how does unfair treatment at work affect one's performance

by Franco Boyer Published 3 years ago Updated 3 years ago

Lack of fairness in the workplace creates implications far beyond the emotional well-being of employees. Studies show that when employees feel unfairly treated, they are less productive, more likely to engage in deceptive behavior and less likely to stay with the company long term.

What happens when employees are treated unfairly?

They may also break other employment laws. For example, if an employer treats an employee unfairly because of an employee's gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, or another protected class, the employer may be guilty of discrimination. Employers cannot harass employees or create hostile work environments.Jul 12, 2021

What is an example of unfair treatment at work?

Some of the most common examples of unfair treatment at work include: Spreading false rumors about coworkers. Neglecting a promotion or pay raise due to a race, gender, or other non-work-specific trait. Sending offensive emails or texts regarding an employee.Feb 7, 2022

What are the effects of poor working condition in the performance of the employee?

Your employees may lose their motivation, engage in conflicts, and have difficulty completing their tasks. Poor mental focus, sleep deprivation, fatigue are all common side effects of work-related stress.

What issues can affect work performance?

Stress, workplace conflicts, poor communication and lack of training are some of the main factors that affect work performance. Addressing these issues in a timely manner could save your business and give it a competitive advantage.

What does unfair treatment mean?

to treat someone extremely badly, or to refuse them equal rights, especially because of their race, religion, or political beliefs.

How do you know if you are being treated unfairly at work?

6 Signs You're Being Discriminated Against at Work (and What to Do About It)

Suspicious Interview Questions. Discrimination can start as early as the interview process. ...
Demeaning Communication. ...
Unjust Disciplinary Action. ...
Unequal Pay. ...
Unfair Promotions. ...
References to Age.

How working condition affect the performance of employees?

Depending on their level, work gives the employee a sense of satisfaction or causes fatigue, and in many cases even discouragement. At the same inadequate working conditions (including excessive noise, poor lighting, poor work organization) have a negative impact on the functioning of the employee.

What are some unfair working conditions?

Examples of Unsafe Working Conditions in the Workplace:

Inadequate or malfunctioning warning systems (or lack of such a system) Flooring that has debris, water, or slippery substances that create a hazard. Blocked safety exits. Equipment that is not maintained or not working properly.

How the working environment could affect employee performance?

Temperature, air quality, lighting and noise conditions in the office affect the work concentration and productivity. Numerous studies have consistently demonstrated that characteristics of the physical office environment can have a significant effect on behaviour, perceptions and productivity of employees.

What causes poor work performance?

breaches of work practices, procedures and rules — such as breaching occupational health and safety requirements, excessive absenteeism, theft, harassment of other employees, etc; and. employees' personal problems — usually 'off-the-job' issues that affect their performance at work.

What are examples of poor performance?

This may include: Poor standards of work, e.g. frequent mistakes, not following a job through, unable to cope with instructions given. Inability to cope with a reasonable volume of work to a satisfactory standard. Attitude to work, e.g. poor interpersonal skills, lack of commitment and drive.

What are the factors that affect your performance?

Factors Affecting Human Performance

Goal Clarity.
Repertoire.
Knowledge of Structures.
Feedback.
Mental Models.
Motivation.
Environment.

What are some examples of unfair treatment?

Examples of unfair treatment at work can include: 1 Spreading rumours about an employee. 2 Overlooking someone for a promotion for no good reason. 3 Making offensive comments, emails, or social media posts to or about someone. 4 Excusing such comments in the name of 'banter'. 5 Making someone's life difficult with unfair criticism and menial tasks. 6 Demotion, transfer, or dismissal without a fair disciplinary procedure.

What is grievance procedure?

The grievance procedure. You are responsible for the health and the safety of your staff. But you must also always act reasonably when finding the underlying cause of an allegation. When an employee comes to you with a grievance, hold a hearing to work out the details of their grievance.

Abstract

Human beings are responsive to fairness violations. People reject unfair offers and go out of their way to punish those who behave unfairly. However, little is known regarding when unfair treatment can either help or harm performance.

Introduction

People are in general very sensitive and averse to unfair treatment (Tyler and Blader 2003; Norton and Ariely 2011 ). One of the first complaints an American child expresses to his or her parents is, “that’s unfair!” Indeed, 3-year olds are already capable of recognizing an unfair distribution of rewards (LoBue et al. 2011 ).

Study 1

Study 1 examined whether NBA players who had been unfairly denied an opportunity to score would perform better on ensuing free throws, compared to free throw performance following other fouls.

Study 2

In the NHL, there are two instances wherein players have a one-on-one opportunity to score on the goalie. The first is a penalty shot. Penalty shots are awarded after a player has only the goalkeeper to beat, but is interfered with by an “object or piece of equipment thrown or shot by any member of the defending team” (NHL.com).

Materials and procedure

All regular-season NHL penalty shot and shootout attempts from seven seasons (2005–2012) were collected. Since penalty shots and shootouts occur much less frequently than free throws, we collected as much data as we could find, starting when analyses occurred in May 2012. Analyses were based on 8467 shots (Level 1) from 702 players (Level 2).

Study 3

In two professional sports, we found that players’ performance increased after their chance at scoring was unfairly obstructed. However, one major limitation of Studies 1 and 2 is their correlational nature.

Participants

Fifty-six undergraduate students (14 Male, 42 Female, M Age = 18.8 years, SD = 1.8) participated in exchange for partial course credit.

What is unfair treatment at work?

Unfair treatment at work by a peer: spreading gossip or slander about the employee by their colleagues. Unfair treatment at work by a supervisor: a manager could take a dislike to a particular employee and make their life difficult. This includes unfairly criticising their work or setting them menial tasks.

How to describe unfair treatment?

Unfair treatment can take many forms, and many people can enact it. Let’s look at some example scenarios below: 1 Unfair treatment at work by a peer: spreading gossip or slander about the employee by their colleagues. 2 Unfair treatment at work by a supervisor: a manager could take a dislike to a particular employee and make their life difficult. This includes unfairly criticising their work or setting them menial tasks. 3 Unfair treatment at work by a subordinate: a staff member going over their head and having their work undermined even though they’re competent at their job.

What are the characteristics of harassment?

This is because harassment is a form of discrimination in the workplace, which is illegal thanks to the Equality Act of 2010. By law, it's harassment when bullying or unwanted behaviour is about any of the protected characteristics, which are: 1 Age 2 Race 3 Sex 4 Gender reassignment 5 Disability 6 Religion or belief 7 Sexual orientation 8 Marriage or civil partnership 9 Pregnancy and maternity

Is bullying at work illegal?

For example, while bullying at work is horrible, it is not illegal. It is important to see how employment law distinguishes them so you can best manage them.

Is bullying a legal issue?

Bullying is behaviour from a person or group that's unwanted and makes the employee feel uncomfortable. If this becomes harassment at work, it can become a legal issue. This is because harassment is a form of discrimination in the workplace, which is illegal thanks to the Equality Act of 2010.

Is harassment a legal issue?

If this becomes harassment at work, it can become a legal issue. This is because harassment is a form of discrimination in the workplace, which is illegal thanks to the Equality Act of 2010. By law, it's harassment when bullying or unwanted behaviour is about any of the protected characteristics, which are: Age. Race.

What happens when you are unfairly treated?

When unfair treatment occurs, you can expect the employee’s morale and productivity levels to plummet.

Unfair Treatment at Work

Do you need a letter of grievance for unfair treatment at work to send to your workplace?

Example Unfair Treatment at Work

Under the auspices of the Equality Act 2010 you have either ‘less favourable treatment’ or ‘unfavourable treatment’. Nowhere in the Equality Act 2010 does it have a provision for ‘unfair treatment at work’.

Less Favourable Treatment at Work – First Step

Less favourable treatment is where you have been (or are being) treated ‘less favourably’ in comparison to someone else at work. As such, you need to establish the comparator or comparators (plural).

Less Favourable Treatment at Work – Second Step

You have to outline within your letter of grievance the specific grounds and reasons why you believe you have been (or are being) treated less favourably in comparison to your comparators.

Less Favourable Treatment at Work – Third Step

When establishing the motive for the less favourable treatment, you need to establish whether the less favourable treatment is ‘because of’ a protected characteristic such as your race, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion etc,.

Less Favourable Treatment at Work – Fourth Step

You need to outline a timeframe in your letter of grievance of how long the less favourable treatment has been going on. As such, if the less favourable treatment has been going on for many months or even a year or so, then you need to outline this in your letter of grievance.

Less Favourable Treatment at Work – Fifth Step

You need to establish examples of the less favourable treatment within your letter of grievance. You need to outline in a chronological order the dates when you believe your employer or line manager has treated you less favourably in comparison to your comparators.

What is a contract?

The thing is, contracts are agreements that are designed for strangers. If I don’t know you very well and you don’t know me, then a contract is great. It stipulates exactly what you will do for me and what I will do for you, and the legal system enforces the letter of the contract.

What is covenant in business?

A covenant lays out the vision of the company’s future. Employees agree to give their effort collectively to create that future, and the company agrees to support their employees through compensation, benefits, training, and the creation of a fair work environment. In this way, companies do not engage in agreements with a group of strangers.

How does unequal treatment affect your work?

Unequal treatment at work can be the result of behavior from a coworker or supervisor. Your coworker can treat you poorly by not including you in activities with other employees, talking about you behind your back, constantly asking you for dates or unjustly complaining about you to your supervisor. Your manager may participate in unequal treatment by denying you a deserved raise or promotion, terminating you, not offering you desirable projects or making derogatory jokes in the workplace. Being treated differently than others can cause stress and low morale, which impacts your performance and productivity.

What happens when you are treated differently?

Being treated differently than others can cause stress and low morale, which impacts your performance and productivity.

Why is it important to keep a record of your treatment?

Keeping a record of your treatment is a good practice to get into if you feel you are being treated unfairly at work and will also help you to feel empowered and more in control of the situation. A record of events could be useful to have if you need to take things further but can also help you to see things clearly and even identify patterns in the behavior of the person treating you unfairly.