You don’t have to stand for discrimination in the workplace

Workplace discrimination can quickly make a once-promising job into a horrifying situation to work in. Workplace discrimination happens to people from all walks of life, from pregnant women to homosexual workers. It’s against the law to discriminate, yet many employers do so.

The law protects against employment discrimination in a few cases including when an employee or job applicant is treated poorly or unfairly as a result of race, nationality, gender, age, religious, disability or skin color. Discrimination can take place at any time during the hiring or firing processes, so the law protects against discrimination during any point in employment, even before or after.

Discrimination and harassment are not the same things. Harassment is a form of discrimination, however. Harassment comes in a number of forms including treating someone unfairly or with unwelcomed behavior due to the above differences, pregnancy, genetic information or other protected factors. Discrimination or harassment can both be taken part in by employers, coworkers or clients. It’s important that any harassment or discrimination is reported, no matter who participates in it in the workplace.

If you’re concerned that you may have been discriminated against, you are not alone. Whether you feel that you’re not being paid fairly in relationship to others doing the same job with the same background or have been denied the fair use of company facilities, it’s your right to pursue the issue further and to reach a resolution. Our website has more on what you can do if you’ve been mistreated on the job; you have rights, and you need to know them.