Reference no: EM133140449

Those who study employment law often define it as a struggle based on a power imbalance. The employer holds the power and the employee(s) cedes their freedom in order to earn the income required to live. Marx (Karl not Groucho) has famously been paraphrased as saying that "Religion is the opium of the people."

This means that by focusing on eternal (or external) factors the masses accept their role and position in society and therefore do not question why the 'elite' have so much more material weaith. Religion promises the masses rewards outside and external to the worries and anxieties of their day to day life.

It has been claimed that human resources practices fulfill the same role in corporate organizations. That by providing workers the illusion that they are being listened to and that management 'cares' about them, it diverts their attention from the power imbalance and possibly from organizing (unionizing) and creates a sense of organizational loyalty.

-What are your opinions regarding this assertion?

-Do organizational human resources policies and programs truly address the needs of their employees?

-Can you provide examples of this or the opposite, of organizations treating their employees as disposable commodities?