Fighting Unfairness In The Workplace
It is not unreasonable to expect to be treated fairly at work. You should walk into work every day, expecting to be treated with respect and dignity.
As well as this, you should hope that you will be allowed to gain a promotion, a pay rise, and more opportunities for when you excel at your job. However, this is not the case in every workplace. If you believe this is you, you do not need to sit and take it. Here is some advice on what to do if you think you are being unfairly treated.
What is unfair treatment?
It is illegal to discriminate in the workplace, and you cannot be harassed. Protected characteristics ensure that you cannot be bullied in the workplace due to your age, disability, pregnancy, or gender identity.
A hostile work environment usually generates this kind of behavior which can impact your job. Some examples include spreading lies about an employee, discriminating against someone and avoiding them for promotion, and paying different wages for staff members due to other factors that are not experienced in the job role or work ethic.
What can you do?
Document the treatment
One of the first things you should do is document the unfair treatment if you believe it to be unfair. You should do this even if you are unsure whether the treatment is at the level of harassment.
Make sure to keep your email messages, internal memos, voicemails, and office communications. You can use these as leverage for negotiating severance pay if you decide to quit or if you are forced out the door. Keep notes, diary entries, and a list of people who witnessed the incident in case you need to provide the specific event.
Reporting the incident
If you want to stay and fight for your job, you must report the treatment to your human resources department. This will help formalize your complaint but can put you under the category of a whistle-blower.
However, it does mean that your employer cannot fire you while you have an open complaint, as it will appear as retaliation. Reporting the harassment will not only begin the process of a legal case but means you are protected from wrongful termination.
Stay off social media
An important thing to do is to stay off of social media. Don’t advertise your information about the case or about your situation. Understandably, you may be angry but do not vent to the online community.
It will put you in a disadvantageous position. It may be worth suspending your own social media presence while your case is ongoing. You do not want to attract attention to your case.
Fighting unfairness
It can be a tough situation to be in, but it is not impossible. All you need to do is take it one step at a time. Make sure you have an evidenced strong case and then follow the formal routes of creating your case.
