Spotting and recognising discrimination

Because workplace discrimination takes so many different forms, it can be difficult to recognise as a victim or colleague. We list some examples of possible forms of workplace discrimination:

• Insulting jokes from colleagues or managers;
• Not getting promotion opportunities;
• Receiving less salary than colleagues in the same job;
• Getting fired for getting pregnant/being pregnant;
• Not being hired somewhere because of your comeliness or appearance.

 

These are all examples of negative discrimination. The opposite of this is positive discrimination, where there is preferential treatment for certain people. Often a change in behaviour takes place in people who are discriminated against. For example, they may suddenly withdraw from the social circle of colleagues, or try to avoid certain colleagues. Sometimes when discrimination occurs, cliques form in the workplace. This is often accompanied by ostracism or social exclusion. If this catches the eye of one of your colleagues, there may well be more to it.