What forms do gender discrimination judicial disputes usually take?

Analysis on the Current Situation of Urban Women's Employment Issues

[Abstract] There are still many problems in women's employment in today's society, mainly gender discrimination and the disadvantages of women's employment thinking. This article analyzes the two major status quos of modern women's employment through case studies, looks into the reasons behind them, and puts forward some suggestions for solving the urban women's employment problem.

[Keywords] Female employment; gender discrimination; employment concepts; rights protection

Today, with the process of global modernization and China’s modernization, especially China’s deepening of reforms and the establishment of a modern After the industrial structure stage, new employment opportunities are provided for women. In addition, with the advancement of the global women's liberation movement, women's employment status has been greatly improved. For example, women's employment rights are protected by national policies, laws, and regulations, their employment fields have expanded, and their employment methods have become diversified. However, there are still many problems in female employment. These problems are like water that a thirsty crow can see but cannot drink. They have become tangible and intangible obstacles to female employment.

1. Analysis of the current situation of female employment

(1) Obstacles of gender discrimination

As a group that co-exists with men, women are bound to obtain For comparison. Women's employment is affected by traditional factors and is constrained tangibly and intangibly by gender discrimination. Therefore, the common problem faced not only by urban women in employment, but also by women around the world is gender discrimination, which is mainly manifested in career selection, position status, and pay gaps.

1. Gender barriers in employment and job hunting

According to the information provided by the "Second Main Data Report on the Sampling Survey on the Social Status of Chinese Women" released in 2001, the social status of men and women in China The overall gap and stratified gap still exist. The main manifestation is that the employment rate of women has decreased and it is difficult to find re-employment. Statistical results show that by the end of 2000, the employment rate of urban and rural women aged 18 to 64 was 87%, 6.6 percentage points lower than that of men; compared with 1990, the employment rate of both men and women in urban areas has declined, and men have 90% dropped to 81.5%, and for women it dropped from 76.3% to 63.7%, with the drop being larger for women than for men. The "2005 China Employment Report" released by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the employment rate of women is 11.4% lower than that of men.

This material fully demonstrates that discrimination in career selection has become one of the main obstacles faced by women in employment. Affected by the traditional awareness of gender division of labor, discrimination against women in the social labor field is a common problem. In the process of choosing a career, discrimination against women takes many forms. Gender discrimination in female career choices in my country mainly manifests itself in discrimination in terms of age, identity, gender, physical condition, etc.

Women are often segregated due to gender at the beginning of their employment. Many recruiting units have become accustomed to rejecting female applicants because they “cannot afford to travel”, which has become a “weak spot” in job hunting. Gender discrimination in career selection makes women become the group of people with the greatest employment pressure in China. The employment problems of laid-off urban female workers and urban female college students are particularly prominent. In March 2005, Zhaopin.com and Sina.com jointly conducted a survey on "whether men and women are equal when entering the workplace." The results showed that in the item "Do female college students feel gender discrimination in employment when they graduate?", only 5.59% of female graduates Among graduates, 28.90% believe that finding a job is smooth, but 28.90% believe that women must work harder than men, and 32.75% admit that gender discrimination does exist.

Relevant data show that starting from 1996, the employment rate of urban women in my country began to show a downward trend. By the end of 2000, the absolute number of female employees in urban units nationwide had decreased by 14.777 million. When many companies implement optimized combinations, female employees are prioritized for layoffs. According to a survey in Jinan City, female employees account for 70% to 80% of redundant personnel. In a radio factory in Beijing, among the 107 laid-off employees, 95 were women, accounting for 87% of the laid-off workers. In addition, the "Second Main Data Report of the Sample Survey on the Status of Women in China" states that laid-off female workers from state-owned enterprises generally find it difficult to find a job. 49.7% of them believe that they have been subject to age and gender discrimination when they are re-employed, which is 18.9 percentage points higher than laid-off male workers. .

These cases show that in recent years, urban female employment has highlighted a new problem, that is, female unemployment has continued to expand, and it is more difficult for laid-off female workers to find re-employment.

2. Gender barriers in the employment process

A 32-year-old young lady has had six job-hopping experiences. She said: "The first time I worked in a private company, I was the secretary to the factory director. What frightened me at that time was the colored eyes and hands and feet from my boss who were drunk. All day long, I lived in a kind of white terror. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I resigned angrily. Then I moved to a corporate office as a publicity officer. During my work, I tried my best to use my writing skills and worked hard to do my best work. Most of the publicity activities in the factory were done. It was planned by me, and I received commendations and awards at different levels every year. However, I was always denied promotion opportunities. Although the salary was not bad, I just couldn't stand the narrow gender view that women cannot be reused. . The subsequent job changes were always unlucky because they either encountered sexually aggressive male bosses or did not have a working environment that allowed them to shine.”

This case reveals the challenges faced by women in their employment. Some of the problems are that male-dominated occupations are far greater than female-dominated occupations across the country. In addition, “female” occupations tend to be less valuable than “male” occupations, providing lower income, lower status, and fewer opportunities for advancement. This result suggests that women are more constrained than men in the labor market and are less attractive. The main reason for this inequality in employment between men and women is the segregation based on gender between different occupations and industries

Most women cannot escape the “three more and three less” box. That is: more virtual jobs and less real jobs, more supporting roles and fewer protagonists, more deputy jobs and less real jobs. First of all, women generally occupy lower positions in employment than men, and their chances of promotion are also lower. Women are always considered to be inferior to men in terms of knowledge and ability, so it is difficult for them to enter high-level decision-making and management departments; secondly, the employment rate of women in informal sectors, such as community services and domestic services, is much higher than that of men; thirdly, women mainly Concentrated in some so-called "suitable for women" job fields, my country's urban female employment is mainly concentrated in manufacturing, wholesale and retail, trade, catering, health, sports and social welfare industries. Most of these industries are auxiliary, technical Industries with low levels, low employment thresholds, low incomes and few opportunities for advancement. However, the proportion of women in national party and government agencies and social groups, scientific research and comprehensive technical service industries, construction, real estate, transportation and other industries that are leading, have high technical levels, high incomes and have many opportunities for promotion is far lower. Compared with men, even if women are employed in these fields, it is difficult for them to be taken seriously. For this reason, many women have to change their working environment again and again in order to achieve a breakthrough.

3. Gender differences in wage income

According to the "Evaluation Report on the Implementation of the Outline for the Development of Chinese Women and Children in Shanghai", the average annual income of men is 23,564 yuan, while that of women is only 15,292 yuan. , only about 65% of that of men, and the income gap has expanded by 8 percentage points compared with 2000. In society, women tend to work in lower paying jobs. In the economic, financial, cultural and other fields with higher incomes, although women account for 60% to 70%, men still occupy a certain dominant position in management.

The income gap between men and women in Shanghai and its expanding trend are also common problems faced by women in employment in all cities across the country. This is also the result of gender barriers creating a vicious cycle for women in the job search process. Due to the widespread gender segregation in the social labor field, the employment rate of women is lower than that of men, and most of them are concentrated in low-skilled, low-income, part-time jobs, making the income of men and women unequal. Even if the employment level of women has improved, due to social prejudice against women, women have much fewer opportunities than men to receive professional and technical training, further education, promotion, etc., which affects their competitiveness and promotion qualifications, making women's There is a gap in wages between men and women. Especially after joining the WTO, the income gap between men and women in our country has widened even further. A large number of foreign trade companies use high salaries to attract more high-quality talents. As a result, the supply of intellectual workers engaged in high-tech and high-intellectual services in China's labor market exceeds the demand, while the supply of simple manual workers is facing an oversupply situation. At present, men account for a larger proportion in high-income levels such as high-tech and high-level management, while women account for a larger proportion in simple labor levels. This trend will likely widen the income gap between men and women.

(2) Ideological shortcomings of women’s employment concepts

1. The abnormality of women’s career choices

According to the 2000 Wuhan City Survey on Women’s Hopes for Employment The survey was conducted in order of industries, and the result is: the largest number of people hope to work in state agencies, political party agencies, and social groups, accounting for 57.5%, followed by education, culture and art, and radio and film industries, accounting for 48.2%, and the finance and insurance industries accounted for 42.6%. In addition, the transportation, warehousing and postal and telecommunications industries, health, sports and social welfare are all high-ranking industries. Geological exploration, water conservancy management, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, mining, and construction are industries in which women are generally unwilling to be employed.

This case shows that when women choose a career, they still choose the most stable, secure, and decent offices in government agencies and state-owned units as their first choice, while for those occupations that only have the word "service" in them, they are Seen as inferior or dismissive. Due to the traditional employment concept, women show inconsistency with social needs. Women lack a deep understanding of their social responsibilities, historical missions and creativity, which leads to lagging behind in employment concepts, which is not conducive to women's equality with men. The social value of the group is reflected, which also affects the employment issue of women.

2. Inferiority and loss of mentality caused by employment bias

From the perspective of urban women themselves, the weaknesses accumulated over thousands of years, such as dependence, inferiority, narrow-mindedness, conservatism, Psychological disadvantages such as psychological fragility have become obstacles to their own development. Due to the oppression of multiple pressures such as employment difficulties, they lack confidence and courage and give up on themselves; they are subject to various discrimination and difficulties in the process of job hunting and employment, and gradually develop a fear of difficulties. They are used to taking orders from others, and gradually lose their pursuit and lack of pioneering and innovation. spirit. These psychological shortcomings of women are, on the one hand, the malignant result of gender discrimination against women’s employment in objective society; on the other hand, they are also bad habits accumulated from thousands of years of traditional and backward concepts. In any case, they have a negative impact on women’s employment.

3. Excessive pursuit of profit and value when choosing a career

At the same time, women also hope to occupy an increasingly important position in society. For modern women, some careers seem to be helpless choices. Especially some women in cities, such as college graduates, lack a realistic positioning of their own value and status, which leads to many obstacles when choosing a job. Some laid-off female workers in cities would rather be unemployed and stay at home than engage in some service industries. employment. However, the modern service industry has high technical level, high requirements, and high thresholds. In addition, people pay attention to the market economic benefits of input and output, and the bottleneck of female employment has become narrower.

2. Exploring the causes of urban women’s employment problems

(1) Gender discrimination in education investment

Since the 1990s, primary and secondary schools , university, women have lower education than men, and the higher the level of education, the greater the gap between men and women. Women have fewer educational opportunities and shorter time, resulting in women always being at a disadvantage in special skills in social occupations, limiting women from engaging in higher education. Technical and high-quality industries also have a negative impact on entering senior management.

(2) Distortion of women’s physiological value and viewing women’s sense of family responsibility as a weakness

From a physiological point of view, women have to face the tests of pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation. These "three phases" not only affect the efficiency of the units, but also require funding for protection, resulting in many units being reluctant to recruit female workers. In fact, women are not only material reproducers, but also bear the task of human reproduction, but this has not won the recognition and respect of society. Recently, there have been signs of "letting women go home" and making housework an exclusive occupation. This is actually erasing women's social attributes. In the final analysis, it is setting up ideological barriers for women's employment.

(3) Lack of operability of legal provisions protecting equal employment between men and women

"Constitution of the People's Republic of China", "Labor Law", "Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests" " and other laws, all have elaborations and provisions on gender discrimination in employment. Article 48 of the "Constitution" stipulates: "The state protects the rights and interests of women and implements equal pay for men and women for equal work." Article 13 of the "Labor Law" stipulates: "Women enjoy equal employment rights as men. When hiring employees, in addition to Except for types of work or positions that are unsuitable for women as stipulated by the state, women shall not be refused employment or the employment standards for women shall be raised on the basis of gender.

"Article 22 of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests also clearly states: "The state guarantees that women enjoy equal labor rights and social security rights as men. ”

However, the problem is that the above provisions are more principled than operational. Liu Minghui, associate professor at China Women’s University, pointed out that China’s laws have not defined the concept of gender discrimination in employment. To eliminate gender discrimination in employment, legislation must first be To clarify this issue, we don’t even understand what gender discrimination is, and how to protect victims. At the same time, my country’s judicial system regarding gender discrimination disputes lags behind. What kind of penalties should companies be subject to if gender discrimination is determined? Without this, it is impossible to effectively deter illegal enterprises. There are few judicial lawsuits against gender discrimination in employment, and there are even fewer judicial rulings that successfully protect women's equal employment rights.

(4) Women. The maternity security system is not perfect

Currently, our city has not yet established a socialized maternity insurance mechanism. Employers do not receive appropriate compensation for recruiting female workers. On the contrary, they increase labor costs and refuse to recruit women.

(5) The possible disadvantages that flexible employment methods may bring to women’s employment rights

The diversification trend of female employment includes the willingness to choose employment units and diversified channels, work Flexibility of time, diversification of workplaces and employment forms, etc. This is the result of social development and improvement of women’s employment, but it is also a double-edged sword. The trend of over-emphasis on the diversity of employment methods actually affects women’s employment security. It also plays a certain negative role.

One-sided emphasis on flexible and diverse employment can easily cause society to form a wrong understanding of women's employment and career development, believing that women's careers can be "flexible" and interrupted. It is dispensable, thus affecting the stability of some women's employment status and the continuity of their career development, and creating opportunities for some companies to dismiss female employees at will. In addition, "flexible" jobs are often associated with lower wages. Low wages, limited social security, and lower professional prestige and prospects are often considered by companies to be more likely to be mobile, and companies may therefore be reluctant to hire them. Capital investment and development rarely give them opportunities for promotion, and they are often placed in positions with low importance and high risk of unemployment. Once the company's operating performance is not good, it will first consider laying off these "flexible" people. Therefore, the employment rights of female workers are often not protected.

In the most "flexible" non-state-owned enterprises, the labor protection of female workers is not guaranteed. Enterprises (including foreign-funded enterprises, private enterprises, etc.) do not implement the "Labor Protection Regulations for Female Employees" and ignore the special protection that female employees should enjoy during pregnancy, childbirth and lactation. They ignore the interests of female employees and forcefully implement long leave for women during pregnancy and childbirth. Or they use the excuse of protecting female workers to lay off workers; some factories implement early retirement, which is five years earlier than the normal retirement age, usually around 45 years old, and some even advance the retirement age of female workers to 42 years old.

Some companies use flexible working hours to exploit women in disguise. Although the "flexible working system" gives employed women more freedom of choice, allowing them to choose working schedules that take into account family conflicts, it is therefore criticized by some women. welcome. However, some companies use "flexible working hours" to confuse work and rest time and exploit female workers in disguise.

3. Relevant suggestions for solving the employment problem of women

(1) The law enforcement supervision mechanism should be improved and punishments should be increased.

On the one hand, a labor protection supervision and inspection agency with the government labor department as the main body and relevant departments participating should be established to regularly inspect the company's law enforcement, correct existing problems in a timely manner, and seriously deal with violations of the rights of female employees in accordance with the law case. Industries and enterprises with prominent illegal activities should conduct regular spot checks, deal with problems found in a timely manner, and make rectifications within a time limit to prevent and eliminate the occurrence of infringements. Business operators who violate the law should be held legally responsible; on the other hand, Gradually establish and improve trade union legal supervision organizations, form networks and systems, and combine them with judicial supervision, administrative supervision and public opinion supervision to supervise enterprises' infringements and promote enterprises to implement various laws and regulations.

(2) Promote the change of women’s employment concepts and seize the opportunities brought by the diversification of employment forms

Faced with the severe employment situation, there are still some female workers who are still “waiting” , rely on, want”.

"Wait" for the country's preferential policies; "rely on" the organization's help and care; "want" an ideal job. Some people even insist that "they would rather suffer poverty with state-owned enterprises than work for private enterprises." Under the control of these ideas, even if there are some positions that require women, unemployed women consider their personal reputation or corporate attributes and disregard them, resulting in a large mismatch between labor supply and demand. Relevant aspects of society, especially women's organizations, should help female workers fully understand diversified forms of employment, update their employment concepts, and grasp and make full use of diversified forms of employment to start their own businesses.

(3) Develop education and employment skills training to promote the improvement of women’s knowledge and skill levels

If women’s knowledge and skill levels cannot be effectively improved, relying only on satisfying their needs It is difficult to effectively promote women's employment without meeting their basic living needs and improving the external environment in which they live. Therefore, we must vigorously develop vocational education and skills training, ensure that women have equal opportunities to receive knowledge and skills training, improve the knowledge level and vocational skills level of women, enhance their employability and career development capabilities, and enable them to actively develop their potential through life experiences.

(4) Improving the social security system is a guarantee for women’s employment

Social security includes five aspects: employment security, pension security, medical security, maternity security, and work-related injury security. Maternity protection is particularly prominent because it is unique to women. In the competition between men and women in the labor market, the most disadvantageous thing for women is childbirth. It has resulted in the phased characteristics of women in terms of employment and human investment, making their human resource stock inferior to that of men.

From a macro perspective, promote the rational flow of labor, gradually increase the degree of coordination and coverage of social security, change the current phenomenon of too many social security functions being undertaken by enterprises, and take effective measures to encourage units of different ownership to be motivated to recruit female workers. Establish and implement social security systems such as employee unemployment insurance, pension subsidies, medical subsidies, and maternity compensation. Ensure that all employed persons can participate in and enjoy social security and eliminate de facto inequality. From a micro perspective, it is necessary to safeguard women's personal rights and labor rights, further implement laws and regulations such as the Labor Law and the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, and continuously improve the working environment conditions of female workers. Laws and policies should be formulated to adapt to the new employment situation and ensure The rights and interests of female workers in non-state-owned enterprises such as foreign capital, townships, and private enterprises.

(5) Protecting women’s mental health

Governments at all levels should coordinate with departments such as health, civil affairs, and women’s federations to regard women’s mental health as an important issue in the construction of urban civilization. ; It is necessary to increase investment in this aspect, such as supporting the establishment of mental health clinics and psychological counseling hotlines specifically for women in communities or hospitals, and establishing sexual psychological counseling service centers and mental health education and training bases affiliated with relevant institutions. The mass media should widely publicize knowledge about women's mental health and actively guide people to pay attention to women's mental health.

Female employment issues are an important part of my country's employment issues. Solving urban women's issues constitutes an important step in solving my country's employment issues and stabilizing social development. The key is to improve the legal system to protect women's employment rights, eliminate discrimination against women, improve women's employment concepts, and improve women's employment levels.

[References]

[1]. Survey on Women’s Employment Concepts in Guangzhou in 1998 [J]. China Labor, 1995, (5)

< p>[2]. Survey on Women’s Employment Concepts in Guangzhou in 1998 (Part 2) [J]. China Labor, 1995, (6)

[3]. Wuhan Municipal Party School of the Communist Party of China . Investigation and thinking on the employment pressure and ideological status of women in Wuhan [J]. Learning and Practice, 2007, (5)

[4]. Main data report of the second sample survey on the status of women in China[N ]. China Women's News, 2001

[5]. Li Yinhe. The Rise of Women's Power[M]. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 1997, (6)

[ 6]. Li Huaiyu. Employment status and rights protection of young migrant women [J]. Red Flag Manuscript, 2007, (4)

[7]. Wang Jing and Tan Lin. On the pros and cons of diversified female employment forms ——Survey report on women’s employment status in four cities in Guangdong Province [J]. Population and Economy, 2002, (4)