The Hyatt hotel did not give any examples of direct discrimination. Direct discrimination is the unfair treatment where one person gets treated less favourably than another worker doing the same job. The Everyman theatre has had one incident in the past of sexual harassment, which involved several females complaining about a male employee’s attitude towards them.
The 1986 Genuine Occupational Qualification Act sets out circumstances in which being a man may be a genuine occupational qualification. The Hyatt hotel said that they do not have any genuine occupational qualifications, however they do try to have equal amounts of males and females in every department. The only time this does not work for them is when recruiting housekeeping staff and kitchen staff when they usually only get males applying for kitchen work and females for housekeeping. The only organisation that have a genuine occupational qualification is the Everyman theatre where women can not be accepted as general kitchen assistants due to the strength needed to lift trays full of plates.
The Hyatt hotel is an equal opportunities employer, this means that they go by legislation but take it one step further. The Hyatt reflects the local community in Birmingham by employing ethnic minorities based in the city. The Hyatt eliminates all types of discrimination so employees can feel safe in their jobs. They Hyatt gives support to employees for example; help with their language if English is not their native tongue. By being an equal opportunities employer the Hyatt recognise skills and talents and give employees chance to develop. The Hyatt hotel also recruit internally and externally so to be seen as being fair. There were two organisations out of the five that were equal opportunities employers, the Hyatt hotel and the Tourist information centre. The Charlton Kings hotel and Evesham leisure centre are not equal opportunity employers. The Everyman theatre consider themselves to be an equal opportunities employer although they do not have the official commissions certificate. The Hyatt hotel feels that the benefits to them of being an equal opportunities employer are that staff moral is high, makes them attractive to prospective employees. They eliminate all types of discrimination, there may be less conflict with their union.
The Hyatt hotel feels that the benefits to the employee are staff moral is kept high, the employees can benefit from extra training, employees can feel safe in their job as discrimination is not tolerated.
The Hyatt hotel holds an annual review of all their policies to ensure that all their employees are happy and it gives them a chance to give their imput into anything they may feel may need changing or looking at.
Overall evaluation of the effectiveness of the Hyatt Hotels approach to
Equal Opportunities.
The Hyatt hotel's approach to equal opportunity is very effective. They follow all four types of legislation, which come under equal opportunity. The four types of legislation are: the Race Relations Act 1976, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Equal Pay Act 1975. The Hyatt does not stand for any type of discrimination as is shown by them being an equal opportunity employer.
The Hyatt hotel take all four types of legislation seriously, they show this by employing people from all different backgrounds and circumstances. They try to have both sexes working in all departments but they feel that sometimes this is not very easy to do due to the fact that men do not always want to work in housekeeping for example. The Hyatt has many facilities for disabled employees. They have two lifts available for employee use, ramps into the employee entrance. There are numerous disabled parking spaces in the employee car park. The Hyatt hotel in Birmingham currently has two disabled employees working for them in reception.
The Hyatt also follows the Equal Pay Act, as all employees receive equal pay for the same job regardless of gender. The Hyatt hotel make it very clear that they do not stand for any type of discrimination at all and they will not hesitate to take action on any legitimate discrimination reported.
The Hyatt hotel is an equal opportunity employer, which indicates that they abide by all legislation, set out by the government and also takes it one step further. By being an equal opportunity employer the Hyatt should really reflect the local community in which it is based, in this case Birmingham which it does. The Hyatt’s mission statement is ‘Hyatt International strives to provide a fair and ethical work environment for all its employees’ worldwide. Our people are our principle asset and it is their commitment to the values of our company that sets us apart from our competitors’. This shows that they believe in having a fair and ethical work environment, which in turn produces fair and ethical staff. Their mission statement is also another element that helps to make them an equal opportunity employer.
The Hyatt has a strong discipline procedure to follow if a complaint is made about a type of discrimination. They have an annual meeting to discuss the way they approach all legislation and if any member of staff has a complaint about the way things are going or how they are being treated they can tell the management and then have it dealt with.
The Hyatt give accommodation to employees that need it to make sure they do not discriminate against people who maybe can not live on their own or can not afford to when they start out in employment.
Hyatt Birmingham has never had to dismiss anyone on the grounds of discrimination, this is not saying it does not happen but if it does it is not reported. Being an equal opportunity is beneficial for the Hyatt because not only do they feel it keeps staff moral high but it shows that the Hyatt have respect for their employees. By being an equal opportunities employer this shows that they do not take any type of discrimination lightly and their employees know this. The Hyatt say that their goal is to ‘attract and retain a workforce that is motivated to provide a service which is excellent, innovative and customer driven’. They manage to do this by keeping staff moral high, by helping employees feel safe in their job as discrimination is not tolerated by letting employees know that everyone is treated the same no matter what sex or race you maybe. The Hyatt’s action plan is placed in the staff rooms and canteen area so that employees are constantly reminded of what the Hyatt does not tolerate.
The Hyatt hotel's approach to equal opportunity is very effective. They do not have any incidents of serious discrimination recorded due to the fact that they inform their staff that they do not stand for any type of discrimination. As mentioned in their mission statement the Hyatt provides a fair and ethical workforce and the Hyatt taking all types of discrimination seriously shows this.
Bibliography
Boella, M. (1992) Human Resource management in the Hospitality Industry, 5th ed. Stanley Thornes
Outhart, T. Taylor, L. Barker, R. & Marvell, A. (2001) Advanced vocational Travel & Tourism, 3rd ed. London: Collins
Outhart, T. Taylor, L. Barker, R. & Procter, N. (2001) Advanced vocational Leisure & Tourism, 3rd ed. London: Collins
Torrington, D. & Hall, L. (1998) Human Resource Management, 4th ed. Essex: Prentice Hall
Yovell, R. (2001) The Complete A-Z Leisure, Travel & Tourism handbook, London: Hodder & Stoughton
