Given these query results, do you have an ethical responsibility to do something

Question

Given these query results, do you have an ethical responsibility to do something? Consider both the categorical imperative (pages 22-(pages 22-23) and the utilitarian (pages 58-59) perspectives Given these query results, do you have a personal or social responsibility to do something? What is your response if your manager says. "You don't know anything; it could be that starting salaries are lower in those cities. Forget about it.' What is your response if your manager says.nalysis, and that person is so outraged at the outcome that he quits and notifies newspapers in all the affected cities of the organization's discrimination. How should the organization respond? How should you respond?

Explanation / Answer

Ethically pay equity is a subject which relates to the fairness of the organization to pay its employees or group of employees in an equitable fashion.

The equal pay and compensation is a politically charged and controversial subject and HR team has to keep a close watch on it. There are many laws which support and legalize equal compensation and opportunities for all. They restrict discrimination based on age, caste, color, gender etc. The related laws are as follows:

HR role: Understanding from HR perspective equal wage for the same job requiring the same skill set will ensure employee motivation. The HR team should regularly update the details and statistics of similar job profiles and their compensation structure. The fair practice followed will keep employees motivated and avoid long-term inefficiencies and reduce attrition rates.

Legal Stand:

Here the organization is within the legal framework if it offers different salaries for different locations even if the skill set is same as per Title VII of 1964 civil rights act, discrimination based on gender, age and can also request same compensation as that given by another establishment for a similar job subject to matching duties, skills, education, and experience, but the establishment can have two compensations for a similar profile in two different locations.

“Title VII does not forbid applying different standards of compensation to employees 'who work in different locations' as long the difference is not the result of discrimination."(Pls Refer EEOC compliance manual section 10)

Ethical Stand: Ethically it is unfair and will de-motivate not just the employee who is fighting for his case but other employees might also feel discriminating having a long-term negative de-motivating impact on the organization.

Corrective Action: The organization should immediately study the compensation structure and make a graph comparing posts, skill sets, education etc and make a plan to address the discriminatory behavior. The short-term benefit by the disparity in pay will give a negative impact on the long-term goals of the establishment. The organization should immediately study its compensation structure and correct it where required. This is only a corrective action.

Preventive Measure: In the long run they should make a process for regular and correct decision on the compensation method. Regular analysis needs to be done to ensure equal pay for a similar profile is followed to avoid the discrimination in pay scales which could include other benefits also.

As an individual I would support the organization while updating the stakeholders on the reason for disparity in compensation, I would advise the manager to follow an equal pay for equal work except if location is different and there is a difference in cost of living in the two cities, we can explain our stand to the employee and we would be legally correct. The data for this can be provided with suitable evidence of other establishments also following the same practice.

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