The discrimination in the workplace might occur in the following ways:
- Protected classes
Discrimination in the workplace is considered illegal when the victim is known to be a member of a protected category, say, age, religion, pregnancy, gender, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, and race.
- During the process of recruitment
Discrimination tends to occur during the process of recruitment. The wording in job advertisements might discriminate against certain groups or individuals to dissuade them from applying. Say, for instance, a company is seeking men for construction work. This might be considered to be the exhibition of gender discrimination.
The way an interview is conducted, various questions are asked, and the list of predetermined right answers tends to, at times, be used as a discriminative way against a few candidates.
- During hiring
Discrimination also tends to happen during the process of hiring. Say, for instance, a potential employee might be given a contract of employment with terms and conditions that are different from the ones provided to someone else.
There are times when an ideal candidate ends up being overlooked for a particular position because the hiring manager makes negative assumptions or uninformed decisions about the candidate or engages in stereotyping.
- During employment
Discrimination during employment is often assumed to happen to someone who is a full-time employee. For instance, an employee is denied training, dealt with unfairly, is terminated or demoted, is overlooked for deserved promotions, benefits, transfers, etc. It does not always happen to permanent and full-time employees; this might happen to casual interns, part-timers, or seasonal.
Conclusion
Thediscrimination in the workplace might occur between employees, employers, and colleagues or between a third party and an employee. Specifically, it is considered an unfair treatment of an employee or a candidate based on the category of the class to which he belongs, rather than on individual merit.