Ethics of

Job
discriminati

 Discrimination the wrongful act of

distinguishing illicitly among people not
on the basis of individual merit, but on
the basis of prejudice or some other
invidious or morally reprehensible
attitude.
E.g. employment discrimination in US-

religious groups Jews & Catholics

ethnic groups Italians, Poles & Irish
racial groups Blacks & Asians

Forms of discrimination
Isolated behavior (intentional)- male
interviewer preferring women
candidates
Routine behavior
Isolated behavior (unintentional)individual unthinkingly adopts traditional
practices & stereotypes
Systematic routine of org to discriminate
against women or minorities

 Affirmative action program

A program designed to ensure the
proportion of minorities within an
org matches their proportion in the
available workforce

Discrimination & Law

Civil rights Act of 1964 made it illegal to
make it hiring, firing, or compensation
decisions on the basis of race, color, religion,
sex, or national origin
Executive order 11246 required cos doing
business with the federal govt. to to take
steps to redress racial imbalance in workforce
Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972
gave EEOC increased power to combat
underutilization & to require affirmative
action programs

Extent of discrimination
Average benefits
Placing discriminated groups at
lowest levels of institutions
More advantageous positions to
preferred ones

Discrimination in US
(i) The income gap b/w Whites & minorities
has not decreased
(ii) Large Y inequalities based on sex exist
(iii) Black unemployment is more than twice as
high as Whites
(iv) Minority poverty rate is 2-3 times of Whites
(v) Poverty rate of families headed by women
is 3 times that of male headed ones
(vi) Most higher-paying jobs go to white males

Glass ceiling an invisible, but

impenetrable barrier to further
promotion sometimes encountered
by women or minorities
Increasing problems for women &
minorities
(i) Women & minorities make up most
new workers
(ii) Women are steered into low-paying
jobs & face a glass ceiling & sexual
harassment

 Utilitarian arguments which claims

that discrimination leads to an
inefficient use of human resources
Rights arguments violates basic
human rights
Justice arguments which claims that
discrimination results in an unjust
distribution of societys benefits &
burdens

Utility

Discriminating job applicants on the basis of

race, sex, or other characteristics unrelated
to job performance is necessarily inefficient
& contrary to utilitarian principles
Objections encountered:
(i) The jobs shud be assigned on the basis of job
related qualifications only so long as such
assignments will advance the public welfare
(ii) Society as a whole may benefit from some
forms of sexual discrimination

Rights

Discriminatory practices violate the

principle in two ways :
(i) Racial & sexual discrimination is
based on stereotypes that see
minorities as lazy or shiftless &
women as emotional & weak.
(ii) Placing members at lower positions,
lower salaries & lower job
opportunities

Justice
Principle of equal opportunity
social & economic inequalities are to
be arranged so that they are
attached to offices & positions open
to all under conditions of fair
equality of opportunity

Discriminating practices
Recruitment practices word of mouth
referrals, only White males, for MEN only
Screening practices disqualifying minority
class who are unfamiliar with the language,
concepts & social situations in the aptitude
& intelligence tests
Promotion practices
Conditions of employment less wages &
salaries to women & minorities, providing
secretarial or clerical positions only, less
benefits

 Sexual harassment