Why do so many jobs discriminate against women?

Because the anti-discrimination legal system is seriously lacking.

Experts pointed out that in the Labor Law, the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, the Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons and the Law on the Promotion of Employment, there are provisions on workers' equal employment rights. However, the current anti-employment discrimination law can no longer meet the needs of social development because its provisions are too scattered and too principled.

Hou xinyi believes that the provisions on anti-discrimination in employment in China's current laws are basically a declaration of rights, lacking procedural guarantee and implementation mechanism.

"For example, the declarative protection of women's equal rights by law has been quite comprehensive, but women's employment discrimination is still ubiquitous and even blatant. This shows that the existing anti-discrimination laws are invalid. The reason for this inconsistency is that the anti-employment discrimination legal system lacks an effective relief mechanism. " Hou xinyi pointed out that the serious lack of anti-discrimination legal system needs urgent attention.

Liu Xiaonan, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out in an interview that although China's legislation to guarantee equal employment opportunities for women is developing continuously, many relevant laws and regulations are too scattered, and the legislative model and technology are still insufficient, with many principled provisions and poor operability.

"If the employer discriminates during employment, it can only bring labor arbitration and labor litigation in the name of labor contract disputes, but not bring a lawsuit on the grounds of employment discrimination. Therefore, although we have so many departmental laws that declare many rights that cannot be discriminated against, there is no way to effectively protect and remedy the rights of citizens. " Liu Xiaonan said bluntly.

Lack of specific explanation of gender discrimination, difficulty in obtaining evidence of employers' implicit discrimination, unclear responsibilities of employers, and lack of enforcement mechanism and law enforcement agencies ... Zhu Xiaofei, an associate professor at China Women's University, pointed out that the imperfect legal content, imprecise rules and weak operability are the important reasons leading to women's employment discrimination.

For this reason, 1 The upcoming Regulations on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests in Hebei Province has attracted much attention.

In view of the problem of gender discrimination in women's employment, the regulations clearly stipulate that local women's federations can interview the main leaders of units that discriminate against women in the process of employee recruitment and employment, and urge and guide employers to correct the systems and behaviors that discriminate against women within the agreed time limit; When necessary, the Women's Federation may invite the administrative department of labor and social security, the media and other relevant organizations to participate in the interview and issue rectification opinions. If the employer refuses to correct the discrimination against women, it may be included in the list of bad records as appropriate.

In this regard, Liu Xiaonan believes that it is worthy of recognition that Hebei Province strengthens the protection of women's equal employment rights in local legislation and clarifies the functions of women's federations through legislation. The next step is to evaluate the implementation effect and suggest further promotion if feasible.

Establish a special anti-employment discrimination agency

It is worth noting that the Regulations on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests in Hebei Province clearly stipulates that if the interviewed employer refuses to make corrections within the agreed time limit, the Women's Federation can make an announcement through the media and ask the administrative department of labor security to investigate and deal with it according to law or bring a lawsuit to the local people's court.

However, in Hou Xinyi's view, this regulation is very difficult to implement.

"Although women can complain to the Women's Federation after encountering employment discrimination, the Women's Federation is not an institution with the right to handle disputes, nor is it a government department. It is difficult to change the attitude of employers. And for job seekers, there is not much energy and financial resources to go to court. " Hou xinyi said.

Experts believe that the fundamental way to solve the problem of employment discrimination is still legislation, and special anti-employment discrimination laws should be formulated.

Liu Xiaonan believes that legislation should adhere to the problem orientation, clarify the concept and scope of application of employment discrimination, expand the scope of protection of fair employment, and clarify measures to combat employment discrimination and promote gender equality.

"For example, in the measures to clarify anti-employment discrimination and promote gender equality, in view of the outstanding problems of current employment gender discrimination, the law should clearly stipulate that discrimination based on marriage and childbearing status is prohibited." Liu Xiaonan said.

In Hou Xinyi's view, one of the fundamental reasons why China's laws and regulations against employment discrimination exist in name only is that the existing laws and regulations lack effective implementation and relief mechanisms. Employers illegally discriminate against workers' employment, workers have no effective remedies to seek help, and illegal employers have not been punished as they should, which makes the relevant legislation ineffective and the phenomenon of employment discrimination intensified.

"In order to make the law really work and ensure that workers can get effective relief after employment discrimination, it is suggested to establish a special anti-employment discrimination agency and corresponding relief mechanism in government departments, which is also the core content of legislation." Hou xinyi said.

Hou xinyi believes that specialized anti-employment discrimination institutions and court systems, like two wagons, have played a fruitful role in resolving employment and other disputes within their respective jurisdictions. Moreover, this kind of institution is close to the people, active and professional, which makes people more willing to choose this kind of institution to appeal rather than go to court when discrimination occurs.

The vitality of law lies in implementation, and the authority of law also lies in implementation. Liu Xiaonan pointed out that in order to effectively punish violations of the employment discrimination law, it should be stipulated in detail that employers should bear corresponding civil, administrative and criminal responsibilities if they commit employment discrimination and infringe on workers' equal employment rights.

"In judicial practice, the amount of compensation that parties to employment discrimination cases can get is very limited, which leads to the failure of the law to play its due role of guidance, deterrence and punishment. For employers who practice gender discrimination in recruitment, punitive damages can be added. For example, employers who require gender discrimination in recruitment will give three months' compensation to women who suffer gender discrimination in recruitment. " Liu Xiaonan suggested.