California workers may be treating their male colleagues different than their female colleagues without even realizing it. For instance, a person may interrupt a woman in the middle of a sentence but not do the same to a male. This is referred to as a “micro-inequity’. Other such inequities include a lack of eye contact or signs of boredom when talking with a woman while being excited to talk with a male.
There are ways that employees can be proactive in making the workplace a more equitable place to be. Those who feel that they are being treated differently based on their gender should not dismiss that feeling. If necessary, an individual should call attention to the behavior in a friendly manner. In some cases, the person who interrupts in meetings or fails to introduce workers of both genders in the same way isn’t engaging in intentional discrimination.
If that fails to yield results, it can be worthwhile to speak with a manager or with an HR representative about the issue. Those who have seniority or positions of power within an organization can take steps to advocate for victims of inequality at work. They can ask a person to stop engaging in discriminatory behavior or find ways to change the company culture to make it more inclusive.
Workers who feel as if they were treated differently based on their gender may be the victims of employment law violations. Generally speaking, employers must create workplace rules and policies that treat all employees equally. Victims of sexual harassment or other inequalities in the workplace may wish to meet with an attorney to see what remedies they might have.
