The Woman In The Workplace During The Present

The woman in the workplace during the present

Woman today

It can be said that part of the characteristics that women have today at work, have been inherited by their predecessors during the history of humanity. Although today the characteristics of women is the rapid integration into the labor market, according to Godoy & Mladinic (2009) “it is evidenced in different countries – including Chile – in an increase in the number of women who are integrated into the labor market, afaster growth of their occupation rates in relation to those of men ”(P.1). This shows the new goals that women have, these goals develop qualities in women, entrepreneurship, leadership and less interest in reproduction to focus their time and energies to overcome, are characteristics that women currently have.

Discriminations towards women in the workplace

Workplace harassment

Work is a right and a duty as stipulated by law, getting a job whatever it is to be something positive especially for a person’s economy. However, not always everything is good, many occasions being a woman and working can be a great headache when workplace harassment is presented by its officials. Labor harassment can be defined according to Quirós (2006) as:

Aggressive behavior rejected by society in general, which has existed throughout history as such, all kinds of aggressions ranging from moral and psychological to the physical in the most dramatic cases, becoming until not long ago in one of one ofThose unnamed problems that societies have experienced all time.

With the aforementioned by Quirós, unfortunately work harassment can harm a natural, mental and psychologically. Although there are currently laws that regulate it, but many times victims and society still do not take enough value to end it, although this evil.

There are many factors that can show a victim when he is suffering workplace harassment in Costa Rica, according to the Supreme Court of Costa Rica cited by Vargas (2011) defines which are the present elements:

1. Intentionality of undermining the self – esteem and dignity of the official.
2. Repetition of aggression for a period.
3. That aggression comes from who has the ability to cause damage.
4. That the purpose is to press the server to leave their work and thus terminate the employment relationship  

Although the victim keeps in mind these elements, more witnesses it costs too much than some decideextremely inhuman which makes the victim lose interest and hope. Unfortunately, it is too much time when judicial entities take to carry out a study for workplace harassment, where daily pain and harassment is not known to have to wait at least half a decade to know if justice is done or not for an aggressor act. According to (Vargas, 2011) the following can be emphasized:

The judicial proceedings related to workplace harassment have an approximate duration of one to six years (…) This means that the victim will know the result of his claim on average five years after fileing the judicial complaint. (…) In Costa Rica there is no special sanctioning procedure, which protects people who are being victims of workplace harassment, so that these situations must be raised in the ordinary route. 

Characteristics of workplace harassment

Normally the victims have a neutral attitude like any other worker, however, when there is work harassment, it is very noticeable that something is happening to them, so it is important to emphasize how it differs, according to Quirós (2006) comments what:

It all suddenly begins with an abrupt change in the relationship between the stalker and the person (…) the change of the relationship is usually motivated by jealousy, the envy, the competition (…) the person is isolated, refusing communication with the stalkerand prohibiting it explicitly or tacitly that the rest of the workers have a relationship or communication with it.  

Unfortunately, the victim is always the one who suffers more emotionally and physically, they do not know why they or why are the culprits of that unfortunate situation, generating different behaviors in their health, profession and mental, according to Piñuel (cited by Quirós, 2006) indicatesthat “this behavior causes the immediate deterioration of self-confidence and in its professional abilities and begins a slow and continuous process of helpless person consisting of the destruction of self – esteem."  

As in any other country in Costa Rica, work harassment is presented, however, victims can go to two public entities, in these places the offended can declare their situation before an audience until an arrangement is achieved or filed the complaint,According to Vargas (2011), he comments what:

In Costa Rica, complaints of workplace harassment may be submitted to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security or directly before the Courts of Justice (it should be clarified that public officials could also resort to the Ombudsman’s Office). In the case that the offended resort to the Ministry, an audience will be indicated between the parties to try to achieve an arrangement, if this is not achieved, the offended party can resort to the jurisdictional bodies. The denunciation of the facts before the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) is optional, since the affected (a) can also go directly to the courts of justice and ignore the passage before the Ministry.  

Sometimes those affected, usually take enough value, in order to go and impose the complaint plus the type of labor harassment they suffer, in the following compiled table it is possible to appreciate how workplace harassment has been increased according to the years excluding all those cases all caseswhere for fears were not denounced.

Salary differences and jobs

The woman has gone through a long career in which she has fought so that her invisibility ceases to exist, since for many years her role was only at home, her work was not evaluated, she was not taken into account and discrimination against herIt was very evident.

With all these situations lived by the female gender, over the years they have evolved in different areas and one of them is the work area, thanks to the performance, effort, dedication and courage they have shown in the work developed;These warriors fought for a long time to achieve the rights they have today, however, even today there are differences that are discriminatory in a certain way due to work inequalities by reason of gender and with which a disadvantage is presented towards the genrefeminine.

Although women have demonstrated the ability to function and develop without any problem the work that men had always developed, there is an inequality in the salaries received by both genres, this because the man receives more salary than the woman,no matter that the tasks assigned for both are the same.

On the other hand, there is a discrimination based on gender, at the time of occupying a job, despite the academic studies that many women obtain today, the possibility of occupying an administrative position is very low compared toThe possibility of male sex, since according to Barquero (2017), “only 10% of women who have a postgraduate degree reaches a management or management position;While 26% of men with that educational level do so, he showed the recent report State of Education."  

In Costa Rica, the unemployment rate has increased this year, according to Rodríguez (2019) in the second quarter, unemployment had an increase, the total unemployed population is 296,000 which have sought employment, but they could notfinding it, from this population 15% corresponds to women while 9.9% to men.

All these discriminations are following culture, machismo, religion and tradition;These differences have become a large struggle, which must be eradicated to seek equality between people, regardless of their gender, since both men and women deserve to be respected and that they are valued by thework they do. It is for these reasons that there are international organizations responsible for fighting against these adverse situations by gender, the International Labor Organization indicates that:

ILO has proposed to promote equal opportunities for women and men to access decent work, that is, a well -paid, productive work and carried out in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. 

This is intended that for both sexes there are opportunities to achieve decent job and receive remuneration in exchange for the service provided, and thus be able to support the family.

There are mandates that are in the Constitution of the International Labor Organization, which are in search of protection for both sexes, agreement number 100 is called, agreement on equal remuneration, 1951;In accordance with article 1, one of the effects of this Agreement is “the expression equality of remuneration between the male labor and female workforce for a work of equal value designates the remuneration rates set without discrimination regarding thesex."  

However, despite this mandate of the Constitution of the World Labor Organization in many countries there is still an inequality towards women, with respect to the remuneration received in exchange for the services they do in the work in which they have beenhired;According to Barquero (2018), in a study carried out, it indicates that “on average, women receive 20.5% less in their monthly salaries compared to what men from all over the world earn;However, in Costa Rica the figure is reduced to 7.8%." 

In comparison to the percentage of existing inequality worldwide, in Costa Rica it is not so high, but it is still a difference between the two genres, in which the female is at a disadvantage, this percentage makes Costa Rica be in someOf the countries with the lowest salary gap by gender reason, these results are the product of a study by the World Labor Organization in which according to Barquero (2018) “The study analyzes the difference in the remuneration between men and women ofabout 73 countries and encompasses them in four groups depending on their income: high, medium-high, half-low and low."  

In relation to the classification in groups of the countries according to their income, Costa Rica was classified in the middle-high group, and as a result an important fact is obtained that is the percentage of remuneration inequality, which according to boatman (2018) indicates that “a woman’s salaries become on average 19.2% less than those of men.”(Para. 4);In that same group, Ecuador was also classified and according to the results of the study is the country with a lower percentage of salary difference according to Barquero (2018) “In that group only Ecuador has a minor gap with 1.8%." 

For its part, it is important to emphasize the data related to the group of countries classified as high income, in this group is Argentina, in that country is one of the highest salary gaps since, according to Barquero (2018) “Its differencegender salary exceeds the world average with 25%. ‘;And also according to Barquero (2018) that country is said secondly at the continental level since this percentage is only exceeded by Canada in which there is a difference of 35, 6%.

In Costa Rica, certain measures are to be taken to try to solve or at least diminish this situation established in the wage gap by gender reason and one of them according to Mora (2019) is “we present a proposal to sanction theCompanies that for equal work pay less to women, because it is currently prohibited, but does not establish sanction."  

Maternity in the workplace

Pregnancy period

For several years the participation of women in the workplace becomes complicated by the fact that, unlike men, they have the possibility of getting pregnant, which leads to a series of discriminations and injustices, since, forEntrepreneurs is an additional responsibility to offer you all the benefits they merit.

In addition, for their pregnancy situation they are committed to making the decision to leave the job or even dismiss them because they will no longer work, which is completely illegal according to Law No. 2 (1943) in article 94 where it expresses that:

The employers who are in a state of pregnancy or in the breastfeeding are prohibited to the employers, except for justified cause originating in serious lack of the duties derived from the contract, in accordance with the causes established in article 81.  

With the aforementioned, it can be inferred that thanks to these laws women have a safe support to protect themselves in case the employer intends to take advantage of his condition to violate both human and labor rights.

Both men and women have the same chances of working, however, according to García (2012) “During pregnancy, maternity leave, reducing the day and the approach to want to have children or marry, they have a negative impact on renewalof the employment contract and in the hiring of women ”.  

These types of discriminations are unfair attitudes, because women lose the freedom to choose what lifestyle they want to take for thinking about the negative consequences that would arise after a pregnancy in the work aspect.

Many countries have laws and regulations to protect women in case they are pregnant, during the entire gestation period until childbirth and including breastfeeding times. Since it is recommended that these times are women have certain care for both her and her baby since the immune system weakens, being prone to contract many diseases.

To prevent this, there is maternity license where "the pregnant worker will necessarily enjoy a maternity paid license, during the month before childbirth and all three after him"  

This time is very important for a good recovery, but you can increase the amount of time if necessary, you only need to request a medical opinion which must be delivered to the boss to take the measures of the case and also to be informedThe additional time is requested from the time and confirm that it is for a fair cause.

This period includes the breastfeeding periods, where Law No. 2 (1943) in article 97 clearly indicates that:

Every mother in breastfeeding can dispose of places where she works from a fifteen minutes interval every three hours or, if you prefer, half an hour twice a day during her work, in order to breastfeed her son.   

It is important for women to comply with these periods of time to feed their child for the well -being of both, however, it must comply with the effective time of work because the woman cannot stop fulfilling their labor obligations or taking advantage of theseBenefits for inappropriate use, since if it exceeds this time or it is proven that it does not use it for breastfeeding, the employer can take it as a work abandonment.