Employment Law Paper Riordan Manufacturing

Businesses today across the globe must adhere to the employment laws of their government and set internal standards to avoid discrimination in the workplace. Managers need education and knowledge to ensure ethical and non-discriminatory behavior is not only practiced, but also a required standard within the organization. Riordan Manufacturing, according to Apollo Group (2005), “does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or any other characteristic protected by law. In order to provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals, employment decisions at Riordan will be based on merit, qualifications and abilities.”
Riordan Manufacturing’s China plant must also adhere to employment law that is enforced in China for all employees who are considered host nationals. The Civil Rights Act of 1991, “protects U.S. citizens-but nor foreign nationals-employed in a foreign country by U.S. controlled employers (Cheeseman, 2004, p812).” In other words, the Civil Rights Act does not protect the citizens of China, however it does protect any U.S. employees who were assimilated to China to work at Riordan. Ethically speaking, if China did not hold its own employment laws to protect against discrimination, then Riordan should enforce the same treatment of all employees equally. “There is growing recognition that good ethics can have a positive economic impact on the performance of firms (Joyner and Payne, 2002).” Regardless if the laws are in place in the foreign operations this suggests that companies can improve their financial bottom line when operating ethically.
When operating in a foreign country, religion can become the basis for a discrimination claim. Often the discriminatory action is not intentional and likely the result of ignorance in not knowing the basis for an action. U.S. companies operating in foreign countries should perform an analysis in...