October/November 2021
Psychology of Work Examination
PYC4810
UNISA
SECTION A
Question 1
Read the following extract and answer the question that follows:
Health Workers at the Waterfront District Hospital have been complaining about being
treated unfairly in the workplace. Among several aspects, they mentioned unfair
treatment in shifts, unfair payment practices such as the gap in salary scales and pay
progression. You are approached by a Workers Union to inform a policy on
organisational justice within the Health sector/public health facility to ensure that
health workers are not mistreated.
Discuss some of the strategies that can be used to promote organisational justice within
the public health facility. Provide examples where appropriate.
[25]
Employees tend to take a multifoci approach to perceiving justice within the organisations in
which they work. This refers to the fact that they consider individual factors relating to
people within the workplace, as well as the units that operate within the workforce.
Specifically, employees' perceptions of organisational justice are centered on four main
factors. These are distributive justice, procedural justice, interpersonal justice and
informational justice.
Firstly, employees are concerned with the distributive fairness in work-related outcomes. The
major issue that many employees are concerned with herein is fairness in payscales and
concern regarding the potentiality of being underpaid. It is a high priority for employees to
feel that their income is commensurate to both their experience as well as their day-to-day
, efforts. Moreover, employees expect that pay between employees of equal degrees of
experience should be equal. Similarly, the compensation received by stand-out employees
should not equal compensation received by underperformers.
In the case of health workers perceiving unfair payment practices such as the gap in salary
scales and pay progression, distributive fairness will be highly contended. It is imperative that
this issue be addressed to improve the perception of organisational justice. Since there is
already a perception of unfair pay distribution in this case, performance appraisals provide an
opportunity to the pay imbalances. More experienced, more educated or more hardworking
healthcare employees who are underpaid in comparison to others should receive higher pay
increases in their performance appraisals due to the aforementioned factors. In addition, new
systems should be implemented regarding salary negotiations during hiring processes. The
payscale could even be visible to the public. Ensure that healthcare workers will be paid
equally if they have the same level of education and the same amount of experience.
Secondly, it is important for employees to perceive procedural justice. In order to promote
procedural justice in the public health facility, it is important to hear the opinions of
healthcare workers, avoid bias at all costs, apply policies fairly, make important decisions
accurately and correct errors that occur transparently.
If healthcare workers are provided with an opportunity to express how they feel about
policies and procedures, they will feel valued. If healthcare workers are discriminated against
on the basis of race, gender or sexual orientation, irreparable damage will be caused. If
employees believe that procedures are followed according to specific codes and applied fairly
to all staff members, negative outcomes may be perceived as less personally damaging
because the outcome can be attributed to standard procedure. A commitment to accuracy is
important when implementing policy or making difficult decisions. However, when mistakes
occur, these should be resolved swiftly and openly. As long as there are clear rules in place,
and that these rules are enforced systematically and fairly to all employees, procedural justice
will be preserved.
Thirdly, employees are highly concerned with the interpersonal justice which they receive
from colleagues and superiors alike. Managers and team leaders have immense power, and
they should commit to treating their team members with due respect and civility. If
Psychology of Work Examination
PYC4810
UNISA
SECTION A
Question 1
Read the following extract and answer the question that follows:
Health Workers at the Waterfront District Hospital have been complaining about being
treated unfairly in the workplace. Among several aspects, they mentioned unfair
treatment in shifts, unfair payment practices such as the gap in salary scales and pay
progression. You are approached by a Workers Union to inform a policy on
organisational justice within the Health sector/public health facility to ensure that
health workers are not mistreated.
Discuss some of the strategies that can be used to promote organisational justice within
the public health facility. Provide examples where appropriate.
[25]
Employees tend to take a multifoci approach to perceiving justice within the organisations in
which they work. This refers to the fact that they consider individual factors relating to
people within the workplace, as well as the units that operate within the workforce.
Specifically, employees' perceptions of organisational justice are centered on four main
factors. These are distributive justice, procedural justice, interpersonal justice and
informational justice.
Firstly, employees are concerned with the distributive fairness in work-related outcomes. The
major issue that many employees are concerned with herein is fairness in payscales and
concern regarding the potentiality of being underpaid. It is a high priority for employees to
feel that their income is commensurate to both their experience as well as their day-to-day
, efforts. Moreover, employees expect that pay between employees of equal degrees of
experience should be equal. Similarly, the compensation received by stand-out employees
should not equal compensation received by underperformers.
In the case of health workers perceiving unfair payment practices such as the gap in salary
scales and pay progression, distributive fairness will be highly contended. It is imperative that
this issue be addressed to improve the perception of organisational justice. Since there is
already a perception of unfair pay distribution in this case, performance appraisals provide an
opportunity to the pay imbalances. More experienced, more educated or more hardworking
healthcare employees who are underpaid in comparison to others should receive higher pay
increases in their performance appraisals due to the aforementioned factors. In addition, new
systems should be implemented regarding salary negotiations during hiring processes. The
payscale could even be visible to the public. Ensure that healthcare workers will be paid
equally if they have the same level of education and the same amount of experience.
Secondly, it is important for employees to perceive procedural justice. In order to promote
procedural justice in the public health facility, it is important to hear the opinions of
healthcare workers, avoid bias at all costs, apply policies fairly, make important decisions
accurately and correct errors that occur transparently.
If healthcare workers are provided with an opportunity to express how they feel about
policies and procedures, they will feel valued. If healthcare workers are discriminated against
on the basis of race, gender or sexual orientation, irreparable damage will be caused. If
employees believe that procedures are followed according to specific codes and applied fairly
to all staff members, negative outcomes may be perceived as less personally damaging
because the outcome can be attributed to standard procedure. A commitment to accuracy is
important when implementing policy or making difficult decisions. However, when mistakes
occur, these should be resolved swiftly and openly. As long as there are clear rules in place,
and that these rules are enforced systematically and fairly to all employees, procedural justice
will be preserved.
Thirdly, employees are highly concerned with the interpersonal justice which they receive
from colleagues and superiors alike. Managers and team leaders have immense power, and
they should commit to treating their team members with due respect and civility. If
