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Discrimination at work

The principle of equal treatment requires that all people, and in the context of the workplace all workers, have the right to receive the same treatment, and will not be discriminated against on the basis of criteria such as gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. EU law prohibits discrimination on an increasing number of grounds, meaning that it is difficult for employers to treat people differently without encountering a charge of discrimination and needing to establish an objective justification for doing so. Equal treatment is one of the main principles of the Pillar of Social Rights.

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Eurofound expert(s)

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Tina Weber is a research manager in Eurofound’s Working Life unit. Having previously shared her time between the Employment and Working Life units, her work has focused on labour...

Research manager,
Working life research unit
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​Martina Bisello is a research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. Her research interests include gender gaps in the labour market, occupational change and the impact of...

Research manager,
Employment research unit
Publications results (7)

Using data from the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey 2021 and building on a theoretical model that differentiates between job stressors and job resources, this report examines key psychosocial risks in the workplace and their impact on health.

23 November 2023

This report assesses the role of the social partners in tackling workplace discrimination. Against the background of EU and national anti-discrimination legislation, it highlights the extent to which the need to tackle discrimination on different grounds is on the radar of cross-sectoral social

31 August 2020

While discrimination against women at work has long been a mainstream topic in research literature, only marginal attention has been paid to discrimination against men. A number of factors may be responsible for this, including change in traditional occupational roles, cultural perceptions of the

27 March 2018

This article discusses the issues related to religion in the workplace, a topic that has received considerable attention in the media recently. An overview of significant cases of dispute between employers and employees is provided, as well as examples of social partners’ initiatives to accommodate

31 July 2017

This article provides an overview of surveys on the working life experiences of LGBT people in the EU and initiatives that aim to tackle this issue. The information is based on contributions from Eurofound’s network of European correspondents.

13 May 2016

This report examines employment opportunities for people with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and mental health problems in the EU28 Member States and Norway. People with a chronic disease may have a

14 November 2014

This booklet summarises the main findings from national reports of all European Union Member States and Norway on the prevention of racism at the workplace. It reviews the present situation in the labour market regarding discrimination against migrant workers and ethnic minorities, offering a choice

09 April 2001
Publication
Report summary
Online resources results (71)
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Member States are dawdling on gender pay transparency

The gender pay gap in gross hourly earnings in the EU was 14.8% in 2018. To help combat discriminatory pay practices by employers, the European Commission recommended in 2014 the introduction of pay transparency measures in all Member States. But more than half still have not implemented any such

Denmark: Developments in working life – Q1 2016

Tripartite discussions between the confederations and the government about the integration of refugees, the debates on the psychosocial working environment and LGBT issues are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in

Study points to discrimination in recruiting process

A study has looked at the question of ethic, age and gender discrimination in the recruiting processes of the Austrian labour market.

Monitoring anti-discrimination law in the workplace

The principle of equal treatment for Slovakian citizens is established by the provisions of two Acts of the National Council, Law No. 365/2004 Coll. on Equal Treatment and the amended Anti-Discrimination Act. They safeguard the right of equal treatment in employment and similar legal relationships

Inequality and discrimination in employment still high

A survey, Equality and discrimination in the workplace (in Bulgarian), [1] was commissioned by Bulgaria’s Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP [2]) and the Commission for Protection against discrimination (KZD [3]). It was part of a project, Progress Towards Equality: National Effective and

Social background continues to affect graduate job prospects

The UK’s most comprehensive longitudinal study of university applicants and their career paths has shown that social background continues to be a critical factor in determining educational and labour market outcomes. The Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU [1]) carried out a Futuretrack

Rise in age-related discrimination at work

One of the purposes of the ‘Trends’ survey carried out in April 2011 by research agency Centre of Empirical Studies (STEM [1]) was to learn more about the views of Czech people on discrimination at work. This representative survey involves a set of questions that have been asked each year since 2004

Unions’ role in combating workplace discrimination

A major element of the study, ‘Trade union practices on anti-discrimination and diversity’, involved the preparation of national state-of-the-art reports from all EU Member States plus three European Economic Area (EEA) countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), three candidate countries

Ethnic minorities’ jobs hardest hit by crisis

In February and September 2010 the sociological team of the Sofia-based Open Society Institute (OSI [1]) and experts from the World Bank [2] carried out a Bulgaria Crisis Monitoring Survey to study the economic situation of Bulgarian households in times of crisis. The results (in Bulgarian) [3] have


Blogs results (4)
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Following a sluggish response by many Member States to introduce or modify gender pay transparency measures, as it recommended in 2014, the European Commission intends to table a proposal for EU-level legislation on pay transparency later in 2020. In this context, a new Eurofound study investigated

6 November 2020
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In this blog piece, originally published in Social Europe, Karel Fric and Camilla Galli da Bino look at the issue of discrimination against men in the workplace in Europe, and the current lack of research in this area.

1 May 2018
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This article, originally posted in Social Europe, is based on a comprehensive overview of surveys on the working life experiences of LGBT people in the EU. 17 May is International day against homophobia, transphobia and biphobia. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people face distinct

17 May 2016
Data results (1)
27 October 2023
Reference period:

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