Discrimination in the workplace is operationally defined as the unfavorable or unfair treatment that an employee suffers from due to his or her race, religion, nationality, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic and human right. Official discrimination may also be experienced by those who question authorities and report them, or those who oppose workplace discrimination themselves. In these cases, discrimination comes in the form of reprisal for their oppositive stance.

Discrimination can occur in any stage of the employment process. It can happen and apply in recruitment, hiring, job evaluations, promotion policies, training, compensation, and disciplinary action. Employees are protected from discriminatory acts against them by certain well-placed laws that prohibit discrimination at the workplace.

One very important note: unfair treatment is not necessarily synonymous with unlawful discrimination. When an employer treats a person differently from others, he violates Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws, especially when the treatment is based on arbitrary and personal reasons, and not on work performance. That is why discrimination claims are not always cut-and-dried and can be highly subjective, in most cases.

The anti-discrimination law requires that the employer proffers the exact same employment opportunities and enforces the exact same policies across the board to all employees in the company.

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Via workplace fairness