Modern employees have numerous forms of legal protection. For example, they have protection from discrimination on the job. Employers should not consider the various protected characteristics of individuals when deciding who to hire or who they want to promote.
There are a number of protected characteristics, including age, race, sex, physical disability and religion. Employers should treat all workers equally and consider them on the basis of their education, work history and job performance. Unfortunately, managers, business owners and human resources professionals are all human. They have internal biases that can influence how they treat others. Workers may still encounter discrimination in the workplace despite the laws protecting them against it. If workers do experience discrimination, they may be able to take legal action against their employers.
What are some of the most common ways that discrimination manifests?
Lost employment opportunities
Many people begin to suspect discrimination when they start struggling to find a job. Visible disabilities and visual signifiers of religion, race, sex and advanced age are all things that interviewers and trainers may recognize. Some people may lose out on job opportunities because of their protected characteristics. Others may find that they face promotion discrimination and that they cannot move to a better position despite their best efforts. Some employees may end up included in layoffs and may suspect that their protected characteristics contributed to that decision.
A hostile work environment
Sometimes, employers aren’t the ones who discriminate directly. Instead, coworkers or supervisors treat certain workers poorly because of their protected characteristics. When workers report the issue, they should receive support addressing their concerns. Organizations that don’t try to prevent harassment and mistreatment of employees based on their protected characteristics may have discriminated against those workers through their inaction.
Retaliation
Workers who assert that they have experienced harassment or other forms of discrimination on the job should be able to count on support from their employers. Some businesses don’t just fail to act. They intentionally punish workers who report misconduct. They commit illegal acts of retaliation. Retaliation can look like firing a worker after they make a complaint or transferring them to a different shift. Retaliation can have a strong chilling effect on a professional’s career.
Those who experience workplace discrimination may need help reviewing their options and holding their employers accountable, and that’s okay. Documenting what happened and taking legal action can help workers change the culture at a company and pursue compensation for the mistreatment they’ve experienced.
