DiscussionreplyMonic.docx

Why would employers want to fire employees whose dependents are having serious health problems? What do you think would be the reaction of employees with healthy dependents who suspect this might be happening? Explain.

            I chose this topic because I experienced this difficulty first hand, in my case I was not fired however, through the last months of employment, the CEO did everything possible to make my work time unease , even though for the previous two years, I was doing the exact thing working from home and I did and had all the responsibility and delivered the same at the end of my employment but since he knew I was going through a rough time at home, he wanted me back at the office so he took the opportunity to demand more and more than what we have agreed upon, so instead of letting him make my life unease, I handed my two-week resignation letter and although upper management did not want to honored it, I resigned.

            An employer may possibly want to fire employees whose dependents are having serious health problems for many reasons, an employee who is having serious health problem, the employee will take time off from work to attend their doctor appointments, or therapy, or simply they are just not feeling up to par, employer may think their work performance will deteriorate if

they are concerned with issues outside work.  Another issue is that they may request and utilize the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), or in the worst-case scenario they leave their job leaving them with the burden of recruiting and employing another employee and the cycle will restart.  

            If the employee’s work performance or attendance begins to suffer due to his medical issue, this can put undue pressure on other employees to pick up the slack and compensate for the poor performance and attendance begins to suffer on their coworkers. This can negatively impact on the company’s production and eventually their profits.  In the end, the human resources division of a company must do what is best for the company. (Noe et al. 2020). In many instances what is best for the company is not necessarily what is best for the employee.  The employer’s logic for termination would be to eliminate the weak link before it unfavorably affects the company.

            On the other hand, employees with healthy dependents who believe their coworkers are being fired due to having dependents with serious health problems may see this as a threat. Health problems are often unpredictable and employees or their dependents are likely to face a health problem at some point in their employment tenure. Employees with healthy dependents may be fearful that they will be terminated if their dependent develops a serious health problem.  This fear can lead to decreased trust in their employer.  Employment morale can be negatively affected when employees are worried about circumstances that are beyond their control which can lead to their employment being terminated.  As a result of the fear instilled in employees, may leave the company to prevent being terminated in the future should their dependent develop an adverse health matter as it happened in my case.

            In most state within the United States, are at-will employment states, therefore, the employer has the right to fire an employee at any time for no reason, unless their reasoning for firing is illegal. (Dicken et at, 2017). Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws are in place by the government in an attempt to prevent employment discrimination and ensure that all people have an equal chance for employment (Noe et al. 2020). However, unless obvious discrimination is present, it can be difficult for an employee to prove that they have been discriminated against or wrongfully terminated.  There is very little protection for employees against discrimination based on family responsibilities (Bose et al., 2020).  In comparison to employees from discrimination and wrongful termination. Thus, eliminating perceived problems, such as employees with dependents who have serious health problems, begins in the screening process. This is evident given the inequality of women in the workforce and the average salary of woman, in comparison to men (Bose et al, 2020). Employers often perceived women as family caretaker and consider the possibility of childbirth.  To prevent having to deal with these incidents, employers often under hire and under pay woman. Although this is an unethical practice, it happens extremely frequently.

            Let’s be reminded that they bible states on Luke 6:31, “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” (King James Bible, 1769/2017). It is almost certain that at some point in all of our lives we will deal with an illness within our family.  We should hope that we are treated with the same care that we have treated others in similar situations.  If employers can’t plan for this, then it may be time to reconsider how they treat their employees.

 

References:

Noe, T., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B.& Wright, P. (2020). Human Resources Management: Gaining a competitive Advantage (12th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Bose, B., Quinones, F., Moreno, G., Raub, A., Huh, K., &Heymann, J. (2020). Protecting adults with caregiving responsibilities from workplace discrimination: Analysis of national legislation. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(3)

William T. Dickens, Robert K. Triest, Rachel B. Sederberg. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences April 2017, 3 (3) 202-221; DOI:             https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2017.3.3.0958177-85214

King James Bible, Official King James Bible Online: Authorized King James Version (KJV).   (Original work published 1769)