Group members:

Chia Pei Xuan IBU1904084

Edde Lo Ming Sheng IBU1904090
Florence Ling Ker Xin IBU1904091
Josephine Jong Chia Yee IBU1904094
Low Wai Lin IBU1904098
Soh Shi Huang IBU1904104
Thong Jin Wei IBU1904112
Syeba Santania IBU1809923

Tutorial 3

Question 1 What Is Employment Discrimination?

● To "discriminate" against someone means to treat that person differently, or less

favorably, for some reason. Discrimination can occur while you are at school, at work, or
in a public place, such as a mall or subway station. You can be discriminated against by
school friends, teachers, coaches, co-workers, managers, or business owners.
● Discrimination in the workplace is based on certain prejudices and occurs when an
employee is treated unfavourably because of gender, sexuality, race, religion, pregnancy
and maternity or disability.

Question 2 Does a Person Have to Be an Employee to Be Protected From Discrimination?

No, for example in California. You are protected from employment discrimination by federal and
California laws. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against you on the basis of:
• Race
• Colour
• Age (if you are 40 or over)
• Religion
• Sex (which includes pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity)
• National origin
• Genetic information (including family medical history), or
• Disability.
California also extends these protections to discrimination against your marital status and your
military or veteran status.
You do not have to be an employee to be covered by these protections. This protection also
includes applicants, former employees, as well as current employees. As an employee, former
employee, or an applicant you are also protected from retaliation. In other words, you can’t be
penalized by an employer for suing, threatening to sue, or filing a discrimination complaint.

Question 3 What Are the Most Common Types of Hiring Discrimination?

● Gender
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 states that employers must give men and women equal pay
for equal work. Further, the act specifies that job content, not title, “determines whether
jobs are substantially equal.” Title VII of the Civil Rights Act also prohibits
discrimination on the basis of sex. In short, it is illegal for employers to pay men and
women different salaries based on their sex or gender.
● Race
It is illegal to treat either a job applicant or an employee unfavorably because they are of
a certain race or because of personal characteristics associated with race.
● Color
Color discrimination, which is treating someone unfavorably because of skin color
complexion, is also illegal. In the United States, some white employers would not hire
blacks as their employees as they may have stereotypes on them, thinking they might
steal or do anything that is not good for the company.
● National origin
Discrimination toward national origin entails treating persons (applicants or employees)
unfavourably because they are from a certain country or region of the world, because of
race or language, or because (even though they are not) they tend to be of a certain ethnic
heritage.
● Religion
It is illegal for employers to discriminate based on an individual's religious customs.
Businesses are required to make reasonable accommodation of an employee's religious
 beliefs, as long as doing so doesn't have excessively negative consequences for the
employer.
● Age
Age discrimination is a practice specifically prohibited by law. With a few rare
exceptions, companies are forbidden from specifying an age preference in job
advertisements. Employees must receive the same benefits regardless of age, the only
exception being when the cost of providing supplemental benefits to young workers is the
same as providing reduced benefits to older workers. Also, age discrimination in
apprenticeship programs or internship opportunities is illegal.
● Disability
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 made it illegal to discriminate
against qualified job candidates or employees on the basis of disability. In practical
terms, this means that employers cannot refuse to hire disabled candidates or penalize
disabled workers purely for their disabilities.

Question 4 Is there any distinction which is not considered discriminatory?

There is legitimacy for distinctions based on abilities or efforts.

Remuneration inequalities that represent discrepancies in educational years or the number of

hours worked are appropriate.

Enterprise compliance with government policies aimed at addressing existing discrimination

practices and thereby extending equal opportunities and treatment in jobs is not discrimination.

Special protection or assistance measures offered by national legislation, such as those relating to
health and pregnancy, are also essential provisions which do not constitute discrimination.

Specific steps and the accommodation of differences, such as those related to persons with
disabilities, may be needed to give effect to the concept of fair treatment.
Question 5 Where can discrimination occur in the workplace/organizations/businesses?

Discrimination in the workplace could occur during the recruitment process, such as the wording
in job advertisement against certain individuals or groups to dissuade them from applying at all.
For example, a company seeking “men for construction work” might be exhibiting gender
discrimination. Then, the questions asked during the interviews are predetermined to be the right
answers and are sometimes used as a way to discriminate against certain candidates.

Discrimination also happens during the hiring process. For example, a potential employee may
be given an employment contract with different terms and conditions that someone else would
have received. Or the ideal candidate might be overlooked for a position because the hiring
manager is stereotyping or makes uninformed and negative assumptions about the candidate.

Discrimination does not have to be intentional and often managers and workers in a company are
surprised at discriminatory practices they uncover when they start to look for them.

The last is during the employment that happens to or between full-time employees. For instance,
organizing training courses after work late in the day may exclude workers who may be
interested in attending them but cannot do so because of their family responsibilities. Workers
who receive less training are likely to be disadvantaged in subsequent job assignments and
promotion prospects and being unfairly demoted or terminated.

But it doesn’t happen to just permanent, full-time employees. It happens to seasonal, casuals,
interns, and part-timers too.