Gender discrimination in the workplace is one of the oldest problems in the professional world. While it is possible for sophisticated men and women to work together as colleagues without manipulating pay or opportunities, if either party slips below the conscious level, power dynamics suddenly become an all-to-imminent issue.
Even with many legal protections in place, women still effectively face a glass ceiling in many organizations where opportunities, rewards, and even basic human compassion for personal matters are withheld. Preventing workplace gender discrimination in Santa Barbara, CA is the responsibility of everyone in the workplace. Whether you have witnessed gender discrimination or are the subject of unfair treatment as a result of gendered views in your employer management structure, it’s time to hold accountable those who would hold others back.
In any workplace, your performance should always matter more than which restroom you use or who you love. We’re here to spotlight what workplace gender discrimination looks like and your legal rights under the state of California for a workplace free of gender discrimination.
What is Workplace Gender Discrimination?
- Equal Opportunities
- Equal Pay
- For equivalent work
- Industry standard
- Fair Management of Gendered Issues
- Family Leave
- Gender-Related Illness
Gender discrimination can be broken down into three hot-button issues. The first is opportunities: that matter of the glass ceiling. Women are often held back from leadership positions and challenging projects that have a high potential for rewards. If a workplace routinely promotes men over women, hires a man when a woman is more qualified, or never gives the largest or most prestigious assignments to women of equal performance, these can all be signs of workplace gender discrimination.
Discrimination-Free Workplace: Not Just for the Ladies
It’s also important to remember that the laws protect any discrimination according to gender. This applies to specifically gender-targeted discrimination, gender-related biology, gender-related lifestyle requirements, and the rare situations where a male may be the subject of gender discrimination.
In this way, gender as a protected class in the workplace protects everyone’s right to equal pay, opportunities, and non-harassing treatment in the workplace without consideration for how their gender effects their physical or personal life.
EEOC and Gender-Fair Opportunities
According to the federal Equal Pay Act secures your right to pay equality for equal and substantially similar work. A divide in pay based on gender is evidentiary and forbidden by the EEOC. This means that any workplace that is paying men and women a provable difference for similar roles is exposed to sanctions, fees, and lawsuits until the matter is corrected.
The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act secures your right to not be treated differently for gender-related matters including pregnancy, parental leave, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other matters included under sex discrimination. Employers are obligated not to make decisions based on an employee’s gender or how their gender affects thier life.
Gender-Equal Pay: California Fair and Equal Pay Legislation
In the state of California, you have further protections based on the strongly worker-favored balance of California workplace policies. Your workplace and gender rights in California are protected both by the Equal Pay Act of 1949 an the later addition to that law, the Fair Pay Act in 2015.
Equal Pay Act 1949
The California Equal Pay Act defined a worker’s right in California to be paid equally for equivalent work. The goal was to ensure that both genders receive fair pay without consideration for their biological or lifestyle gender-related matters.
Fair Pay Act of 2015
California’s Fiar Pay Act of 2015 addressed some loopholes in the wording of the Equal Pay act that clarified what it means for two roles to be significantly similar, even with different job titles.
California Labor Code 432.3
The California Labor code 432 protects your right to bargain over a fair salary. Your employers are banned from asking about your previous earnings which may be marred by bias and discriminatory pay.
Parental and Family Leave: California Family Rights Act
One of the major issues in the fight against gender discrimination in the workplace is family leave. Women have often been penalized for real and perceived time taken away for family, while men may likewise have a hard time getting family leave approved. FMLA and CFRA on both a federal and state level ensure that you have a few protected days a year to spend caring for someone in your family, no matter who got how sick or with what.
For both women and men, FLMA days can allow time to take care of sick family members. to experience personal illness, or to take care of other medical and family duties.
In California, family leave also includes a right to maternity leave for men and women to bond with a baby that has been born or adopted into the family.
Equal Gender Equality for Men and Women
It should always be remembered that respecting gender rights in the workplace and avoiding gender discrimination applies to both men and women. Each gender equality law that was originally used to protect the rights to work and earn for women are written to protect everyone. The wording also allows for men to take family leave, and for anyone to identify that their gender or gender-related identity is playing an unlawful role in company decision-making.
This careful wording is what has allowed these laws to stand as a foundation for fair workplace treatment, as gender has become a more fluid matter in social discussion. Whether an employee lives a life that is reflective of men or women, the essential elements of gender like style, family status, reproduction, and which bathroom they use should have no bearing on workplace decision-making.
What to Do If You See Gender Discrimination in a Santa Barbara Workplace
Gender discrimination can be seen by it’s patterns. It may be an obviously sleazy manager or a history of only hiring men or women for specific roles. It may be seen in the payroll sheets or in the unacceptable comments of management when justifying their decisions. If you have become aware or become the victim of gender discrimination in your workplace in Santa Barbara, CA, contact a California employment lawyer to discover your options and next steps.