Gender discrimination in the workplace has been prominent for a very long time. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act – makes it illegal for an employer to refuse to hire, terminate or otherwise discriminate against an individual with respect to compensation (pay), terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Although economic stability including other factors during the last years had started to impact gender inequality positively in terms of working towards equal pay and more employment of women in sectors which are not “social sectors”, the COVID-19 pandemic economic crash has definitely created a huge gap in the progress.
“Across the globe, women earn less, save less, hold less secure jobs, are more likely to be employed in the informal sector. They have less access to social protections and are the majority of single-parent households. Their capacity to absorb economic shocks is therefore less than that of men.” Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Women
Emerging evidence shows that women may be more severely affected by the pandemic. Quite a large percentage of women are strictly employed in sectors which require a lot of social physical interactions, so face-to-face work with clients or other employees, such as jobs in social work, in restaurants or as teachers etc. As you may well know, those were the sectors that were mostly impacted from the pandemic. That led to jobs not being available anymore, either the employees were completely dismissed, or there were large cuts in pay.
Source: McKinsey & Company
Women, especially single mothers, who have to also take care of children and work in the house, the majority of employers tend to withhold from taking women in as workers just because of that. As balancing personal life and work life can tend to be more difficult while working remotely, it shouldn’t be used to discriminate against women in the working sector.
With women having less opportunities to work and be financially independent, high domestic violence cases have been reported. Being locked in and being financially dependent on toxic and abusive partners has caused a pandemic of its own.
So, what could companies and other workplaces do in these cases? First, there should be a mutual understanding between the employers and the employees that keeping the balance between work and personal life during the pandemic has become an issue.
The employer should provide proper paid sick leave days. This especially needs to be taken into consideration, as the overall health of all employees could be compromised from the virus.
There should be more flexibility with the working hours, as it has been now proven with the situation that employees can be more productive in their own time, and focus for 8 hours in the office is not always necessary.
How would a discrimination lawyer help?
The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) is a 2019 New York law, which on top of everything else, prevents discrimination in employment. You are protected by law and supported if you suspect that you lave been terminated from a job on false pretenses and possibly due to discrimination regarding your gender/sex.
A discrimination lawyer can be consulted and their expertise can determine whether or not you can file a discrimination suit on the employer.
L & D Law P.C. employment discrimination lawyers in New York
It is tough to cope with a situation of employment discrimination and especially gender discrimination in the workplace since it causes stress and anxiety. That said, a skilled employment lawyer will walk you through the process by laying out all pros and cons of your complaint as well as the most beneficial courses of action that bring successful outcomes. As a result, hiring a lawyer when filing an employment discrimination lawsuit is a crucial step in reaching justice for all the damage that you incurred.
What can you do to assert your rights? Hire a Lawyer.
No one deserves to face sexual harassment or gender discrimination in the workplace. Our attorneys are not only experienced and skilled, but we are also passionate about the work we perform and emphatically believe in taking each case personally so that we can be zealous advocates on behalf of each client. Our attorneys are responsible for recovering millions for our clients and pushing each case as far as we need to so as to ensure that justice is served. Our firm offers a risk-free, free of charge, consultation where we will go over your claims with you to see whether a case exists. Since there may be a number of time limitations on when you can file your claims, it is important that you waste no time to contact us at L & D Law P.C. (Liggieri & Dunisha).
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