A Man’s Job: Gender Discrimination Against Men
Employers and employees alike are accustomed to being on the lookout for gender discrimination against women, but sometimes, men find themselves discriminated against in much the same way. Employers sometimes task men with undesirable duties, make employment decisions based on gender, or even sometimes wrongfully terminate male employees.
Common Examples of Gender Discrimination Against Men
- Equal Pay – Men can just as easily experience a gap in pay as women. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is supposed to ensure that everyone gets the same pay for the same job. If a man and a woman are performing the same tasks, then they should be getting the same pay.
- Paternity Leave – One of the more common forms of gender discrimination that men face is that they are often ridiculed or even prohibited from taking paternity leave. Men are equally invested in the birth of their child and as such are afforded unpaid paternity leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
- Positive Discrimination – Positive actions are not illegal, but positive discrimination is. For example, encouraging more women to apply for an open position or take advantage of employment opportunities because you want to promote diversity is good, but setting a quota to hire a certain number of women is discriminatory against men.
- Female-Dominated Workplaces – Having a high ration of women to men is completely fine, but firing or refusing to hire a man based on his gender is not. For instance, letting go of a male employee rather than a female employee solely because you prefer a predominantly female staff is also discrimination.
- Sexual Harassment – Contrary to popular belief, sexual harassment affects men as well. Up to 35 percent of men in the workplace say they have experienced some form of harassment, less than 15 percent of sexual harassment cases presented to the EEOC are from men.
