Discrimination in the work place

Discrimination on the basis of age is a pressing problem in business today. Age discrimination is the fastest-growing discrimination complaint in the work place. In 1986, almost twenty-seven thousand age-discrimination complaints were filed with federal and state agencies - more than twice the number filed in 1980. Although many age-discrimination cases never reach court, the rapid increase in the number of complaints has many businesspeople worried.

Most age-discrimination cases originate in right-to-work states outside of the North-East. The typical person who files suit is a white male manager in his fifties, who lost his job because of corporate restructuring. These people believe a lawsuit is their only option because they are not protected by union rules and cannot claim racial or sexual discrimination.

Although other countries had had laws preventing discrimination on the basis of age for several years, not until 1967 did Congress pass the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act and its amendments should not be interpreted to mean that older workers cannot be fired for unproductivity. Businesses should keep in mind, however, that decisions to hire and fire must be based on ability, not on age. Employers need to evaluate individual employees' ability to carry out job duties, not rely on arbitrary age limits.

Methods of payment.

There 4 basic methods of payment:

1) Payment in advance: a]CWO-(оплата при заказе)-it means that an oversees buyer is extending credit to an exporter. b]COD-(оплата при доставке+ наложный платеж)-small value goods are sent by post and released only after payment of the invoice + COD charges.

2)Open account-goods and accompanying documents are sent directly to an overseas buyer. The buyer undertakes to remit money to the exporter.

3)Bills of exchange-The bill is called sight draft if it is made out payable at sight,i.e. on demand. If it is payable “at fixed or determinable future time” it is called a term draft.

4)Letter of credit-transmitted through a bank, usually in the exporters country, becomes the means by which the exporter obtains payment. Letter of a credit maybe revocable (terms of a credit can be cancelled or amended by an overseas buyer) and irrevocable (terms cannot be revoked without the exporters agreement).

Security problems.

To disclose this theme I take a company Harper and Grant for example. In this company lost the confidential file with limited Circulation(it is mean that only a few people, in this case only heads of departments, were allowed to look at it).This is because the design the contents of then and material used for the desks is very new a file are, therefore secret. If it were stolen and got into the hands of an unscrupulous rival firm the designs could easily be copied. The file contains all details of cost of manufacture, specifications, measurements, drawings, details of materials and planned sales.

The Security Officer is called in to investigate the loss. To stop people stealing from a factory or office block, there is usually a security officer, often an ex-policeman. Nowadays, industrial espionage, spying, is unfortunately on the increase, And because of this fact, the security officer has to try to make the staff aware of the possible dangers and to take stricter precautions. The Security officer is responsible, too, for appointing night watchmen to go round the building at night, to see that doors are locked and that no unauthorized person, one without permission, has remained behind after working hours.

When the loss of money is reported to him the Security officer interviews all those people who might have had the opportunity to go into only been with the firm two month, behaves in a suspicious way. When they check his referents it is found that clerk has given false information. He eventually breaks down and confesses

Trade union.

A trade union (British English) or labour union (American English) is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions.

Manual and service industry workers are often organized in labour unions. British unions are known as trade unions because, as in Germany, they are largely organized according to trade or skill. In other countries, including France and Italy, unions are largely political.

Industrial relations tend to be better in countries, industries and companies where communications are good. Some employers and managers (and political parties) oppose the very existence of unions — even though, like doctors, lawyers, accountants. Yet one of the chief objectives of right-wing governments in the 1980s was to diminish the power of trade unions, and to deregulate labour markets in accordance with the ideal of free markets. As a result of deregulation, working conditions in many industries in many countries have worsened, leading to the creation of a great many casual, part-time, unskilled jobs done by non-unionized workers. France has the lowest number of workers in trade unions in the industrialized world In fact, a number of politicians and business leaders are beginning to regret the weakness of unions