What to Do If You’re Being Discriminated Against at Work
Discrimination at work is one of the worst ordeals to have to try and push through. Whether you’re facing it from the company itself or from an employee you work with, it can drain your energy and leave you questioning your value. If you feel discriminated against at work, here are the steps of what you should do to try and fix this situation that you shouldn’t even have to be in.
Keep Calm, Keep Notes
Whenever you feel like someone is discriminating against you, whether it’s a company or a coworker, you should take the time to write it down and keep notes. Keep track of the time and date, what was said or done, and who was there. If you have any evidence to back it up, like paperwork, texts, or audio recordings, you should store it away for the following steps. Some may tell you that you’re overreacting or that you shouldn’t feel upset, but it’s essential to follow through if you genuinely feel discriminated against.
Don’t lash back at people who hurt you or discriminate against you because this can be used against you to hurt your case or make you look bad. Instead, try to keep a calm head and move on from what’s happening.
Report The Information
Let your job know what’s going on. This could mean going to human resources to tell them what you witnessed or talking to a supervisor if it’s a coworker. If the company’s hiring procedures, or how they choose who to promote, seems unfair, then you should try to go higher up. Although HR or a supervisor may be able to help somewhat in a situation like this, if they’re part of the problem that you’re complaining about, they may take it personally and lash out at you.
Watch For Changes or Retaliation
Once this information is reported, keep an eye out for any changes or retaliation. This may mean that once you’ve written it, positive changes happen within the company if they take what you’ve said to heart and reprimand whoever was at fault or make the hiring changes you mentioned if that was the problem: good! Then this is a company worth working for. If not, there are further steps to take.
If you feel retaliated against for speaking out about what happened, it’s okay to push this further. You can, and should, report it again- but if the first one didn’t work, there’s a high likelihood that the second report won’t work either. Unfortunately, that means you might have to take more drastic steps.
What To Do If Things Keep Happening
If your workplace continually ignores the problem, regardless of whether it’s promotions, hiring, or an employee that harasses you, it may time to press charges. Discrimination cases only come up when people are feeling wholly ignored or are being talked over. People deserve to feel respected and safe within their workplace; it doesn’t matter where they work or how long they’ve worked there.
