Employment discrimination

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Employment discrimination refers to discriminatory employment practices such as bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, and compensation, and various types of harassment.

In many countries, laws prohibit employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, or age. There is also a growing body of law preventing or occasionally justifying employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Some jurisdictions within countries implement their own non-discrimination laws.

1 Protected categories
2 Unintentional discrimination
3 Legal protection from employment discrimination
- 3.1 By location
4 See also

[edit] Protected categories

Laws can prohibit discrimination on the basis of:

Race
Sex
Pregnancy
Religion
National origin
Citizenship
Disability (physical, mental, emotional)
Age
Sexual Orientation
Gender Identity
Marital status
Military discharge status
Anticipated military deployment

[edit] Unintentional discrimination

Unintentional discrimination (often termed "statistical discrimination") occurs when neutral selection practices produce a substantial disparity of outcomes between one group and another. Such practices include the use of standardized tests (which may disadvantage minority groups) or height (which may disadvantage women and some ethnic groups) in the hiring process. If the requirements are job-related and a "business necessity", the disparity is irrelevant.

Some laws prohibit unintentional discrimination as well as intentional discrimination, but may have different standards for deciding what is acceptable. Substantial disparities in outcome are not necessarily illegal, if the practices that produce them are necessary.