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Equal employment opportunity (EEO)

Equal employment opportunity is about:

fair practices in the workplace
management decisions being made without bias
recognition of, and respect for, the social and cultural backgrounds of all staff and customers
employment practices which produce staff satisfaction, commitment to the job and the delivery of a quality service
an efficient workplace free from harassment and discrimination
improving productivity by guaranteeing that:
- the best person is recruited and/or promoted
- skilled staff are retained
- training and development are linked to employee needs and customer needs

EEO also aims to redress past disadvantage by improving employment outcomes for women, Aboriginal people, people from Non-English speaking backgrounds and people with a physical disability. It does this through programs and policies which increase the capacity of these groups to compete for employment on merit.

How does EEO affect you?

To be effective, EEO requires the active participation of both staff and management. As a staff member you have the right:

to the opportunity to be selected for promotion on merit
to choose an individual career path
of access to all appropriate benefits and conditions
of access to a grievance resolution process and to be free from harassment in the workplace

You have the responsibility:

to work to your full capacity
to recognise the skills and talents of other staff members
to respect cultural and social diversity among your colleagues and customers

Discrimination

Direct discrimination - occurs when someone is treated unfairly or less favourably because of a characteristic such as: race, colour, pregnancy, physical or mental disability or family responsibilities.

Examples of direct discrimination are:

refusing to interview a person for a job because he or she is Aboriginal.
deciding that a person does not fit into the workplace because of the person's gender.

Indirect discrimination - happens when there is a requirement (a rule, policy, practice or procedure) that is the same for everyone, but it has an unequal or disproportionate effect for a specific group of people. Unless this type of requirement is reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances, it is likely to be indirect discrimination even if there is no intention to discriminate unfairly.

Examples of indirect discrimination could occur when:

an employer requires an employee to wear a uniform that is not compatible with their religious beliefs.
the design of the workplace prevents a person with a disability from reaching things needed to do the job.
an employer bases a promotion decision on length of service or experience in a specific job, which may for example, discriminate against women employees.

Women are more likely to have broken periods of employment because of family responsibilities; decisions based on length of service may disadvantage them. Such examples would not constitute discrimination when the requirement was found to be reasonable.

Employers should also be aware also that, if discrimination does occur at their workplaces and they do nothing about it, the courts may consider their inaction implicit support of the discrimination.

To avoid discrimination employers should:

meet legislative requirements, and
consider actively implementing, monitoring and reviewing staff-management policies to ensure that they are fair and that hidden, as well as obvious, forms of discrimination are removed.

Affirmative action

Affirmative action is using race and gender as a factor when deciding to accept someone. Because of this idea of affirmative action, people have called it reverse discrimination, preferential treatment to less qualified people, and unfair.

Positive action is taken to create a situation which promotes and assists elements of equal opportunity. This can mean removing barriers to equal opportunity in the workplace, such as training women so that they are eligible for a promotion.

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