Comments on: Singles Discrimination

By: hemen parekh

hemen parekh — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:08:12 +0000

Jobseekers are clueless!

Times Of India (July 20, 2010) reports:

 In Germany, resumes generally include a photograph and information considered taboo for employers in many countries, such as, date of birth, marital status and nationality.

 A 2010 study by the private Bonn-based Institute for the Study of Labor showed rampant bias in hiring.

 This prompted the German Anti-Discrimination Agency to sponsor a voluntary program under which company recruiters will process only “Blind” resumes that remove any reference to ethnic background or other personal information irrelevant to job performance.

 Procter and Gamble and L’Oreal who have joined this program say the idea is to show to other recruiters what they were sacrificing with their prejudices.

No doubt a welcome beginning, but the unemployed around the world just do not want to risk their resumes getting summarily rejected because these contain “insufficient” information!

As long as job advertisements fail to clearly spell-out what information is “relevant” and what is “taboo”, jobseekers around the world would continue to err on the safe side!

With regards

hemen parekh

http://www.CustomizeResume.com

Jobs for All = Peace on Earth

By: help single mothers

help single mothers — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:07:28 +0000

It might be really difficult for single mothers at a young age to cope up with the needs of her child. A lot has to be taken care of in bringing up the child which includes the welfare of the child as well as managing with one’s own education. Moreover, it is really tough to lead a life alone after separating from the spouse.

By: Olivia

Olivia — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:08:31 +0000

It’s worse than that. For companies that negotiate with bargaining units, it’s common for the employer to shell out two or three times the cost of benefit premiums to employees with dependents vs. single employees. In other words, these companies pay $1500/month toward an employee’s family-level coverage when they pay only $500/month for single-party benefit coverage, with no thought given to the inequity, or offer made of compensatory pay to the single employee. The disparity is seen merely as “savings.”

By: David

David — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:26:42 +0000

Bullying at work is a bigger issue than many would have us believe and the logically the single person feels it most. Who wants to go home crying to their mother or worse an empty house.
Its normally easier to pick on them as bullies always attack easy prey.
As for discrimination at work it comes in many forms. The expectation to work late and longer. Second choice over holidays oh you receive false sympathy or patronising comments if you complain.
The issue will not go away!

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:52:52 +0000

In the UK a leading UK bank (Lloyds TSB) has openly disciminated against employees who are single. Incidents including Bullying or harrasing them into attending functions on there own against there will. Married staff do not have this imposed on them and no excuse for this has been given.
An branch manager we will call him Andrew Evans sought to impose his will on one member of staff insisting all staff attend an Xmas party knowing this meant they had to unwillingly go on there own and persucting them when they refused. I add they were willing to take a member of the opposite sex to the function.
A female member of staff we aill her Wendy Hirst on a seperate occassion attempted to bribe a male colleague into going alone to a party even though she was not. She could have offered the freebie to an alternative female when the male member of staff would have readily paid for his meal to accompany her.
No defense for this has been put forward LTSB are condoneing this and have refused to resolve. Discrimination and injustice towards the single person continue to be rife in the UK.

By: joe

joe — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:03:49 +0000

Single people are usually looked at poorly by not only companies,but couples as well,I enjoy my single life.But yeah the Stereotypes that come with it disgust me.
All information about being discriminated for being single in the workforce needs to be made public.

By: Single Angela

Single Angela — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:26:34 +0000

This article raises some great points and I’m glad it did. But the issue is more complex. Missing Friends reruns isn’t the only reason a single person doesn’t want to/can’t work late. As a married person you have someone to rely on to split chores and errands. As a single person you have to spend your free time doing everything yourself and cannot split the workload. You do it ALL yourself. And in these times if a single person gets laid off (and they may be the first to be let go), their household income doesn’t just half since they have at least the other person’s salary to soften the blow, their household income goes all the way down to zero. This is a heavy burden for an independent single person to carry. And instead of seeing all the strength and character it takes to live a single life, most employers see the single person as a selfish carefree single swinger without a care in the world.

By: Yancey at You can learn basic employee rights

Yancey at You can learn basic employee rights — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:36:44 +0000

The article raises several good points in dealing with the phenomenon of single or marital discrimination. I believe this form of workplace bias has been around as long as any other forms of discrimination. However, like workplace bullying it is now receiving greater attention because of the increasing level of occurrences. One critical point the article overlooks is the fact that job interviewers are routinely incompetent or ill trained in conducting interviews. Thus, questions like, “how I would feel about attending company events, such as picnics and softball games, as a single person without a family?”

The single most important yet overwhelmingly overlooked aspect of any career seeker whether married, single or single parent’s job search is this, not knowing their basic employee rights! I have been truly amazed at the level of ignorance concerning the importance of what I call “workplace readiness”. Every job applicant should invest even more time in education and awareness of basic employee rights as they do in interview and resume preparation.

For example, Darrel Smith who is single has taken the time to learn his basic employee rights, and is asked various illegal interview questions. He realizes this employment would not be beneficial for his personal or professional development. Because of his research, he’s able to read “between the interviewers lines” and sees workplace privacy issues, potential FMLA violations and more by the potential employer. In another example, Jane Smith has only read or taking a seminar on basic interview preparation and resume writing. She is interviewed, not recognizing all the illegal and incompetent questions asked and then accepts employment.

Days, weeks or months later she finds the workplace is a hotbed of workplace bullying, hostile work environment, harassment, unfair job performance reviews and more aimed right at her! She is in the middle of it and has no clue how to navigate the process of protecting her rights in the workplace. The article makes great points about singles discrimination, but the true uphill battle for job seekers is not learning their basic employee rights BEFORE seeking and accepting employment.

Yancey Thomas Jr, basic employee rights coach and advocate
http://www.you-can-learn-basic-employee-rights.com

By: David B. Wright

David B. Wright — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:45:33 +0000

Asking about marital status in an interview is actually illegal in the U.S., but it still happens and it is a delicate issue. How do you answer if you are asked such a question? Try to give a diplomatic response. The interviewer may not realize that they are asking an illegal question, and if you call them out on it and say that it is not legal to ask that question, they may get defensive and you may not progress further in the hiring process.

There are lots of types of questions that are illegal for interviewers to ask, including questions dealing with religion, family, memberships in organizations, family heritage, weight, health issues, age, citizenship, sexual orientation, military discharges, arrests and more. For a list of illegal questions and lawful inquiries, see pages 162-166 of my book, or check with the Department of Labor or other sources.

That being said, some companies do look on marriage as a favorable quality – thinking (rightfully or wrongfully) that it indicates stability, ability to commit, and other characteristics that would make one a “better” employee.

There have been studies performed to research whether married people get promoted more than single people.

To your success,

David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
http://www.thegetajobbook.com
http://jobs.therecruiterslounge.com