The Importance of Equal Employment Opportunity Laws

Authors:

Mary Boujade, Undergraduate Student

Michael J. Bradley, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Department of Recreation and Park Administration

Eastern Kentucky University

www.recreation.eku.edu

The Importance of Equal
Employment Opportunity Laws

            Equality is a concept that, when
applied properly, fosters progress and positive development wherever it is
implemented. Workplaces thrive when equality is one of their core values. Equal
Employment Opportunity Laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
and the Family and Medical leave Act of 1993, allow workplaces to put many fair
practices into place which will be the foundation of a productive and efficient
environment.

To
begin, Equal Employment Opportunity Laws give equal rights to everyone at the
company as well as potential employees that may join the company. Employees are
evaluated based on the quality of their work performance instead of
discriminating personal factors such as their age, gender or sex, race,
ability, religion, color, national origin, or genetic information. Before Equal
Employment Opportunity Laws, workplaces were not very diverse, and
discrimination ran rampant. Women, minority racial and ethnic groups, older
people, and people with disabilities were virtually unable to succeed in the
professional business world due to widespread discrimination. While
discrimination is still a prominent issue in the business world today, it is much
smaller due to these laws because they protect people from being denied
employment opportunities based on qualities other than their merit, and they keep
them safe from discrimination once they have been hired.

Equal
Employment Opportunity Laws also provide opportunities for collaboration
between people who come from diverse backgrounds. This collaboration is
overwhelmingly positive at all levels of the workplace, from the lowest to the
highest-level employee. Multiple perspectives on an issue may lead to more
extensive debate between co-workers; however, these interactive discussions
will ultimately lead to a solution that is the best fit for the issue. Also,
brainstorming with people from varying backgrounds and societal classes can
help employees learn about people who are different from them. If supervisors
and managers stand firm on all of the guidelines outlined by Equal Employment
Opportunity Laws, then they will help to create a community of respect in the
workplace. Having a diverse staff is beneficial because a diverse staff is more
likely to relate to a diverse clientele, which will most likely increase the
number and demographic of customers served. Culturally different employees may
have diverse language skills as well, which means that companies can provide
international services or improve customer relations and support at home.

Staff
retention, increased business productivity, and a better recruitment process are
three more advantages that result from Equal Employment Opportunity Laws
because these laws create trust between supervisors and their employees.
Competent and skilled workers will continue working at their establishment if
they feel respected, safe, and trusted. Likewise, since employees do not have
to worry about discrimination in the workplace, their focus will be on the job
set out in front of them. As a result of this, overall productivity and
efficiency will greatly increase.  If
workplaces still used discriminatory practices to determine who in the company
should be promoted, employees who are being discriminated against may become
unmotivated and discouraged, which will lead to subpar performance. On the
contrary, those who do benefit from the discriminatory practices may become lax
and unmotivated as well because they realize they do not have to work very hard
to be rewarded. In addition to staff retention and productivity, Equal
Employment Opportunity Laws call for a transparent recruitment process.

A
transparent recruitment process helps companies to attract highly skilled and
qualified employees from different societal backgrounds because potential
employees know what is in store for them. Striving for equal and fair workplace
practices helps companies to establish a strong reputation as an ethical and
well-respected institution, which is extremely instrumental to company success and
overall image to the public, to potential employees, and to other companies in
their industry. A workplace’s openness to diversity means that they are
receptive to ideas and ways of thinking they have never heard of before. This
openness translates to an outstanding company reputation because it shows
everyone that the company is forward-thinking, adaptive, and innovative, which
are qualities of a successful establishment.

If
a company’s employees are content, then the company has the greatest chance of
being successful. Equal Employment Opportunity Laws help to ensure that everyone
in the workforce has rights that are protected. Everyone has the chance to work
at any establishment they please without fear of discrimination over attributes
that they are largely unable to control, such as race, national origin, age,
and ability. To conclude, Equal Employment Opportunity Laws give people freedom
and safety in the workplace that should have been in place from the beginning.

Keywords: #recreation #leisure #EasternKentuckyUniversity #EKU
#parks #NRPA #health #equalopportunity #equality #discrimination #safety
#workforce