Sex or Gender Discrimination -Inside and Outside the Office

It is unfortunate that there are so many preconceived notions about gender roles. But these beliefs are established and the only thing that can be done is to prevent them from permeating the workplace.

Some of the gender roles that are common are the belief that women should not work outside the home when they have children.

A good example of this type of gender role-based workplace discrimination involves both of these gender role stereotypes. There was a time when many employers were men; as men, they harbored incorrect thoughts that women with young children should not work outside the home; therefore, these employers would not hire women with children who were under school-age.

Of course, there are still people who believe this, and some of them are women; but these beliefs need to be kept outside the office.

Age Discrimination, Disparate Impact, and The Law

In the state of California, it was recently found that police officers who had been working for a short amount of time and had little experience on the job were given higher pay raises that those officers who had significant seniority, much more experience, but were over the age of forty.

According the Federal Law Title VII, this is age discrimination. But it was not considered disparate treatment; rather, it was considered disparate impact because the discrimination was the result of police department policy rather than direct, intentional discrimination.

This is important for all employers. Disparate impact, since it is not done with malice, is not as harmful as disparate treatment, but it is still very serious. When an employer is thinking of changing company policies, it is imperative that they check that the policies follow both state and federal employment law.

Disparate Treatment Racial Discrimation In Workplace

There are two basic types of racial discrimination that are common in the workplace; the more common one, disparate treatment, is direct and purposefully harmful to the person. Essentially, disparate treatment means that the person being discriminated against is treated in a way that is deemed unfair or is directly discriminated against by the actions of the employer.

For example, when an Iranian man who is an American citizen is treated poorly by his co-workers or his company because of his race and ancestry, this is considered disparate treatment.

The discrimination is directly and purposefully aimed at the man because he is of a certain race. It would also be considered disparate treatment if the same man was passed over for a job position for which he was entirely qualified simply because he was Iranian or had Arabic ancestry.

For more information on discrimination visit: ‘Employment Discrmination Guide‘

Sex or Gender Discrimination Due To Gender Stereotypes

For both women and men, it is important to be able to be yourself all the time, but most specifically in the workplace.

While certain behaviors like poor language and inappropriate humor should always be left at home, a person’s personal and gender traits cannot be expected to be saved for outside the office. This is why gender stereotypes are prevented in anti-sex or gender discrimination law.

An example of gender stereotypes can be applied to both sexes. If a man is passed over for a job solely because he acts too feminine, this would be considered gender discrimination based on gender stereotypes. If a woman is not given a promotion she deserves because her behavior is considered too masculine, she, too, is a victim of gender discrimination based on gender stereotypes. Of course, this has to be provable before it can successfully go to court.

For more information on employment discrimination, visit our website – ‘Employment Discrimination‘

Sexual Orientation Discrimination and California Law

The only state in the United States that has anti-discrimination law for sexual orientation discrimination is California. California has many statutes that protect workers from any discrimination in the workplace regardless of their sexual orientation. One of the more complicated of these issues is in regards to perceived sexual orientation.

Employers who think that one of their employees, or a potential job candidate, is homosexual or of what the employer considers a “questionable” sexual orientation, and fires the person (or does not hire the person) for this, the employer is discriminating against that person due to their perceived sexual orientation.

It does not matter whether or not the person is actually homosexual; California law states that even assumed sexual orientation discrimination is grounds for a lawsuit. The fact that the employer has proven their bias is good enough for a court case.

Check Your Education If Starting A New Career

It is very important for those who are thinking about going back to work after an absence, or for those thinking of starting a new career, to look into their educational history.

It is a big boost to be able to add a two year degree or a bachelor’s degree to a resume that formerly had no secondary education listed.

The problem for many people who want to further their education is that they do not have the time to go back to school. They have families and full-time jobs that prevent them from attending classes during the week. Some options for these people can be Saturday and weekend classes or online classes.

Many degrees are currently available through online universities or through brick and mortar universities that have online programs. Saturday and weekend college are generally all day events, but many companies pay for their employees to take these classes.

Today employees look at your educational history and qualifications as more and more people are looking for employment. The better you are equipped the better your chances of securing that position.

Workplace Discrimination Hard To Prove

A difficult question to answer is the one where you wonder if you have a workplace discrimination case. Unfortunately it often takes a team of lawyers working around the clock to prove an instance of workplace discrimination.

There are a few issues that lawyers look for when they are examining a workplace discrimination case, and the main issue that they are searching for is why the employee was fired from or not hired for a position in the beginning.

The key to any workplace discrimination case is asking ‘why.’ Why was this person not hired? Why was the person fired? There are a multitude of reasons why a person might not be hired or be fired, but only a few are legally actionable. If the employer wanted to hire his sister-in-law for the same position that you were applying for, he doesn’t have to hire you over her.

On the other hand if your employer finds out you are homosexual and the next day he fires you, you may very well have a good court case.

The reason as to ‘why’ your employer made the decision is the question you have to answer. If you can prove the why and it is definitely a discrimination case, then you can act.

Your Blogging and Privacy Rights In The Workplace

Privacy rights in the workplace are crucial issues that should not be overlooked. Employees and employers alike deserve to have their confidential home lives respected. Today’s society offers some complexities that will be discussed briefly in this article. Our privacy is quite valuable but there are occasions when discretion is compromised.

This is especially true when employers and employees choose to put information out on the Internet. Any curious person can find information on an individual no matter what privacy rights in the workplace are established. Blogging can be a hazard to a person’s discretion.

We all have privacy rights in the workplace and the United States Constitution guarantees that. But what about a person’s right to keep a personal blog? Some reports offer information that individuals may lose a job or may be denied a position because of the content of their personal Weblog.

In order to assure that your privacy rights in the workplace are kept you may want to take some precautions when starting a blog. There are a handful of choices you can make to assure that you can share your thoughts freely without compromising your privacy. Following are some simple solutions to your online confidentiality concerns.

Why not start an anonymous blog that offers no clues as to who you are? This is the ideal approach for many bloggers who want to enjoy freely sharing thoughts and ideas without the worry of losing their privacy rights in the workplace. While freedom of speech is a right in itself there are times that you want to protect your privacy as well as share your opinions.

When you freely put yourself out there on the Internet, you are in essence giving up part of your confidentiality in the process. An anonymous blog with a fake identity is a wonderful approach to protecting your privacy rights in the workplace. This practice is common among editors who want to vent but don’t want to pay the consequences of expressing their frustrations online.

You can also choose to keep your own identity if you want. This is especially important to people who want to maintain personal blogs without compromising their privacy rights in the workplace. All you need to do is make your blog assessable to approved visitors only.

The complexities of privacy rights in the workplace in the age of the Internet go far beyond blogging. For now you may want to keep yourself appraised of the current trends in this ever changing subject.

When There Is Workplace Discrimination There Are Problems In The Home

Workplace discrimination is a serious problem that is being addressed, and has been addressed, all over the country for the last four decades. And while there is good, reliable legislation’s in place to protect Americans from workplace discrimination, there are problems that come along with the discrimination that greatly affect the lives of the sufferers.

It is a proven fact that sufferers of workplace discrimination often are not only personally affected by the negativity of the discrimination, but their families are often harmed as well. When a person is suffering at their place of employment, they will often either exclude their families from their problems at the office, or the family will simply suffer from the disruption of the family life due to stresses placed on the sufferer in the workplace. These problems should not be overlooked when addressing the issue of workplace discrimination; the entire family suffers from discrimination.

Are These Signs Of Bosses Reducing The Number Of Employees

The end of the year might often bring personal revising for many companies. The immediate consequence will be firing people. So that a similar managerial decision will not get to you unprepared, here are some signals you should watch out for.

1. The consultant.
The consultant is that person that comes to reevaluate and to make plans for the distribution of personnel. Sometime, his job can be to tell who stays and who goes from that moment on. His presence is a sign you should have your CV at hand – you will have to convince him of your abilities in the new created structures or, if the situation requires, you will need to convince another employer of your professional abilities.

2. Closed-door meetings.
It can often happen over night; in a department where the boss used to apply the open-doors policy and all of a sudden he appears to be all the time in meeting with his superiors, there for sure something different is going to happen. You can think of asking him directly if they are going to take measures of reducing the number of employees. Experts and practice show that you won’t get a clear answer. There are managers that denied this possibility in front of a large group of people, although later it was proven to be true.

3. A new boss.
If the department you are working in is coordinate by a new manager, then it is highly possible that he will bring along his own team – people with whom he had worked before and therefore trusts. Maybe you professional level is high and no one can argue with that, but the new boss doesn’t know you abilities. This situation doesn’t occur all the times ( the top-manager can accept him in the new position on the condition that he keeps the old team) but then the decision of the manager is heading to this direction, the replacements will not be made at once, but throughout a longer period of time.

4. Change in responsibilities.
Some experts say that if your responsibilities change over short periods of time, without a prior evaluation (that normal brings decisions linked to promotion or salary rise), and the new position is presented as a true opportunity, but you know very well that no one wants that job, then you should keep your eyes wide open. If, on the contrary, you are given less and less work and it seems as if no project is for you or a whole bunch of meetings you would be interested in are organized without your knowing, then maybe it is time to invest in the perfect suit for a job interview.

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