EDITOR'S POST
Is all discrimination in employment illegal?
Q. Is all discrimination in employment illegal?
A. While discrimination in employment is a complicated and a controversial topic, one can definitely say than not all discrimination is illegal. For example, an employer has the right to discriminate against candidates with little education -- unless this leads effectively to discrimination on other, illegal, criteria. A city can require its employees to live in the city and refuse to hire anyone from the suburbs. Certain criteria for discrimination have been outlawed in the last few decades in most countries. For example, it's usually illegal to refuse to hire or promote someone because of the color of their skin or their sex (but there are exceptions to that, such as the 'affirmative action' program in the U.S.). Other examples of legal discrimination might be a family refusing to hire a man as a babysitter (insisting on a woman), or a theater refusing to hire a black actor to play a white character. Many jurisdictions also have outlawed discrimination based on marital status (can't refuse to hire someone because s/he is/isn't married), religion (with some exceptions: a synagogue can refuse to hire a Christian to work as a rabbi), disability (if it doesn't interfere with the job duties), and sexual preferences.
A company that tried to practice no discrimination in employment would probably have to hire all applicants indiscriminately on first-come, first-hire basis (and even then it would discriminate against the late comers). It probably wouldn't hire the best people. On the other hand, a company that practices 'illegal discrimination' is probably violating certain laws.
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Posted by: Editor at July 5, 2005 06:51 AM