Reporter investigates hidden discrimination faced by women in the workplace
Female job seekers are asked if they would like not to have children for 3 years
Recently, the Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Bureau issued the "Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Administrative Punishment Benchmark Table (Part Involving the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests)" clearly stated that in the recruitment (hiring) process, employers should use gender as a reason Refusal to recruit (hire) women, or differentiatedly increase the recruitment (hire) standards for women, or reduce the wages and benefits of female employees due to marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave, breastfeeding, etc., can be fined up to 50,000 yuan.
One stone caused a thousand waves, and women's encounter with gender discrimination in the workplace has once again sparked heated discussions in society.
Some people see hope and believe that with this "discretionary benchmark", law enforcement agencies will have clear guidelines on how to issue fines to employers that violate women's labor rights; Explicit labor infringements are relatively easy, but how to prevent implicit or disguised infringements still deserves further attention and exploration.
What hidden or disguised infringements exist in the real workplace?
And how to eliminate gender discrimination from the root?
Around these issues, the reporter conducted an investigation.
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
"Are your in-laws in good health?" "Is the kindergarten tuition at your house expensive?" "Our company will distribute Children's Day benefits, how many do you need?"...
These questions are not small talk among friends, but the ones that Zhang Mei, a 30-year-old Beijing job seeker, has been asked frequently during interviews in the past six months.
According to the existing regulations of the state, enterprises are not allowed to ask about women's marriage and childbearing status during interviews.
But Zhang Mei recalled that almost all the companies she applied for got the answers she wanted through insinuations.
HR (that is, human resources) from many companies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and Xi'an, Shaanxi also revealed their "countermeasures" to the "Rule of Law Daily" reporter: don't ask questions from the front, but talk about the applicant's living conditions, family members, amateurs, etc. Hobbies and other information are obtained; if the job seeker refuses to fill in the marriage and childbirth information in the recruitment form, then let the other party go home and wait for news, which often means that the interview fails.
In fact, women have suffered gender discrimination in the workplace for a long time.
According to the "2022 Chinese Women's Workplace Status Survey Report" released by Zhaopin, 61.2% of women were asked about their marriage and childbearing status during job hunting, which was higher than 55.8% in the previous year; 38.3% of women said that marriage and childbearing affected their career prospects; 11.9% 100% of women are not promoted because of their gender.
Based on such phenomena, relevant laws and policies hold up a "protective umbrella" for female employees.
For example, the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, which was revised and passed last year and came into effect on January 1 this year, included gender discrimination in employment into the scope of labor security supervision.
The Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau recently issued the "Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Administrative Punishment Benchmark Table (Part Involving the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests Law)", which clarifies that during the recruitment (hiring) process, employers refuse to recruit on the grounds of gender (Employment) women or differentially increase the recruitment (employment) standards for women, or reduce the wages and benefits of female employees due to marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave, breastfeeding, etc., a fine of up to 50,000 yuan may be imposed.
However, in reality, proving that discrimination in the workplace is related to gender is still a pain point and difficulty in protecting the rights and interests of female employees.
Both job applicants and HR expressed such concerns to reporters that companies may use other seemingly legitimate reasons to reject female job applicants, dismiss female employees, and reduce the benefits that female employees deserve.
The interview was repeatedly cross-examined by HR
Visible sexism
The reporter randomly interviewed 10 recent female graduates and previous female job seekers from Beijing, Tianjin and other places who were looking for jobs, and found that gender discrimination seems to be an unavoidable hurdle.
Lin Yu, a master’s student at a university in Beijing, will graduate in June this year. In the interviews that have just passed, she has experienced gender discrimination that is “visible to the naked eye”: “In the interview, girls were asked about their marriage and love in detail, but boys didn’t mention it at all. Let’s talk about this topic. For the same position and work content, the salary promised by the unit is also different. Boys get 2,000 yuan more per month and have a year-end bonus, while girls only have transportation subsidies.”
Li Zhuang, a graduate student who is also graduating this year, was not only asked about his marriage and love plans, but was also "interrogated" by the HR of an Internet company for at least 5 minutes about his boyfriend's future plans, "such as his career plans, whether the elderly on both sides Retirement, etc., may be to judge the family burden of female job applicants after giving birth in the future.”
Liu Qing, who graduated from a university in Tianjin last year, encountered similar problems to Li Zhuang during the interview.
"During the HR interview, I asked a girl to run so far, does her family agree? Why did she come here to find a job? I said it was because my friend was here, and he said directly, 'Is it her boyfriend', and then asked, 'How is your relationship? We’ve been together for a few years’, and asked me when I plan to get married and have children. Appearance, height, marriage and children, these are basically questions that women will be asked, and male job applicants rarely involve these.”
Lin Hua, a citizen of Beijing, based on his experience of applying for a job as an unmarried graduate two years ago and now as a married job seeker, summed up some "routines" that employers use during interviews:
When unmarried, girls from other places who have just graduated usually start with "How do you want to find a job in Beijing? Do you have relatives and friends here?" Then ask "Is renting a house shared?" 3 questions "Is the rent expensive? The rent for two rooms should be XX yuan."
When it comes to rent, you can talk about whether you can pay the expenses, and start talking about "what does your boyfriend do? How long is your commute?"
Gradually, the marriage and childbearing plan of this newly graduated unmarried woman was also figured out.
After getting married, the issue of renting a house is generally no longer involved, but around childbearing, first ask "at your age, how do you think about your future development".
For this question, the job seeker's answer is not important. HR will then laugh at himself and say, "My family will urge me to fall in love and have a baby. Did the family urge you?"
Have a child to prevent a second child in the future
Having two children and no time to work
During the interview, Zhang Mei heard a lot of comments such as "This person is 30 years old and hasn't married and had children. There must be something wrong with him, so he can't have it." .
"In the eyes of some HR who have decision-making power, a 30-year-old single woman must have psychological problems, and recruiting will have a bad impact on the team. Even if she is the best among the interviewees, even if her business ability, qualifications and background are all They meet the requirements of the job, and the salary requirements can also be negotiated, but they will also be rejected because of age, gender and marital status." Zhang Mei said.
But is it okay to be married?
The answer may still be no, or even a bigger "×".
The recruitment conditions faced by married people without children may be more stringent. This is what Lin Hua concluded after participating in more than 20 recruitments in recent years.
She was asked many times at the interview site whether she had any plans to have children, and she was also euphemistically asked if she was willing to promise not to have children within 3 years.
"Married people without children must have disadvantages in the recruitment market, because most companies are for profit. Women during pregnancy and childbirth are relatively passive in the company's work arrangements. If they are not handled properly, there will be labor risks, which will increase implicitly. Human cost." Liu Xu, HR of a private enterprise in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, told the reporter.
What about married with children?
Zhang Mei complained that women who have given birth to one child will be labeled as "this is a time bomb to have a second child at any time" in the workplace; women who have already given birth to a second child will be labeled as "no energy to devote themselves to work" in the workplace. ".
Chen Ling, HR at a private enterprise in Xi'an, Shaanxi, revealed to the reporter that after letting go of the third child, being married has become the focus of the company's recruitment inspection. The company requires HR to use interview skills to ask job applicants about their willingness to marry and have children.
"If you are married and have no children, the enterprise will worry about the employees having children at any time; if you are married and have one child, if the employee is not too old, the enterprise will worry about the employee having a second child at any time; if you are married and have two children, the enterprise will also worry that the employee is concerned about the family and has no time to take care of their work. .”
For Qian Yue, who has been working in human resources for seven years, when faced with words such as "married, having children, one son and one daughter" on the job application resume, she no longer "smiles knowingly" as she did at the beginning.
"In the past, when screening resumes in foreign companies, I often saw female applicants introduce their children. In the past two years, such introductions have also begun to appear in the resumes of domestic companies. The implication is very clear-there have been two There will be no more children." Qian Yue, who is also a woman, feels helpless seeing such changes, "It can be seen that gender discrimination in employment has not been fundamentally resolved."
"Employers should consider whether the job seeker has a regular couple, whether he is married, and whether he has given birth. If he is married but has no children, regardless of age, there is a great risk for the employer. If he has children, the employer must Consider whether there are elderly people to help take care of the children, and the frequency of employees asking for leave because of children. After the country releases three-children, it is also necessary to consider the degree of intention of job seekers to have two children and three children." Qian Yue said, this is very realistic.
Sexism is all too common
Time-consuming and labor-intensive with little protection
"Although the law stipulates that companies are not allowed to ask about the marriage and childbearing status of female employees when recruiting, HR is worried that the recruited employees will have "only input, no output" and will eventually bring a heavy burden to the company. He often plays the role of a 'scout' and finds out about the employee's marriage and childbearing situation by understanding the employee's social dynamics, in-law relationship, distribution of off-duty time, and exchanging child-rearing experiences." Beijing Hairun Tianrui lawyer who once worked in the labor arbitration system Lawyer Sun Peng said.
It is worth noting that although it is not uncommon for women to encounter gender discrimination in the workplace, there are few defenders in reality.
The interviewed experts analyzed that for individual job seekers, considering that labor disputes with employers may affect future job hunting, it is difficult to obtain audio or video recordings to prove the company’s discriminatory behavior, and gender discrimination in the workplace is relatively common. Concealment, the high cost of going through judicial procedures, etc., discourage most people.
Chu Qingyao, a lawyer from Shanghai AllBright (Zhengzhou) Law Firm who wrote "Research on Women's Employment Discrimination in my country", told reporters that gender discrimination is hidden in the recruitment process.
Even if a worker is rejected due to gender discrimination, the written reason given by the recruiting unit generally does not meet the job requirements.
"It is difficult to form a specific case for pure discrimination disputes, or in the face of such disputes, few job seekers think of seeking legal help. It is not obvious that an employer violates personal rights due to gender discrimination. If there is clear evidence If the employer has gender discrimination, it can sue for reputation infringement, but not many people go through this procedure. The reason is that the purpose of most job seekers is to find a job, rather than spending a lot of time and energy looking for a job. This is a kind of fairness and justice, so there are not many people who go through judicial procedures to obtain effective results." Chu Qingyao said.
Clarify the benchmark for punishment
Accurate protection of women's rights
In January this year, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security issued the "Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Administrative Punishment Benchmark Table (Part Involving the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests)", which clearly stated that the maximum penalty for refusing to hire (employ) women on the grounds of gender is A fine of 50,000 yuan shall be imposed.
Many interviewed experts pointed out that with this "discretionary benchmark", law enforcement agencies will have clear guidelines on how to issue fines to employers who violate women's labor rights and interests, which can not only avoid excessive punishment, but also prevent excessive punishment. This reflects the fairness of the law and the seriousness of law enforcement.
This is very important for the implementation of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, the protection of women's employment rights, and the regulation of labor law enforcement.
It is hoped that more places can take active actions and formulate similar punishment discretion benchmark tables in a timely manner in light of local conditions, so that the results of the law amendment can benefit more female workers as soon as possible.
According to Zhang Liyun, an associate professor at the Law School of the China Institute of Labor Relations, Beijing's move has a positive effect on eliminating discrimination against women in employment.
"Modern women's legal literacy and academic level have improved, and they have a clearer understanding and judgment of workplace discrimination. If there is discrimination in the recruitment process, women can complain to the labor supervision department. Once verified, the labor unit will face punishment."
As for the issue of fines, Zhang Liyun proposed that the maximum fine of 50,000 yuan can be applied to a one-time penalty for companies that have been complained many times in a short period of time.
The maximum fine may apply to companies that systematically discriminate against all female workers, such as coercive or covert operations by companies to fire large numbers of female workers.
It is worth noting, in reality, who should find out whether there is sex discrimination in recruitment?
Who will define whether the unsuccessful application is due to gender?
Shen Jianfeng, dean of the Law School of the China Institute of Labor Relations, explained that upholding the principle of "whoever advocates must provide evidence", job applicants are required to discover gender discrimination in recruitment and provide preliminary evidence to relevant departments.
Specific issues need to be defined by judges, and at the same time, based on law enforcement practice and typical cases, further objective criteria for identifying employment discrimination in enterprises.
"Workers can use the trade union system to report problems, seek legal advice from law firms, and seek help from the consultation window of the grassroots court. The above channels can help workers find out whether there is gender discrimination in recruitment. , workers can complain to the labor supervision department with certain evidence.” Zhang Liyun said.
At the same time, Zhang Liyun proposed that the supervisory department can take the initiative to implement supervision and conduct on-site investigations on whether the recruitment of employers is standardized.
After receiving complaints from workers, the supervisory department within the jurisdiction should actively investigate whether there are relevant problems in the enterprise, and if so, impose administrative penalties on the employer in a timely manner.
As for how to eliminate gender discrimination in the workplace from the root, Shen Jianfeng suggested that enterprises should appropriately increase the labor costs for men, such as extending paternity leave for men, so as to share the labor costs of men and women in enterprises, thereby reducing the discrimination against female job applicants.
Women's functions can also be shared through socialization mechanisms. In addition to childbearing and breastfeeding, the society can develop industries related to housekeeping services and childcare, further reducing women's workplace pressure and family burden.
"The gender discrimination that job seekers encounter when applying for jobs is rooted in the fact that most companies are profit-making organizations that seek profit. If you want to reduce gender discrimination, you need to consider from a social perspective that the state should bear part of the cost and pass it on to companies. Pressure, improve the enthusiasm of enterprises." Chu Qingyao said.
A number of HR interviewed by reporters suggested that the society should create a relatively fair environment and provide women with more jobs or skills training, especially large companies with better returns should assume more social responsibilities.
In Zhang Liyun's view, the country is currently taking measures to protect women's reproductive rights and bear part of the cost of childcare. Local governments are also exploring corresponding incentive policies, such as reducing housing costs, improving maternity protection, and investing in educational resources.
The state is very aware of the burden on enterprises, and the tax and fee reduction measures for enterprises have also been decentralized.
Moreover, the country's infrastructure construction facilitates the development of enterprises, and most of the talents cultivated are sent to enterprises.
Therefore, it is the social responsibility of enterprises to take care of the reproductive issues of female employees.
"In modern enterprises, the coordination of the proportion of men and women is conducive to the stability of the workplace environment. At the same time, in the process of corporate decision-making and management, women's thinking methods are also required. Therefore, if long-term interests are considered, companies need to pay more attention to the role of female workers in the workplace. The role and value played in it." Zhang Liyun said.
(Liu Xu, Chen Ling, and Qian Yue are all pseudonyms in the text)
Comics/Li Xiaojun