Employee relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Employee relations - Essay Example However, Third World countries are not able to implement this law effectively and child labor is heavily prevalent in such countries. The United Kingdom has set a proper regulatory system for employee-employer relations and aims to ensure that both sides receive their fair share. It is alleged at times that employees receive a greater amount of leniency and have more say than the employer has in the maintenance of this relationship. However, employees in the UK also have issues regarding the minimum wage, pension plans, and health benefits included in their pay (Lewis, pg. 114-184, 2003). Mainly, developed countries such as the UK, Australia, USA, and Canada have regulatory systems, which aim to moderate the relationship between employees and employers. Laws govern the contracts upheld by both parties and the clauses are testable by law. Hence, if one party fails to acknowledge or fulfill a clause mentioned in the contract, that party is liable to punishment by law. However, not all countries have a regulatory system. Most Third World Countries have neither a minimum wage nor an obligation to provide employees with any other benefits. Discrimination and unnecessary redundancy is strongly prevalent in such countries. No system exists to assist labor properly in standing up for their rights. Cheap labor is readily available in less developed countries and developed countries often end up exploiting this situation. Since their own countries have a strong system-regulating employee and employer relationship, they avail cheaper labor without any hassles in less developed countries (Lewis, pg 189, 2009). However, the international system and regulatory power for employee-employer relations details issues such as age requirements for work, health benefit plans, job security, minimum wage, and retirement plans. There are several agencies working to aim to secure such benefits for employees all over the world (Hollingshead, pg 24-32, 2010). Trade unions and worker assoc iations also do not have full acknowledgement and recognition under the laws of many countries. Hence, workers are unable to negotiate terms and conditions with their companies on a large scale or engage in â€Å"collective bargaining†. Mainly, in Third World countries, the blue-collared workers or labor classes lack education and awareness of their rights. These people also lack opportunities and hence are exploited by their employers by being offered low wages and practically no-benefits (Rose, pg 156-230, 2004). White-collar workers or skilled labor is more informed regarding international law; hence, usually such workers do engage in proper contracts and receive competitive salaries, according to their qualifications. They also receive benefits, health insurance, and retirement plans. Most Third World countries also implement international law upon their own government employees. Government employees enjoy proper employee benefits and adequate pays with pay raises wheneve r adequate. They get the treatment according to international standards of employee-employer relations (Lewis, pg 89-105, 2003). However, only one side of the story should not be accounted for as employees also have an obligation to fulfill their duties during the period of employment. International law states that employees may receive termination if they fail to perform all their duties. Hence, it is mandatory for employees to avoid over emphasizing their powers. In

Harassment at the Workplace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 23

Harassment at the Workplace - Research Paper Example Based on data collected from a multiple of sources, this research paper established that discrimination against the disabled is quite prevalent in the country, and is perpetrated by the very people obliged by law to protect the integrity of every employee, the employer. Similar, the prevalence of sexual harassment at the workplace have hit staggering figures such as those reported by Gruber at â€Å"between 28 percent and 75 percent† (Gumport, 2009). Yet, there is a perpetual fear that the most affected group, women interns, never get to report their ordeal for fear of retribution and the apparent in federal and state laws that protect this particular group of persons. An average adult spends approximately one third of his/her life at the workplace. The resulting interaction inherently causes work issues since it is virtually impossible to have a workplace devoid of conflict, whether spontaneous or systematic. Such workplace issues may result in negative psychological symptoms. For instance, numerous researchers have attributed the high prevalence of mental health issues such as depression and anxiety to perceived stress at the workplace. Presently, while many organizations are embracing diversity and stratification, an apparent laxity in taming innately malicious individuals or systems have seen a rise in cases of harassment and discrimination. The scope of such discrimination range from unfair hiring or biased treatment of individuals based on their race, gender (including pregnancy), religion, national origin, age, disability, among others. Harassment on the other hand relates to unwelcome conduct based on the unit or a combination of elements enumerated earlier.

Effect of Socioeconomic Stress on Family Health

Effect of Socioeconomic Stress on Family Health Revisions and Literature Review Tiffany Stewart Socioeconomic status is defined â€Å"as the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income, and occupation† (American Psychological Association, 2014). There are higher and lower socioeconomic statuses (SES) that can have a big effect on a family’s health. In 2012, research showed that one in five children lived below the federal poverty line (Noble et al., 2012). Family resources such as â€Å"income, parent’s education and health can have a direct and indirect benefit for children† (Thompson, 2014, p. 42). Families in lower SES have poor physical and mental health compared to families in higher SES. When a family lives in a lower SES, there are more stressful life events that affect the whole family. Stress can be defined as â€Å"a complex psychobiological process with biological, emotional, mental, and behavioral consequences, all of which influence one another† (Thompson, 2014, p. 46). Children and adolescents are at an age where they are not able to provide their own socioeconomic status. This is left up to the parents, which can have big effect on the child’s developmental outcomes at the current age and later in life (Hackman Farah, 2009). Research has shown that when a stressful life event occurs, catecholamines and glococorticoids are mediated (Lupien, King, Meaney, McEwen, 2000). When glucocorticoid response to stress in a short amount of time, this is an adaptive function that is normal. When glucocorticoid has increased for long periods of time, this can be associated with different depressive symptoms (Lupien et al., 2000). There is also other research on how stress from the mother will affect the child once born. The fetus is left exposed to the mother’s diet, emotions, and environmental influences that can have effect on development (Thompson, 2014). The fetus is very sensitive to maternal stress. If the mother is under a lot of stress during pregnancy, the child will have a greater reactivity to stress once born (Thompson, 2014). One study showed that when the fetus was exposed to maternal cortisol, seven year old girls had emotional difficulties and a larger volume in the right amygdale (Thompson, 2014). After a child has been born and has been under a lot of stress, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis does not function the way it should. The HPA axis is a human’s central stress response system. The neurological circuitry is changed to how the body response to stress. This will happen when the child is exposed to stressful event on multiple occasions to change the sen sitivity of the HPA system (Thompson, 2014). The way the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system is supposed to work in individuals that are not exposed to large amounts of stress is by the â€Å"release of steroid hormone cortisol from the adrenal gland† (Essex, Klein, Cho Kalin, 2002, p. 777). Cortisol (stress hormone) has a big influence on brain function. When cortisol is released during stressful experiences, this will enhance an organism’s ability to adapt in those times (Essex et al., 2002). Elevated levels cortisol that happens multiple times during the early years will cause physiologic effects later in the individual’s life. These effects include â€Å"increased resistance to the effects of insulin, promotion of obesity, impaired memory via effects on hippocampal neurons, and altered immune responses† (Essex et al., 2012, p. 777). Behavior can also tie into the disruptive HPA axis activity when stress occurs. These behaviors include how the child is â€Å"coping, cognitive and attention problems, poor emotional regulation, and difficulty in social functioning† (Thompson, 2014, p. 45). These behavior problems have associations for children’s academic functioning as well as building relationships with other children and adults. Children that have been exposed to stressful events multiple times in their early life show academically that they have a hard time concentrating, remembering things, and controlling their own thinking. With relationships, children have â€Å"heighten emotional reactivity and weaken emotional self-regulation† (Thompson, 2014, p. 45). Stress in general is part of every person’s life. A normal amount of stress is nothing to worry about and necessary to survive. Stress does occur at a young age, and this will help to develop coping skills and learn how to adapt to stressful situations that will occur throughout the lifetime (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). Parents are the ones that should help the children learn how to deal with stress in a healthy way. When stress is not dealt in a healthy way, there can be short and long-term health effects. Research has shown that there are three different types of stress that a person can go through in their life. These three include positive stress, tolerable stress, and toxic stress. Positive stress is from negative experiences that are short-term (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). Examples of positive stress are when children start a new school, or when someone else takes a toy away from them. The health effects include heart rate being increased and hormone levels changing. This type of stress is normal and the parents can help the child learn how to cope with it as a developmental process (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). Tolerable stress is from a negative experience that impacts the child more than positive stress but is still short-term. Examples of tolerable stress include dealing with a death of a family member, or the parents are separating (divorce) (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). As long as the child has support from a family member or someone close to the child, he/she is usually able to learn how to deal with experience in a healthy way. If the child learns to deal with the experience in a healthy way, it will turn into possible stress. If the child is unable to deal with the experience, this can turn into toxic stress that will have long-term health effects (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). Socioeconomic stress falls under the category of toxic stress. This kind of stress is from negative experiences that can continue for long periods of time. Other examples include neglect and abuse (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). When toxic stress occurs, brain development and functioning will be disrupted. Health problems can also occur that have the capacity to be long-term. There is research that has shown how brain development is effected by long-term stress like socioeconomic stress. Brain development is a process that starts to take place during pregnancy. Factors that influence brain development include genetics and the environment that the mother is in. The toxic stress on brain development can impair the connection of brain circuits and lead to developing a smaller brain (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). The circuits in the brain can cause a child to not be able to handle stress. The child will overreact to conflicting experiences that occur in his/her life. High levels of cortisol (stress hormone) can also damage the hippocampus that affects learning and memory that can continue into adulthood. There is even research that has shown that high levels of stress hormones can restrain the immune response in the body. The individual can end up with different infections and health problems (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). Socioeconomic status has shown that there are negative effects on the developing brain. This includes regions of the brain responsible for language, and stress hormones. Linguistic exposure at a young age has been linked with developmental differences in language regions in the left hemisphere of the brain (Noble, Houston, Kan, Sowell, 2012). The left temporal, temporo-occipital and the frontal cortices are responsible for the development of language skills (Noble et al., 2012). Depending on the SES of the parents that are raising children in those environments will effect what kinds of resources are available to develop those regions of the brain. Higher SES families use parent-child reading activities and have multiple books available to help the child learn language skills compared to families that live in lower SES. Two fMRI studies have shown SES differences with children in two different parts of the left hemisphere for language. These include the functions of the left fusifor m and the left inferior frontal gyrus (Noble et al., 2012). Children from lower SES tend to show a difference in how they experience stressful events reflected in hormonal markers of stress (Noble et al., 2012). Research on stress in animals and humans has shown negative effects on the hippocampus, amygdale, and the anterior cingulated cortex in the medial prefrontal cortex (Noble et al., 2012, p. 518). These areas of the brain are critical for developing memory, socio-emotional processing, and cognitive control/self-regulation. An fMRI study showed that children in lower SES will more likely have a smaller hippocampus (Noble et al., 2012). The background information provided in the paper has shown that during pregnancy, a fetus can be affected by the socioeconomic stress the mother is dealing with. With this research, it has shown that the stress the parents deal with in their daily lives disrupts the development the child goes through mentally and physically. Socioeconomic status is usually defined by family education, occupation, and income level (Noble et al., 2012). The fetus is very sensitive to the stress the mother goes through which will affect child when they are born. The child will then have a greater reactivity to stressful situations (Thompson, 2014). This area of research is a problem since there is known information of how the stress does affect the child even before they are born. If the socioeconomic stress is affecting the child’s development, will this affect the child later in life? The purpose of this study is focus on socioeconomic stress and the effects it has on a child’s developing brain later in life. There is a lot of research on what happens to the brain of a developing child when there is a lot of stress being exposed to him/her. Research has shown that children that are sensitive to stress from environmental factors when they are born will have higher cortisol levels (stress hormone). What has gaps in the research is if the high levels of cortisol (stress hormone) in a young child will determine mental health problems later in the individual’s life. The only research on this area is very general and does not specifically explain mental health problems that can occur. The only specific research in this area mentions how children will have behavior and academic problems as they get older. The purpose of the study will include children at the ages of 5-10 to determine if they are experiencing mental health problems from the socioeconomic stress they experienced during pregnancy and at birth. Women in the second trimester will also need to be included to look back on the kind of stress they were experiencing that could affect their children in low SES. The mothers and the children at one month would also need to be looked at. The cortisol levels would be tested by a saliva sample from the children at the ages of 5-10. Starting with pregnancy and going to the ages of 5-10 will track maternal stress from infancy to childhood and the mental health problems that can occur from it. Essex, Klein, Cho, and Kalin (2002) also did a study on maternal stress and how it affects children later in life. This study was only one to observe mother’s during pregnancy and continue until the child was four and a half years old. The author’s results showed that elevated cortisol levels appear to predict dysregulated behavior and mental disorders (Essex et al., 2002). Other findings also included how â€Å"maternal stress may increase the vulnerability of the developing child’s HPA system to later stress exposure† (Essex et al., 2012, p. 780). Since little research has started with maternal stress, it is important that further research is done to show that there is an effect on children’s mental health later in life. There research only covered socioeconomic stress, maternal stress, and cortisol level. This leaves out other factors (e.g. genetics) that could cause children mental health problems later in life. The question that would need to b e addressed is what other factors could have an effect on children’s mental health later in life. References American Psychological Association (2014). Socioeconomic status. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/topics/socioeconomic-status/ Essex, M. J., Klein, M. H., Cho, E., Kalin, N. H. (2002). Maternal stress beginning in infancy may sensitize children to later stress exposure: Effects on cortisol and behavior. Biological Psychiatry, 52(8), 776-784. doi:10.1016/S0006-3223(02)01553-6 Hackman, D. A., Farah, M. J. (2009). Socioeconomic status and the developing brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(2), 65-73. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.11.003 Lupien, S. J., King, S., Meaney, M. J., McEwen, B. S. (2000). Child’s stress hormone levels correlate with mother’s socioeconomic status and depressive state. Biological Psychiatry,48(10), 976-980. doi:10.1016/S0006-3223(00)00965-3 Middlebrooks, J.S., Audage, N.C. (2008). The effects of childhood stress on health across the lifespan. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Noble, K. G., Houston, S. M., Kan, E., Sowell, E. R. (2012). Neural correlates of socioeconomic status in the developing human brain. Developmental Science, 15(4), 516- 527. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2012.01147.x Thompson, R. A. (2014). Stress and child development. The Future of Children, 24(1), Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1539237845?acco untid=3783

Wayne Gretzky - Comparison Of Two Biographies :: essays research papers

In this essay, I need to compare two biographies of a famous person. I will plot out the difference and compare the two books considering point of view, bias, aim, omission, interest and interpretation. This person is my hero and idol. He is one of the great player in the history of hockey. He set the all-time NHL scoring record in 26 seasons and got four Stanley cup in a row from 1984-1988. He is Wayne Gretzky, the most brilliant and talent hockey player in this century. Ichose the "Gretzky and Taylor" and "Gretzky with Rick Reilly.The book "Gretzky with Rick Reilly was an autobiography. It showed how Wayne Gretzky from his AHL to a famous NHL player. In this book, there were a lot of Gretzky's childhood. We knew that Wayne Gretzky could skate at two years old. He was well known by people at six. When he was ten, he was signing autographs and had a national magazine article written about him. A thirty- minutes national television show done on him at fifteen. It also talk about Gretzky's hero when he was a kid. He was a funny guy. He was Gretzky's hockey instructor. He was also his lacrosse, baseball basketball and cross country coach. He was not only coach, but also trainer and chauffeur. Gretzky called him dad, his name was Walter. However, in the book "Gretzky and Taylor", it did not show anything in Gretzky's childhood. It was started when Gretzky became the NHL player, a member of Edmonton Oiler's rookie. How he became the hall of the frame. The description of this book was very interesting. The writer show the thing through the game. For example the first chapter was talking about the 1984 Stanley Cup final between the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islander. "Wayne," he said, "don't worry about not scoring so far. Just make sure that when you do get a goal for us is a big one. " (Page 15 Gretzky and Taylor ) From this conversation, we could know what had happen at that time. So, there was different between the point of view of those two books. Although this two books had the different point of view, they both had the same aim. They also showed to young people that worked hard was the only source of success. In the book "Gretzky with Rick Reilly", Gretzky showed his talent when he was young.

Love and Responsibility in “Hill Like White Elephants”

Essay Title: Love and Responsibility in Hills Like White Elephants â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants† written by Ernest Hemingway that is the controversy revolving around the theme of abortion between the American man and the girl named Jig waiting for a train at the station. Through their conversation and their difficult decision that whether or not having an abortion, the story shows love and responsibility in a relationship between the couple. While waiting for a press, they drinking beer and talking together. The girl was looking at the hills and said â€Å"They look like white elephants†.The hills can be symbolized the pregnancy and â€Å"white elephants† can be interpreted as baby that is the trouble they are facing. That leads the couple to biggest conflict in their relationship. Although he knows that the girl is pregnant, he still has allowed her to drink beer and liquor. It’s not good for her health and unborn child. Besides, it is revealed from t he American man’s words â€Å"It’s really an awfully simple operation† and â€Å"It just to let the air in† that he is trying to convince the girl to abort the child.Having an abortion can be damaged for her, but he does not worry about that because â€Å"It’s perfectly simple†. In addition, he also is afraid of the responsibility of having a child. He does not want to be father. He considers baby as a burden. â€Å"That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy†, said the man. He wants to be free. He does not want to be encumbered with child. For these reasons, it can be seen that he is not responsible for her. Moreover, love is the understanding each other.Nevertheless, through Jig and the American man’s conversation, there is the misunderstanding in their relationship. Jig wants to keep baby whereas the man doesn’t want to. He does not care about her feelings bec ause of his lacks of imagination. â€Å"They look like white elephants†, the girl means â€Å"white elephants† is baby that is her â€Å"whole world† while the man’s â€Å"whole world† is freedom. She loves baby very much but he is not, â€Å"I love it now but I just can’t think about it†. In another way, the man loves Jig not too much.He just wants her, nobody else. He is selfish man because he just thinks of himself. However, Jig loves him. She will have an abortion if it is pleasing to him. She tries to reassure herself that â€Å"There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine†. She does not care about herself because she loves him and she wants to have a happy family with him in the future. Because of the different point of view between the American man and the girl about abortion, their relationship arise problems and different resolutions.The story leave us think that their love is like liquorice which is bitter. There fore, if they want to maintain their relationship, they have to love and be responsible for each other. APA citations Hemingway, Ernest. â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants. † The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. New York: Collier, 1987. 211-14. Literary Analysis: Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants. Retrieved from http://www. customessaymeister. com/customessays/Philosophy/16907. htm http://www. 123helpme. com/hemingways-hills-like-white-elephants-view. asp? id=152214

Norm Paper

PAPER # 1: BREAKING A NORM NAME: Nisha Tommy A norm is a principle of right action binding upon the members of a group and serving to guide, control, or regulates proper and acceptable behavior. Social norms are group-held beliefs about how members should behave in a given context. Sociologists describe norms as informal understandings that govern society’s behaviors, while psychologists have adopted a more general definition, recognizing smaller group units, like a team or an office, may also endorse norms separate or in addition to cultural or societal expectations.The psychological definition emphasizes social norms' behavioral component, stating norms have two dimensions: how much behavior is exhibited and how much the group approves of that behavior. The people living in the society develop social norms. These norms have its importance and pay a vital role in the socialization of an individual and molding of personality. There are some important functions of social norms, which play essential part in the smooth of the society. These are control behavior, harmonize the society, and law and order. I chose to violate a social norm when riding on the elevator.I did this in a hospital environment where doctors, nurses, technicians, and mostly patients were around me. I monitored the reaction of ten different groups throughout the experiment to get the best result. It is included different nationality and different age group. I rode the elevator ten times but instead of standing the â€Å"normal† way which is facing the door an unspoken social norm I stood the wrong way standing by the door looking at the back of the elevator. I felt very uncomfortable for the first few times but, after that I started enjoying people’s nonverbal reactions.Still it is hard to break a norm by knowingly breaking it. I got various reactions. Some people stare at me as if I was not normal. Some rolled their eyes and others startled their forehead. Some of them as ked me if I was ok. Some couples looked each other and smiled. Some shook their head. Some of them didn’t look at me at all they were looking on the floor. One of the employees asked me â€Å"Do you work here? Which department do you work for? † One person asked me â€Å"Do you have elevators in your country†? One person asked me â€Å"how long have you been in US†? After my answer she made a facial expression.The question â€Å"Are you ok? ’’ contradicted my hypothesis and proved it wrong which was even if I stand the wrong way in the elevator and go against the social norm then people still won’t really react. This experiment proved my hypothesis wrong. While I had thought I wouldn’t get any reactions I did in reality get many reactions from staring to being asked if I was ok. Many people stared at me as though there was something wrong with me or even felt uncomfortable around me. My hypothesis was proven wrong because clea rly breaking a social norm is more significant than I had assumed.The experiment proved a lot about social norms and breaking them. It showed the significance of social norms how much social norms play a role in society and people as individuals act. The social norm I broke was implicit yet it proved to be so great in how people saw me and how they reacted. I standing the wrong way changed the way some people felt in the elevator they started to feel uncomfortable because my actions went against the social norm which is standing facing the door and anything that goes against the social norm is not normal.The gesture was small yet it proved to generate greater reactions. This experiment proves that there are such things as social norms that aren’t even formally stated and as a society rules are set as to how once should behave and when broken one is met reactions and seen as different and â€Å"not normal†. Even in fast paced places where people tend to be too busy or t hey are stressed or even too sick to notice, people notice the breaking of social norms and react toward it because that is how people were taught to look at differently those who don’t follow the social norm.I had believed that in United State where the attitude of minding your business is what people shape their lives around this would not be the case but I was wrong. Adhering to social norms is clearly a big part of people’s lives and shapes the way they act. What surprised me about the results was the way people acted toward me how some people were feeling uncomfortable. This surprised me because they were acting like there might be something wrong with me just because I was standing the wrong way. The man who asked me if I am ok shocked me the most because I didn’t expect anyone to actually ask me this.All of this also shows how the environment plays a role in a person’s life. The social norms of a place which differ from place to place shapes the so ciety it sets the social code. Especially in the case of the man who asked me if I was ok. His behavior and the rest of the experimental group showed how me breaking the social norm affects not only me but the people around me and changes the way I am seen to the world. He would have probably not asked me this is I was standing the right way. But because I violated the social norm his behavior and reactions changed.The groups acted differently because of the variable which made all the difference. One can bring in conformity to explain these results. Society as a whole has learned to conform so as not to be the odd one out. The social based rules that were made people as a whole have learned to change their behavior to conform to the universal social code so they aren’t different. And when they see someone who acts differently they see them as â€Å"weird† different. People like behaviorists would say have been â€Å"shaped† a certain way a socially acceptable w hich is why people reacted the way they did to me.I went against everyone the rules of society by not conforming hence I was the odd one out. If it weren’t for the social norms then maybe I would not have gotten the reactions I did because there wouldn’t be anything to conform too. One can infer that some of the reactions showed the following of the social norm of not being rude. While some of them stared they did not do anything as not to be rude which is in its own way following a social norm of politeness. This experiment has taught me basically a lot more about social norms and society. I got to see firsthand how social norms work and how much they play a role in everyone’s daily lives.I learned how people react toward people who don’t follow the social norms and break them. If this experiment was conducted somewhere else I would say definitely the results would be different, because the place makes the social norms. Every environment is different and society makes rule based on that. What might be acceptable in one place might not be so acceptable in another and vice versa. For example in some place standing away at a decent distance is considered disrespectful that is going against the social norm whereas in America that is not the case. Here standing too close is breaking the social norm.The results might have been more drastic or there might have not been any reaction at all. This experiment helped in providing the significance of social norms. The experiment also proved to show the difference between following and breaking social norms. After breaking the social norm I got to see many reactions which proved my hypothesis wrong and showed how conformity has a strong impact on society. By standing backwards in an elevator I broke the social norm of standing facing the back of the elevator and hence I became the odd one out. I enjoyed doing this experiment as a whole.