DISCRIMINATION AT WORK

Wal-Mart Matters

by Lesley Wexler

Wake Forest Law Review, Vol. 46, 2011

Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the United States, with more than one million current employees. Its... more Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the United States, with more than one million current employees. Its employment practices directly affect over one percent of the American workforce. Moreover, other retailers often strive to replicate Wal-Mart’s practices. If employment discrimination is pervasive at Wal-Mart, it may thrive throughout the retail market. Assuming the empirical evidence supports the claim that Wal-Mart engaged in widespread pay and promotion discrimination against female employees, what could explain the persistence of such a practice in a company known for its devotion to efficiency principles? In answering this question, this Article builds on an earlier coauthored paper that created a model to demonstrate how employment discrimination could persist even in a highly competitive market. In this Article, I add to the criticism of unregulated markets by analyzing a real-world example in which a seemingly competitive market allegedly allows discrimination to flourish. This Article suggests that the reasons why the market may have failed to eliminate sex discrimination at Wal-Mart are of both theoretical and practical importance. Regardless of whether the Wal-Mart plaintiffs ultimately prevail in a lawsuit, this analysis of the retail labor market speaks to the justification for, if not the efficacy of, government regulation in this area. In other words, Wal-Mart matters.

Vrouwen hebben te maken met een kleverige vloer, lekkende pijplijnen, vertraagde treinen, én een glazen plafond.

by Katinka Quintelier

Forthcoming in Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies

The Right to Work in the European Convention on Human Rights

by Rory O'Connell

[2012] European Human Rights Law Review 176-190

The European Convention on Human Rights does not explicitly protect the right to work; nevertheless the ECHR case law... more The European Convention on Human Rights does not explicitly protect the right to work; nevertheless the ECHR case law protects aspects of this right. The paper summarises the content of the right to work and then demonstrates how the case law protects aspects of it. Article 8 can be used to protect the right to seek employment, while Articles 6 and 8 can be used to combat unfair dismissal. Other ECHR Articles prohibit discrimination. The paper concludes with some suggestions as to how to develop this trend in the case law. First, Article 8 should be recognised as protecting the negative aspects of the right to work. Second, the relationship between Article 8 and Article 14 needs clarification. Third, there is scope to develop positive obligations in relation to the right to work

The Youth Participation in the Labour Market in Germany, Spain and Sweden

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Floro Ernesto Caroleo.
In T. Hammer (ed.), Youth Unemployment and Social Exclusion in Europe, The Policy Press, Bristol, Ch. 7: 115-141.

Mesure de la diversité : enquête expérimentale pour caractériser l'origine

by Patrick Simon

A survey about asking questions on ethnicity and immigration background at the workplace in France. more A survey about asking questions on ethnicity and immigration background at the workplace in France.
Epistemological, political and methodological issues.
The report is in french

Discriminating in hiring on the basis of statistics: Conceptual and ethical issues

by Vanessa Scholes

THIS PAPER IS CURRENTLY UNDER SUBMISSION TO A JOURNAL. PLEASE CONTACT ME BEFORE CITING THIS PAPER. Use the "Send Vanessa a message" box at the bottom of the left hand column of my Academia page.

This paper is currently under submission to a journal. Please contact me before citing this paper.

ABSTRACT... more This paper is currently under submission to a journal. Please contact me before citing this paper.

ABSTRACT Assessing job applications with the aim of improving the productivity of an organization will involve attempting to predict the likely performance of applicants. A focus on efficiency in forecasting performance promotes group-level discrimination if there is group information that is statistically linked to productivity. What are the ethical concerns with employers aiming to identify and hence exclude applicants who engage in behaviours that are statistically correlated with lower performance? This paper examines the differences between lawful statistical discrimination and other ways of using information to make choices in hiring. Conceptual and ethical analyses are drawn from consideration of the practical nature of statistical discrimination in hiring, with reference to the perspectives of both applicants and employers. The paper concludes that it is not necessarily unfair for employers to use statistical discrimination in hiring, despite its potential unfairness for some applicants.

Médecins diplômés à l'étranger au Québec : une intégration à deux vitesses? Résultats d'une recherche anthropologique.

by Marie-Jeanne Blain

Blain Marie-Jeanne, Sylvie Fortin et Fernando Alvarez (2011). « Médecins diplômés à l’étranger au Québec : une intégration à deux vitesses? Résultats d’une recherche anthropologique ». Communication par affiche, XXVIe congrès annuel des étudiants gradués et post-gradués du Centre de recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine, 8 juin, Montréal.

Les enjeux liés à l’intégration professionnelle des médecins diplômés à l’étranger (MDÉ) sont connus et font couler... more Les enjeux liés à l’intégration professionnelle des médecins diplômés à l’étranger (MDÉ) sont connus et font couler beaucoup d’encre. La figure du médecin immigrant chauffeur de taxi fait désormais partie de l’imaginaire populaire. Mais le portrait de l’intégration de ces médecins au marché du travail québécois se doit d’être nuancé. En effet, au Québec, 1641 MDÉ œuvrent dans notre système de santé (10,9 % des effectifs) (CMA, 2007a). Toutefois, pour ceux qui n’ont pas réintégré la profession, nous ne disposons d’aucune donnée quant à leur nombre et leur situation professionnelle.
Résultats. En fait, les parcours professionnels des MDÉ sur le marché du travail au Québec sont hétérogènes. Deux grands scénarios se dessinent. Une part d’entre eux exercent et ont rapidement été reconnus, c’est le cas des professeurs universitaires et des spécialistes sur permis restrictif. Pour ceux-ci, les démarches menant à l’exercice sont relativement rapides (1 à 2 ans). Pour d’autres, les parcours sont plus longs et onéreux, si même ils s’avèrent possibles (4 à 10 ans). C’est le cas des médecins généralistes en particulier – et d’autres spécialités moins en demande ou dont les structures académiques ne sont apparemment pas similaires à celles du Québec. En outre, la réorientation professionnelle peut être décidée d’entrée de jeu ou plus tard, considérant l’ampleur du parcours et son incertitude.
Au Québec, la présence de MDÉ ne peut aller qu’en s’accentuant étant donné que depuis 2002 la médecine n’est plus une profession exclue par le ministère de l’immigration. Or, nous assistons à un paradoxe où les politiques d’immigration visent l’attraction de migrants très qualifiés tandis que la régulation même du marché du travail ne permet qu’à une portion de ceux-ci d’accéder à un poste équivalent. Ce constat, associé à la pénurie grandissante de médecins, particulièrement en médecine familiale, soulève des enjeux sociopolitiques majeurs.
Méthode/conclusion. Dans le cadre d’une recherche qualitative,
près d’une quarantaine de personnes ont été rencontrées : des MDÉ - qui ont réintégré la médecine ou se sont réorientés – ainsi que des acteurs clés du milieu. Ceux-ci ont témoigné de leurs expériences sur la question via des entrevues semi-dirigées. Prenant comme toile de fond l’effet des politiques sur le marché du travail et sa réglementation, l’auteure analysera leurs parcours et exposera les stratégies d’intégration professionnelle qu’ils ont mobilisées.

Trajectoires socioprofessionnelles et processus identitaires en contexte de migration: de la Colombie au Québec (dans les Laurentides)

by Marie-Jeanne Blain

Dans un contexte où les pays développés tentent d’attirer et de retenir des migrants qualifiés à même de répondre aux... more Dans un contexte où les pays développés tentent d’attirer et de retenir des migrants qualifiés à même de répondre aux besoins économiques et humains de leurs régions, l’intégration socioéconomique de ces migrants est un enjeu majeur. Pour nombre d’entre eux, l’entrée sur le marché du travail est marquée par une rupture professionnelle. À travers une approche issue des courants constructiviste et phénoménologique, notre réflexion porte sur la subjectivité du déclassement socioprofessionnel. Ce mémoire se base sur des entrevues et un terrain ethnographique auprès d’universitaires d’immigration récente, originaires de la Colombie et résidant dans les Laurentides, région au nord de Montréal. Nous explorerons les dimensions subjectives des trajectoires tout en conservant à l’esprit les contraintes objectives auxquelles ils font face, tant aux niveaux local qu’international. Nous pourrons constater l’ « agentivité » des acteurs, tant dans la réinterprétation de leurs parcours d’insertion qu’à travers la mise en perspective de la perte de statut professionnel. Quoique ces étapes soient parfois douloureuses, les propos des personnes rencontrées se caractérisent par un fort optimisme, notamment nourri par l’espoir de concrétiser ses projets. Au coeur de ces réinterprétations, la centralité du choix individuel et de la reconnaissance est fondamentale. Aussi, cette recherche souligne la flexibilité et la fluidité des identités et le rôle de la réflexivité dans l’élaboration de projets d’insertion socioprofessionnelle. L’identité professionnelle pré-migratoire, l’information sur le marché du travail et les liens de sociabilité vont influencer les stratégies d’insertion déployées, dans un contexte régional caractérisé par une faible proportion de personnes immigrantes.

Mots-clés : Colombiens, migrants qualifiés, intégration socioprofessionnelle, identité, subjectivité du déclassement, régionalisation de l’immigration, Laurentides-Québec.

Please destroy all my letters on this subject

by David Jones

published in Australian Library Journal vol 39 no 2 (May 1990) pp 101-115

Considers the complex relationships and manoeuvres attendant on the acquisition by the Mitchell Library in 1933 of the... more Considers the complex relationships and manoeuvres attendant on the acquisition by the Mitchell Library in 1933 of the Angus and Robertson papers, and examines how the new Mitchell Librarian (Ida Leeson, whose appointment itself was somewhat controversial) could embark on a private campaign to secure the A & R papers without the knowledge of her Principal Librarian.

Internal Compensation Structuring and Social Bias: Experimental Examinations of Point Factor Job Evaluation

by Daniel Martin

Martin, D.E. (2011) Internal Compensation Structuring and Social Bias: Experimental Examinations of Point Factor Job Evaluation. Personnel Review Vol 40 (6)

Purpose – Research regarding pay inequities between the sexes is well established; however, internal compensation... more Purpose – Research regarding pay inequities between the sexes is well established; however, internal compensation strategies and perceived labor pools (percentage of gender/minority applicants) have not been explored in depth. This paper aims to address this issue.

Design/Methodology/Approach – A total of 381 business students and 101 compensation specialists/managers participated in two experimental studies to establish the impact of perceived labor pools’ ethnicity and gender on compensable factor weighting.

Findings – Results supported hypotheses that significant discriminatory weighting of compensable factors would be established by the perceived ethnicity of the labor pool, the perceived gender of the labor pool, and participant gender.

Research Limitations/Implications – A limitation of study one could be the population (business students) who may reflect a lack of knowledge of and/or a potential lack of interest in strategic compensation. Many of the students are likely to have had work experience but their exposure to compensation concepts was potentially limited. Accordingly, study two was conducted with experienced compensation specialists/managers in a real-world setting. While study two was methodologically stronger, evaluators were from an area with high proportions of technology occupations where compensation specialists may be more familiar with external compensation surveys due to rapid changes in jobs.

Practical Implications – The ramifications of potential discrimination at the compensable factors weighting stage of defining compensation internal alignment are tremendous. The implications for pay structure, perceived fairness, and motivation can have an immense impact on overall organizational productivity and success. Internal equity discrimination can also have ramifications for vast litigation (the author was consulted by the EEOC in the use of the research for the purposes of class action lawsuits).

Social Implications – As business students generally aspire to become members of the managerial cadre, the dangers of potential explicit or implicit bias in the weighting of compensable factors (and their interactions) can reduce the efficiency of the compensation plan, hamper motivation of those hired to work within its structure, and potentially set the stage for class action litigation. Accordingly, those tasked with teaching job evaluation (be they business professors, consultants, or human resources managers) need to address issues of social bias and encourage the committee to challenge the biases of which they may or may not be aware.

Originality/Value – After a groundswell of interest in comparable worth and sex-related errors in job evaluation in the mid-1980s, research failed to establish perceived incumbent, applicant, and labor pool ethnicity and ethnocentrism on internal compensation structuring. This study builds on past research by establishing the impact of ethnocentrism on internal compensation structuring in point factor job evaluation, extending workplace ethnocentrism theory by applying it to Title VII in implementation, data collection and interpretation of job evaluation and, most importantly, establishing the impact of perceived labor pools’ demographics (and subsequent proportions of racial/ethnic group members associated) on differential compensatory factors weighting.

Veiled barriers: Pre-employment Testing and Individuals with Disabilities

by Ilana Lehmann

'The employer perspective on Indigenous (un)employment',

by Andre Sammartino

in Economic Papers, 22(4), (with Janine O’Flynn and Stephen Nicholas)

This paper investigates employment Indigenous Australians from the demand-side. We present data on senior management... more This paper investigates employment Indigenous Australians from the demand-side. We present data on senior management perceptions of the employability of Indigenous workers. While acknowledging that CEOs and senior management do not typically make individual employment decisions, we argue that their perceptions both shape and reflect their organisations’ employment practices. Such perceptions have concrete implications for Indigenous Australians in the labour market, particularly if these translate into preferences based on group membership. Furthermore, we argue that their perceptions reflect imperfect information about labour quality that permeates labour markets. This claim is illustrated by comparisons between employers’ perceptions of Indigenous and non-English speaking background (NESB) workers.

We find that Indigenous employment is constrained by CEO perceptions of their human capital – namely their level of education, level of skills and commitment. CEOs believed there to be a shortage of Indigenous job seekers. CEOs also expressed concern about levels of Indigenous absenteeism and retention. We argue that such behaviour is a direct result of Australian businesses’ lack of the necessary human resource management policies to adequately attract, retain and manage Indigenous employees and also NESB workers. More fundamentally, such perceptions provide evidence of statistical discrimination. That is, CEOs are using race as a proxy for productivity.

A Multi-layered Exploration of the Diversity Management Field: Diversity Discourses, Practices and Practitioners in the UK

by Ahu Tatli

Tatli, A. (2011) A Multi-layered Exploration of the Diversity Management Field: Diversity Discourses, Practices and Practitioners in the UK. British Journal of Management, 22: 238-253.

This paper presents a multi-layered exploration of the diversity management field in the UK. In doing so, it aims to... more This paper presents a multi-layered exploration of the diversity management field in the UK. In doing so, it aims to address two problematic tendencies in the current diversity research: the focus on single-level explorations, and the polarization between critical and mainstream approaches. Using Bourdieu’s concept of field, I develop a theoretical framework that conceptualizes the field of diversity management in three constituents: diversity discourse, diversity practice and diversity practitioners. The framework is used to analyse empirical evidence generated through semi-structured interviews with 19 diversity managers of large private-sector companies. This study reveals the presence of a gap between the diversity discourse and practice, and the absence of any standard set of qualifications and skills requirement for practitioners. The findings demonstrate the twofold role of discourse in drawing the boundaries of the diversity management field. First, it is instrumental in constructing diversity management as distinct from equal opportunities. Second, the use discourse functions as a mechanism to control the entry of practitioners into this field, which otherwise has low entry barriers. The paper offers a contribution to management research in general and equality and diversity research in particular through its original use of Bourdieuan sociology in an empirical study.

What makes migrant workers "different"? A study of the mismatch between rules and realities in the fight against discrimination

by Federico Oliveri

published in F. Oliveri, G. Farrell (eds), Achieving social cohesion in a multicultural Europe. Concepts, situation and developments, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, 2006, pp. 61-82.

"Muslims and Religious Discrimination in England and Wales"

by Paul Weller

Book Chapter co-authored with Alice Feldman and Kingsley Purdam in Jamal Malik (Ed.), Muslims in Europe: From the Margin to the Centre
LIT Verlag, Berlin, pp. 115-144.
2004, 272 S.ISBN 3-8258-7638-1

The paper appears in a volume embodies an uptodate and sensitive set of studies exploring the ongoing negotiation of... more The paper appears in a volume embodies an uptodate and sensitive set of studies exploring the ongoing negotiation of European Muslim identities in Europe.

The Editor argues there has been hitherto a three-fold response on the part of Muslims in Europe (some of whom are now 3rd generation Europeans) - integrationism, isolationism, and escapism.

Today the latter two responses are giving way, it is argued, to an active shaping of Muslim European identities. The central issue remains: what degree of freedom and what potential for cultural and religious diversity can minorities have in an outwardly secular and plural European society?

Leadership Voices: Neutralizing Bullies, Determinedly Difficult People, and Predators at Work

by Linda Irby

OVERVIEW OF CHAPTERS BY TOPICS

Bullies at work: Chapter 5: Christian Tenets and The American Work Ethic.... more OVERVIEW OF CHAPTERS BY TOPICS

Bullies at work: Chapter 5: Christian Tenets and The American Work Ethic.
☻ THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE: “Reading about leadership, management, and zero tolerance for discrimination and/or harassment and learning specific "real world tested" solutions is another. This book provides real world solutions to some very tough personnel issues.

Consciousness: Chapter 1: Coincidence, Consciousness, Creation
Chapter 2: Energy and Quantum Consciousness
Chapter 8: Transformational Leadership and Proactive Management.
☻ THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE: “Transformational leadership requires the leader's purposeful recognition and analysis core values, "walking the talk," and motivating the work force by awakening each employee's self awareness. The organization's leader can be no greater than the most resistive employee's voice.

Discrimination and Harassment: Chapter 3: Interdisciplinary Reflections on Voice.
☻ THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE: “When a person's job is jeopardized a seemingly impregnable circle of fear, self-doubt, anger, and decreased productivity develops. How does the target of discrimination and/or harassment take affirmative, effective steps to stop the discrimination/harassment?

Hostile work environment:
Chapter 3: Interdisciplinary Reflections on Voice.
☻ THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE: “When a person's job is jeopardized a seemingly impregnable circle of fear, self-doubt, anger, and decreased productivity develops. How does the target of discrimination and/or harassment take affirmative, effective steps to stop the discrimination/harassment”?

Human Resources:
Chapter 3: Interdisciplinary Reflections on Voice.
☻ THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE: “Today's Human Resource Managers must themselves be dynamic, situational leaders with skills and competencies as well as "value added" strategic planning, labor relations, and organizational change facilitation knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Leadership:
Chapter 4: Values: Sacred, Spiritual and Cultural
Chapter 6: Leadership Operationalized
Chapter 7: The Synthesis of Values, Proactive Management and Community Consciousness
Chapter 9: Transformational Leadership and Consciousness.
☻ THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE: "Leadership is a "verb"! But, being competent, effectively achieving the "bottom line," and charismaticly influencing followers - is not enough. This work looks at the competencies and awareness of today's Transformational Leader.

String Theory:
Chapter 8: Transformational Leadership and Proactive Management.
☻ THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE: If everything is made of the same stuff, and we are all interrelated we'd better recognize some massive and greatly needed changes in our work force has already begun. Not only has the world of work changed, individual workers are more enlightened than ever before.

Supervision:
Chapter 8: Transformational Leadership and Proactive Management.
☻ THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE: The supervisor, the most critical leadership focus of any organization. The voice, vision, and "real" intent of the organization is filtered through each supervisor's personal values, knowledge, skills and abilities. The Supervisor may be the bully/predator or may allow a victimized workforce.

Engendering Change: Organizational Dynamics and Workplace Gender Segregation, 1975-2005

by Matt Huffman

Co-authored with Philip N. Cohen and Jessica Pearlman

We examine workplace-level sources of gender inequality
to explore the link between organizational change andmore We examine workplace-level sources of gender inequality
to explore the link between organizational change and
levels of workplace gender integration over time. To do so,
we analyze the gender division of labor and key structural
aspects of U.S. private-sector work establishments, using
longitudinal data from the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission from 1975 to 2005. We fi nd that
women’s presence in managerial positions is positively
related to gender integration, as is both establishment
size and growth. Additionally, the results show that trends
toward gender integration are due to change within
workplaces rather than new, relatively integrated
workplaces entering the population over time. Our results
also provide compelling evidence that the effect of female
managers varies dramatically across organizational
contexts, with the strongest desegregating effects in
larger and growing establishments. Finally, the effect of
women’s access to organizational power structures has
sharply diminished over time.