The number of complaints of workplace discrimination went up by 13.5% in 2017, according to the annual report of Unia, the independent office for complaints of breaches of equal rights. The number of case-files opened on all topics reached 2,017, 6% higher than in 2016. However with 572 files on workplace discrimination alone, the increase was double that.
More than one in four such cases were based on racial discrimination, while more than one in five were for reasons of disability. Age came in third place, with about one in six. Employment remains the single most common reason why people contact Unia, said director-general Els Keytsman.
“This trend shows that the labour market focuses too often on traditional profiles, and thus copies the inequalities of society,” she said. “If you fall outside of that profile, the risk of discrimination, bullying or exclusion increases. You’ll find it easier to find a good job in you fall into the right age category – namely 25-45 years – if you’re white and in good health. If not, you have to prove yourself, but you also have to suffer discrimination.”
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
