffered a disadvantage
and got no blessing.
3. Most importantly, it is wrong to discriminate a
group or an individual by reason of ethics. To
discriminate is not the right thing to do. Each
person has a fundamental right to be treated as a
free and thinking individual and all other individuals
(including employers) have a correlative moral duty
to treat him/her as such.
4. When business discriminates, it consciously or
unconsciously affirms that one group is inferior
or subordinate to another group.

• Such
that people fromstereotypes
degrading the province' are less qualified
undermine the self-
than city of
esteem residents,
those groups against whom the
• stereotypes
or UP and La are
Salledirected
graduatesand
are thereby violate
better than JRU
their
or PUPfundamental
graduates, right to be treated as equals.
• that women are less capable than men,
• that French employees are better than Filipinos.
Discriminatory practices are not consistent with
ethical management which upholds that all are
equals in essence and dignity, and that all men and
women have the same basic rights and duties.
Everyone is created equal in essence and dignity, in
spite of the race or color, religion, party affiliation,
or business connection.(Velasquez,1998)
What is the best practice of Shell in terms of
diversity standard?

 Creating an inclusive environment that elicits the

very best from its employees is fundamentals to
shell’s success.
 The oil company is committed to manage
diversity as a critical business activity.
 It values the broad range of cultural and personal
differences that exist the company.
 Shell is dedicated to respect each employee’s
need to balance work and personal demands and
provide equal opportunity for everyone to
complete through well-understood and
consistently applied employment and
performance standards.
 Thus, the company provides means for employees
to share personal support, networking, learning,
self development and communication.
 Royal Dutch/Shell Group(2002) reports that shell
companies across the globe promotes a culture in
which all shell employees , contractors, and joint
ventures shares this commitment for diversity.
 In order to underpin this commitment, every
shell company must assure that it:

o Promotes
Establishes
o
Has
Includes
Provides a annual
a diversity
systemic
safe
Actively diversity
workplace
and performance
approach plans,
freeways
effective
support from
attraction, infor
to
thegoals and
harassment
appraisal
diversity
employees
development,
targets
and for observed
management
to retention
report improvement;
discrimination;
development
addressing
and plansmeasures,
each the appraises,
ofofdiverse
behavioral
promotion ofinconsistencies
leaders
elements
and
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and
of reports
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with Group
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Diversityperformance;
standard. Framework;
CHAPTER 16

Against
Contractualization
What is Labor
Contractualization?
 The concrete situation of millions of sales ladies in
our department stores and giant malls, factory
workers, house helpers, carpenters, gasoline boys,
workers in the barber shops, and parlors, whose
jobs are “permanently temporary” simply
because they are contractuals.
 They have no stable jobs , no SSS, no medical
insurance, no security tenure.
 The new millennium tagged by management
Guru Peter F. Drucker as the “century of
knowledge society” is witnessing the sudden
increase of part time job even among our
professionals. This is happening spite of the fact
that the Filipino labor force in general is globally
recognized as technically proficient, highly
educated, almost always over skilled, and have
the competitive advantages in English language.
Is contractual labor part and parcel of the big
economic landscape?

 Contractual labor is and has been there as part

and parcel of the big economic picture– in
agribusiness, sweatshops, construction and retail
business.
 The contractualization of a labor is a business
strategy validated to be cost effective.
 Should the state/government promote full
employment?
 Article 23, Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
“Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of
employment, to just and favourable conditions of
work and to protection against unemployment.

 The basic foundation for full employment is the 1987

Philippine Constitution protecting the right to full
employment in the following provision: Article13,
Section 3 states that:
“The state shall afford full protection to labor,
local and overseas, organized and unorganized,
and promote full employment and equality of
employment opportunities for all”.
 From here, we can safely assume that the both
able physically challenged persons have the
natural rights to earn a living by a meaningful
occupation, a job worthy of the free and thinking
persons.
 This basic human rights to work and earn a
legitimate means of livelihood entails a solemn
duty on the part of private business sector and
the government to provide ample opportunities
for adequate work and full employment.
Why is it a choice between underemployment and
unemployment?

 In the technical sense, contractualization is a

form of underemployment.
 The basic right (right to adequate work and full
employment) springs from our intrinsic nature to
self preservation and our innate obligation to
support our family, both of which are in
accordance with the divine plan.
 Although underemployment (contractualization
and part-time jobs) continues to exist in many
various ways, there are no reasons adequate
enough to justify it.
 The key principle is that full employment is a
fundamental right of every citizen, which means
the right to be protected from unemployment and
underemployment is basic.
 The harsh reality, however, appears to contradict
this idealism embodied in our constitution.
 In most cases, on the part of jobseekers, who are
almost breadwinners, it is a choice between
joblessness and underemployment, a quick
option between hunger and at least-there’s-
hope-for-survival.
Is contractualization a scheme for profit
maximization?

 In order to attract foreign investors, we have to

provide the cheapest labor as possible. And this
cheap labor comes through contractualization of
jobs and services.
 It appears that contractualization is a scheme
that allows capitalist to replace their workforce
with ease according to market demands.
 This translates to maximixation of profits for the
company, but for the laborers, this system denies
them the security and benefits of a regular job
while being paid very low wages.
 Contractualization has become the main form of
labor in the Philippines businesses, a good reason
why there are hardly any labor unions in the
country or why most workers are not organized in
the new millennium.
 Contractual workers cannot afford to join unions
because they are at the mercy of their employers.
Many labor laws protect only regular employment
(Herrera, 2006).
How does contractualization affect women workers
in manufacturing?
 In most industries, particularly in the manufacturing
sector, companies employ women as temporary or
contractual workers so that they can easily be
dismissed, prepared to work for lower wages and
longer hours, and works without union rights.
 Women are regarded as best suited for repetitive and
meticulous work that requires manual dexterity and
great patience.
 When they are still young and experienced, they are
paid less. However, when women become old and
slow, they are easily dismissed and replaced (Pineda-
Ofreneo, 1999)
Does labor flexibility, contractualization included,
lead to declining job security?
 Labor flexibilization scheme, such as:
o part-time/contractual labor
o subcontracting parts of the production
process among smaller enterprises
o subcontracting certain on-sited services to
other firms
o agency labor-only contracting
o and piece rate compensation strategies
have resulted in the stagnation in the number of
unionized workers.
 Lack of Job Security

 In many collective banana farms in our country,

Villaseñor (2000) testifies that only the unionized
regular workers are assured of permanent
employment and income.
 A group of temporary workers is maintained as
reserve labor force, to be called on any day that
the production quota or fieldwork requires
additional workers.
 Applicants are not required to submit any
document. Neither are they given written copies
of contract, instead, their names are simply listed
alphabetically.
How does contactualization affect women workers
in agriculture?

 In the same banana farms, almost always, regular

women workers are assigned to the packing
operations.
 It became the management’s policy to keep
regular women workers from prolonged exposure
to elements (chemicals, bodily risks, and weather)
in the field.
 All female labor in the field is usually undertaken
by contractual workers.
 In the field, contractual workers join males as
weeders, fertilizer applicators, “suksok” baggers,
deflowerers, deleafers, and nematode controllers.
 On the other hand males undertake the planting,
bagging, stem spray, ground spray, drainage,
propping disease control, and harvesting
operations (Villaseñor, 2000)
Is regularization possible in the agricultural sector?

 Contractual workers sign contracts ranging from

three to five months of maximum tenure. They
are not given a copy of document.
 However, contractual workers usually work
beyond the tenure in their contracts for as long as
their services are needed in the farm.
 No contracts are drawn to cover the duration of
extension.
 Moreover, it is common for worker who has been
in the farm for years to remain a casual worker.
 This system has been imposed to prevent
contractual workers from being regularized and
forming labor union.
 Mostly affected by this system are the women
who make up the majority of the seasonal
workers.
 Many of the female contractual workers have
accumulated years of working in a single farm but
have not been regularized due to this system of
hiring (Villaseñor, 2000; Tuaño and Aldaba 2000)
Is contractualization socially responsible?

 Contractualization, as a form of
underemployment, is socially irresponsible.
 It all boils down to the “metaphysical” nobility of
the human dignity, that labor is sacred because it
is created in the image of God. Anything less for
labor is sacrilegious (Maximo, 2003).
 In employment, it is not satisfactory to consider
only the legal requirements but also the socio-
ethnical considerations.
 One technical consideration is that the basic right
to adequate work and full employment is
essentially attached to other fundamental rights,
that is, everyone’s right to life, the support of
his/her dependence, and right to decent living.
end