Everyone deserves to be treated fairly while at work, but unfortunately this is not always what ends up happening in reality. Gender discrimination still occurs in some workplaces, but it should not be tolerated.
However, this type of discrimination can be difficult to identify sometimes. You might not always realize what types of behavior qualify as gender discrimination. It can come in many different forms and it is important to realize what counts as gender discrimination at work.
Gender Discrimination Definition
In general terms, gender discrimination can be defined as unequal treatment based on sex. However, in order for behavior to be classified as discrimination, it must not simply be different but unequal and unfair.
Forms And Types Of Discrimination
Based on this definition, there are several forms this can take and being able to identify them is important. As a general outline, providing different working conditions or salaries to people of different genders or making hiring/promotion decisions based on sex are all forms of gender discrimination. Additionally, sexual harassment can be considered another form of sexual discrimination.
Examples of Discrimination
A few real-world type examples of discrimination include:
- An engineering company only interviewing men for the position
- A marketing company giving a raise to a woman over a man in the same role, with the same responsibilities and the same achievements
- A manufacturing company requiring the women to work under different, less comfortable conditions than the men
- A corporation ignoring complaints of sexual harassment about one of their managers
- A CEO making sexual favors a condition of employment for his assistant.
These are just a few potential situations that could constitute gender discrimination.
If you believe you have been a victim of gender discrimination at your workplace, it may be difficult, but you can take action. Most employers have guidelines for reporting this type of behavior, but it varies from company to company. You may need to take legal action, but there are employment law attorneys that can help you protect your rights and get justice for the behavior.