Consideration of Paying Equally in Workplace

The workplace is one of the most controversial places when it comes to ethics. This is because most employers tend to pay some workers higher salaries than others. However, there are numerous underlying issues that could explain these differences in workers` compensation.

In a workplace, different people have different abilities. Also, different people are talented in different fields. However, this paper takes into consideration people who work at the same place and perform the same tasks. There are people who have been doing the same job longer than others. These are people who have encountered most of the challenges in a workplace. For this reason, they must be really good at their job. Moreover, these are people who made a lot of mistakes, corrected them and learnt how to do things in the right way. On the other hand, there are people who have the necessary skills, but lack experience.. Thus, these people may encounter problems, which may be too difficult for them to handle. Little experience that they may have may not allow them to deal with such problems. As a result, they may be slower than other employees, who are more experienced. It is, therefore, correct, to conclude that, people in the workplace do different work and different amount of work. Even though they may be allocated the same tasks, it would be difficult to compare their work rate. For this reason, people in a workplace should not be paid the same salary. For starters, those who have been working in a company for a long time demonstrate their loyalty to the company. Secondly, production is increased when such workers are encouraged to continue working for the company. The only way that their work and loyalty can be appreciated is through increased payments; thus, other workers would strive to be like them. For this reason, people in the workplace should be paid according to their abilities.

Another issue considered by this essay is that of disability. This issue has even been discussed by law enforcement professionals. However, sometimes, workers with disabilities are dismissed from employment. As a result, such people sue the firms that dismissed them claiming that they have been fired due to their disability. When these people prove to court that their disability has no effect on their work, the court has to find the company and demand compensation for the inconveniences that have been caused. Disabilities may cause people to perform tasks slower as compared to other people who perform the same tasks. This means that they may not be as good in something as other people. However, it is ethically right for the society to give this people a place that they deserve. This is because they are part of the society and neglecting their rights would mean that the society does not uphold ethical standards. However, it is possible that their disabilities might slow down the production process. This means that a company`s efficiency can be affected by their presence. Therefore, the company may require hiring more workers to help them perform their duties. This means that the resources required to run the business increase. As a result, the profit margin reduces. When this problem is of a large scale, it might even threaten the existence of the company.

According to utilitarianism, the end result of any action is what is used to judge the morality of the action. Therefore, the most moral action is one which serves most of the stakeholders. When a company pays people equally, it would mean that some of them are being underpaid. It could also mean that some of them are being overpaid. In the case of the underpayment, most workers would prefer to join competing parties. In the end, the company may lack the required workforce to complete the production process. In the case of the overpayment, the company would not be sustainable. A research shows that more than 50% of revenue earned by most companies is used to compensate employees. This would mean that the revenue used to pay salaries would increase significantly. The result of this is reduced profit margins, or even losses. As a result, the company can collapse. This would influence the economy of a country, as well as the industry in which the company operates. Another effect is that all the workers that used to work for the company become unemployed. Therefore, it won`t be an issue of equal payment but, rather, an issue of seeking employment. In the end most people would lose. Therefore, the decision to pay workers according to their abilities is an ideal display of respect for ethical expectations of the society. This is, especially, if the final result of the decision is taken into consideration.

Compensation of a worker on basis that exceeds their talent and abilities is unfair to other workers. First, when a worker is not talented in a certain field, he/she tends to have lower performance. This means that their productivity, as compared to talented workers, is much lower, and this can be seen by other workers in the workplace. However, this particular worker may not be in a position to know that his/her abilities do not correspond to a particular field. Therefore, most workers may remain in the same job, not knowing that they are developing a talent that is not existent. There is a need for firms to be honest with their workers. This is mainly done by workers` compensation. Employees are able to gauge their abilities in certain fields and they know when there is a need to pursue other careers. This is why companies are keen on setting rules that demand compensation of workers who bring quality results to the company. Therefore, managers of a company only make payrolls according to rules set by the company`s owners. The deontological theory states that the moral or ethical content of an action is judged based in the action`s adherence to rules. Therefore, adherence to rules cannot be judged as lack of business ethics. According to the rules, it would be right to compensate workers according to their abilities. It is clear that ethical value of any action is as relative as it can be. This is because it depends on a perspective from which the viewer is considering the action. However, it is vital for any organization to ensure that proper ethics are upheld in a workplace, not only in terms of pay but in all other factors.

Defense

Workers` abilities may, sometimes, depend on their background. This means that there are some people from areas that are not exposed to certain factors that may be required in an organization, for example, people from poor societies are less familiar to technology. In the workplace, these people may not be in a position to keep up with the technological advances that are required by the company. For this reason, their abilities may be lower as compared to other workers. In a country, there may be societies that represent certain ethnic groups. This fact could be used against the development of ideas in this essay, claiming that it contradicts the actual statement that workers` compensation should not be determined by such factors as ethnicity, race or gender. The essay does not support the idea of neglecting of the rights of any ethnic or tribal groups. However, abilities of people may depend on the factors that the essay is claiming not to support. In any company, productivity is the main aim. It is the motive that drives owners of these businesses into trying their best to ensure that the business environment is favorable. This is where ethical egoism comes in. This theory states that moral agents should make decisions that are in their best interest. Even if people come from marginalized communities, a company still needs to make the profit.

As long an organization is profitable, it should motivate people with better abilities. Thus, it can to retain them, despite the competition that may come from other businesses. In some cases, a company might have enough information that people from a certain part of a country, or the world, do not have certain abilities. It is in the interest of the company to encourage those who have the required abilities and discourage those who do not. The best way in which this can be communicated is through different payments. Therefore, this cannot be regarded as discrimination of any kind. However, it is important to observe an individual first without forming a hasty opinion about his/her working abilities. This ensures that there is a chance for everyone to prove that they are able to perform well in the workplace.

Another criticism that can be expressed by critics in regard to the current paper is that the essay uses different ethical theories to justify the act of unequal payments in the workplace. This is because very theories present a new meaning of the issue. However, all the theories used in the essay were in support of the act. It is extremely hard to judge the ethical nature of actions. This is because everybody has his/her own way of thinking. Therefore, there is no certain way in which people can be urged to behave. However, ethical theories are used to provide the basis and frameworks from which the acts can be analyzed and reviewed. Thus, the use of different theories to analyze the issue is not unacceptable. As a matter of fact, it can help to come up with a general view and opinion about acts of a certain organization.

The critics may also argue that there are some jobs which have no intermediaries. These are jobs that can only be considered done or undone. Therefore, there is no better compensation of people who are better than others. These could be such jobs as delivery of letters, as well as the performance of other subordinate duties. Critics may argue that people who perform these jobs should have equal pay. The reasons as to why there would be unequal payments can be attributed to any of the factors that have been discussed. There is, even, the issue of loyalty of employees to a company. Therefore, it would only depend on a perspective from which the company is viewing the issue. This would determine the ethical value of the same. Again, deontological and ego ethics can justify the actions of these companies which offer unequal payments. The only important factor is that companies should ensure that workers are not discriminated against, in terms of payment, based on such factors as race, gender, ethnicity etc. Otherwise, they would be acting outside the views and boundaries that have been explained in this essay.

Conclusion

The essay is a perfect display of issues related to equal payment. The issues that may arise, ranging from supportive ideas to opposing ones, have been carefully analyzed in a bid to come up with thoughts on the same. More importantly, ethical theories learned in class have been applied appropriately. Therefore, it is clear that the issue has been discussed from an ethical point of view. Different opinions of many different people brought a wide variety of explanations, which, when taken into consideration, can lead to different perspectives of the issue.