Sometimes at your place of employment, you can run into issues with your colleagues. Everyone can have minor challenges at work, but what if a co-worker intentionally tries to get specific people in trouble? Then you may be dealing with workplace discrimination. Workplace discrimination happens in different forms, and it’s not always direct. This issue affects many people, so it needs to be recognized and appropriately handled.
The 4 types of discrimination are direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimization. Direct discrimination is when you are being treated worse than another person because of a specific characteristic. Indirect discrimination happens when there is a policy that applies to everybody but disadvantages people with specific characteristics. Harassment is when a colleague threatens an individual worker or group of workers. Victimization is when a colleague treats you unfairly because of a specific action a worker has taken. Discrimination can happen to anyone in any type of workplace.
Discrimination at work may have to do with your age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage, civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Racism is rooted in the history of enslavement. It is usually targeted towards a visible minority and can often affect the immigrant population. This problem remains in Canada today. Recognizing racism is an important first step, and this can only happen through education. Racism can certainly be a form of discrimination at work and can be dealt with by having appropriate resources in the workplace for the education of workers (ie. mandatory courses). There should also be proper channels for workers to follow if complaints and problems regarding racism arise.
Religious discrimination can also take place at the workplace. Such discrimination can lead to lowered self-esteem and feeling like you don’t fit in with your colleagues. Education about various cultures and religions can be critical to increasing tolerance in the workplace. Having a multicultural committee at work can be a good first step to acknowledging different religions and beliefs and making sure that everyone feels represented.
People with disabilities also face significant discrimination, and this is one of the most prevalent issues in Canada. People with disabilities experience workplace discrimination in different and unique ways. These workers have been called derogatory names and even mocked for their disabilities. Discrimination can also come in the form of a lack of physical accessibility for the disabled worker. Again, appropriate education is important here, and it is also imperative that the physical workplace can accommodate people with disabilities.
Some things we can do to stop workplace discrimination are: create a diverse workplace with people of varying backgrounds, educate employees on diversity, and create a strict law about discrimination. If we create a diverse workplace, people can learn from their differences and respect them. If we educate employees on diversity, they can at the very least learn to accept different races and religions. Education regarding disabilities is also critical to reduce discrimination against mental or physical challenges that others may face. Even with education in the workplace, some may continue to disrespect others. However, with strict workplace rules about discrimination, and strong reinforcement of these rules, we can hope that fewer people will have this experience going forward.
Works Cited
Falconer, Karen. “The 4 Types of Discrimination: What Every Employer Needs to Know: HR.” HR Solutions, 25 Jan. 2021, www.hrsolutions-uk.com/4-types-of-discrimination/.
“How to Prevent Racial Discrimination in the Workplace.” Make It Our Business, 2017, makeitourbusiness.ca/blog/how-prevent-racial-discrimination-workplace.
Maryam Jameel, Joe Yerardi. “Workplace Discrimination Is Illegal. But Our Data Shows It's Still a Huge Problem.” Vox, Vox, 28 Feb. 2019, www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/28/18241973/workplace-discrimination-cpi-investigation-eeoc.
Published March 29, 2021
Written by Raveena Duggal ~ Edited by Sarah Wilenzick ~ Graphics created by Tanya Gu
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