Are You a Member of the New Minority?
Protecting Teens at Work
I know I’ve said it and maybe you have too “Why don’t kids work like we did?” In fact, I saw a report on the news just this morning about the decreased number of teens in the workplace. It’s easy to criticize and believe they are just lazy or uninterested, but then you’d be guilty of the very same discrimination that is keeping many teens from getting to work. The issue has come to such critical mass that the EEOC has began a new initiative to aid what they call the “new minorities.” The youngest workers, in the US at least, our high school students face many issues from discrimination, harassment, mistreatment, pay violations and the list goes on. For this reason the EEOC started their Youth@Work Initiative, helping to educate students about their rights in the workplace, but also about their responsibilities at work. Part of the initiative includes round table discussions with representatives from the teen community with leaders in industry and the EEOC to help facilitate solutions to the issues they face.
Evidence of the effectiveness of Youth@Work comes in the form a $1 million settlement citing the owner of McDonalds. The teen workers won their case when it was shown that the defendant did nothing to stop the widespread harassment of female and underage workers.
Can your voice make you a minority?
It seems as though the people in this country forgot they were ALL immigrants as soon as they weren’t the latest one off the boat. We all KNOW the United States was built by immigrants, and it’s not that hard to imagine what a crowded tavern must have sounded like in 1682, the mash up of accents and languages.
Still, the prejudice is clear today, if you are seeking employment in the US you will have a hard time if you can’t “get rid of that accent.” It is easy to see how a heavy accent could cause issues in certain positions where customer have difficulty understanding an employee, but it’s likely a large part of the problem actually stems from anger over jobs being “Shipped out.” If you call a company’s customer service number and get an employee with an accent do you not assume you were just transferred to India? There are even comedies on TV about the subject. According to the EEOC there has been a whopping 75% increase in these discrimination claims.
Ismail Aliyev filed suit against the package giant FedEx, claiming he was fired because of his Russian accent, even though he spoke perfectly clear English.
If you believe you are being discriminated against in the workplace you need an advocate. Call United Employees Law Group NOW for review of your personal situation.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock/Roman Samborskyi