DOI: 10.36347/sjebm.2017.v04i09.005

Pages: 626-637

Differentiating employees pay on factors unrelated to performance and merit such as of race, gender, age, ethnicity, religion or color has been widely regarded as an unfair and unethical organizational practice. The purpose of this research is to investigate the issue of wage discrimination and its effects on work-related outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention.). Adams equity theory, organizational justice theory and the relative deprivation theory were reviewed as the theoretical perspective of this study. A survey-based descriptive research design was employed for the study, and data were collected via questionnaire from employees operating in North Cyprus region of Lefkosia and Girne through a convenience sampling technique. Pearson correlation and regression analysis were employed to analyze the data with the aid of SPSS program. The findings of the study revealed that the perception of wage discrimination among employees in North Cyprus is high. The results also indicate that wage discrimination decreases employee’s job satisfaction and organizational commitment. However, wage discrimination was not found to lead to employee turnover intention. This is perhaps because of the low job opportunities in North Cyprus. The implications of the findings of this research recommend that organizations should ensure that employees are fairly and consistently rewarded based on performance and merit without bias in order to create a positive work environment. This will improve their morale and attitude towards the achievement of organizational goal. In conclusion, this study contributes to the still small research field around the topic of wage discrimination and job outcomes in the context of North Cyprus.