Are you a victim of job discrimination? To report an actual case of workplace discrimination is difficult. Even when you personally observed or experienced the offense; it could be a challenge to prove it happened.
Indeed, should you report, you risk receiving punishment, terminated, or subjected to negative consequences. In fact, there is a possibility that history would repeat itself if you would not speak up.
Concrete Examples of Job Discrimination
How will you know if you experience such? When someone in a company treats you in a way that violates either the company policy or your human rights, consider it job discrimination. Other concrete examples include physical or verbal harassment, denying a job, decreased salaries and benefits, fired from the job, and other unfair acts.
Other examples of job discrimination are the following:
- Getting fired due to pregnancy
- Getting fired or punished because of turning down a boss’s sexual advances
- Promoting a less-qualified candidate to a position over another candidate who is more qualified simply due to his/her race or color or religion
Offenders could be subject to court proceedings and eventually placed in jail for allowing job discrimination in the workplace.
How to Report Job Discrimination
- Identify the offender and possible witnesses to the incident.
- Document all the dates, times, and location, including the exact words used or actions employed of the offender.
- Understand the terms “discrimination” and “tolerance” and how it occurs in your workplace, just by unfavorable treatment in terms of hiring, promotion, and benefits.
- Scrutinize existing federal laws that state that any person should not receive discrimination on his or her job because of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, pregnancy, or disability.
- Review state laws about employment because anti-discrimination laws have not yet passed on certain states.
- Report the incident in a respectful manner, especially the subject of your complaint.
- Follow the chain of command and inform yourself on the company’s policy in detail.
- Prepare a hard copy of the complaint in your file.
Reminders upon Reporting Job Discrimination
- Wait for a third party to enter the room, especially if the issue is tense. Do not directly confront the person who is the subject of your complaint.
- Make a verbal and written report of the incident addressed to your direct supervisor.
- Write the report to another manager or the human resources department, if you cannot speak to your supervisor.
- Believe in yourself. Remember that you are protected by federal and state laws when reporting workplace discrimination.
- Follow up on your report to show you are serious in pursuing your case.
- Compel the human resources department to investigate your complaint immediately.
- Ensure that the investigation must be kept confidential by fellow employees, supervisors, and management.
- Express your cooperation to resolve the problem objectively and immediately without resorting to gossips.
Seek Help
If you think you cannot trust your supervisor or human resources manager about the job discrimination you have experienced or witnessed, you can contact the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to help you enforce anti-discrimination laws.
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