Nobody deserves harassment or discrimination in the workplace due to their gender, age, religion or other protected status. Unfortunately, every day in California workplaces, people experience various types of unlawful gender discrimination. Being able to recognize these instances of illegal treatment enables employees to look after themselves as well as their colleagues.
Here are examples of gender discrimination in places of employment in California.
Making sexual jokes
Making sexual jokes targeted at one gender can be a form of gender discrimination and even sexual harassment. Jokes meant to demean another group can make others feel uncomfortable and lead to a hostile work environment.
Paying people less for doing the same job
Paying someone less for doing the same job is one of the more obvious signs of gender discrimination in the workplace. For example, a man and a woman might both have the same job title and have equivalent duties, experience and education; it might be sex discrimination if a company pays one of them more than the other.
Barring people from certain jobs based on their gender
Discouraging a particular gender from applying for a job because of their gender can also be a form of discrimination. One example of this could be a company that refuses to interview a woman for a construction position because they assume she would not be strong enough to perform the job duties, rather than looking at her qualifications and previous experience.
By being aware of what constitutes gender and other types of discrimination in the workplace, employees and employers can choose to do better.