Employment discrimination and workplace discrimination are an ongoing problem in Minnesota and throughout the United States. While in the public eye, harassment has taken a more prominent role with steps being taken to reduce its frequency, people are still confronted with the challenge of discrimination for a variety of reasons. Paying attention to statistics regarding these issues can be important to understand its scope.
Recent research from the job site Glassdoor indicates that 61 percent of United States workers who took part in a survey stated they either saw or were victimized by workplace discrimination because of their gender, for being LGBTQ or due to their race. Compared to other industrialized democracies, the United States was worse than the United Kingdom, France and Germany in these categories. The study negates many positives in the United States job market with the lowest unemployment for 50 years.
Racism has affected 42 percent of American employees. It is the same percentage for those who were confronted with gender discrimination. Forty-five percent said they dealt with age discrimination. Thirty-three percent saw or were affected by LGBTQ discrimination.
It is important to note that workplace discrimination goes beyond comments, inappropriate jokes, failure to hire someone for a job or dismissing them without cause. It can include a person who is misidentified as being transgender, not getting a promotion due to their age or because they wanted to take time away from work after having a child or to bond with a newborn.
Employers cannot discriminate against employees because of their age, religion, sexual orientation, LGBTQ status, national origin and more. When this happens, it can cause financial and personal problems for the victim. This research indicates that despite greater focus on worker treatment, there remains a gap between how they should be treated to adhere to the law and the actual behavior of employers.
