For example, for a company to afford to employ a person with mobility restrictions, it needs to put in place some accessibility equipment designed specifically for the type of restriction, such as a ramp, special elevator, dedicated parking space, and a properly equipped desk. However, shortly after the notion of equal employment opportunity (EEO) started to gain traction, it became clear that, in order for equality to happen, one had to question strict equality of treatment and introduce some kind of difference of treatment, which may take different shapes. In a first meaning, non-discrimination means not treating people differently based on one of listed prohibited criteria, such as gender, ethnic origin, age, or disability, and other criteria present in the legislation of most countries that are part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). ![]() The concept of equality can be interpreted as a reformulation of the principle of non-discrimination in employment matters (Berg, 1964). A major hurdle in most countries is the enforcement of equality laws, mostly relying on individuals initiating litigation. ![]() The public sector tends to be more protective than the private sector. Specific countries’ national legislation testify that some countries moved gradually along the continuum by introducing laws of increasing mandate, while (a few) others introduced outcome mandates directly and early on, as part of their core legal foundations. ![]() Legislation can be sorted along a continuum, from the most discriminatory ones (“negative discrimination laws”) such as laws that prescribe prison sentences for people accused of being in same-sex relationships, to the most protective ones, labeled as “mandated outcome laws” (i.e., laws that prescribe quotas for designated groups) through “legal vacuum” (when laws neither discriminate nor protect), “restricted equal treatment” (when data collection by employers to monitor progress is forbidden or restricted), “equal treatment” (treating everyone the same with no consideration for outcomes), “encouraged progress” (when data collection to monitor progress on specific outcomes is mandatory for employers), and mandated progress (when goals have to be fixed and reached within a defined time frame on specified outcomes). But there are many possibilities offered by legal instruments to go beyond strict equality of treatment, in order to ensure equality of opportunity (a somehow nebulous concept) and equality of outcomes. Equality is a concept open to many interpretations in the legal domain, with equality as equal treatment dominating the scene in the bureaucratic nation-state.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |