Discrimination Experienced by Employees

California’s working environment can be cruel to employees. It may at first look like a haven for employment opportunities but old-timers know better.

This is because with the rising incidences of workplace discrimination that leads to a hostile work environment, many employees unfortunately experience maltreatment.

To curb this problem, the government had enacted new laws and amended existing ones to help the member of the labor force. Nonetheless, not all of these efforts seem enough.

As it is, many companies or owners still think that they are shielded against charges of employment law violations. Moreover, they tend to ignore the negative effects of their abuses.

Additionally, more and more labor law provisions are being blatantly violated through the years. Government data show that numerous employment-related complaints and petitions are still being tried in court yet annually.

Meanwhile, to determine if an employee truly experiences discrimination, it would be better to first define it. Workplace discrimination is the invalid treatment done to workers or to people based on their age (employees age 40 and above), religious beliefs, sex (pregnancy issues), national origin, or educational attainment. Moreover, these abuses are frequently done during employment processes such as:

• Hiring
• Termination
• Training
• Promotion
• Leaves

Types of discrimination
As mentioned, there are different types of discrimination in the workplace, including:

Nationality

The employer or fellow workers at the company may discriminate against an employee on the basis of her nationality.

Age

The company may favor the young employees over the older ones or those who were applying. Those covered under the protection of the corresponding Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) that prohibits this are those employees or job applicants aged 40 and above. This act also covers customers or fellow employees who might commit the prejudice.

Religion

Any person has the right to choose his or her own religion. Accordingly, the owner or employer cannot force the worker to change beliefs or even wrongfully fire the employee on the basis of his or her religious convictions and practices.

These provisions on employee rights have corresponding sanctions under the law. Complainants are encouraged by the government to speak up and help prevent more people from becoming victims to such employee rights violations.