Job inequality: it's real

gzlaser

WHEN Wang Xin applied for a managerial assistant position at a Shenyang company, she thought she still had a chance even if the ads did say male applicants would be given first consideration.

However, even that slim hope vanished when the Beijing Foreign Studies University student submitted a resume. She was told outright that the position was only for men - the company just didn't want to say so in its ads.

\"It's unfair. I'm refused only because I'm a girl. They're not interested in knowing my ability,\" complained Wang. Now, she's still looking, but faces similar discrimination elsewhere.

Here's proof

It's not any consolation, but Wang is just one of thousands of people discriminated against in this cut-throat job market. A survey released last week showed that about 85 per cent of job-hunters said that there is discrimination in employment. And 58 per cent think the problem is severe.

The survey was done by an anti-discrimination research team headed by academics from Peking, Tsinghua, and China Political Science and Law universities.

Job or employment discrimination has been around for a long time in China. It mainly involves discrimination against appearance, lack of height, state of health, marital status, permanent residency questions, as well as gender, as in Wang's case.

The Labour Law, which came out 13 years ago, is the only law that covers job discrimination. It states that people are not to be discriminated against, regardless of ethnicity, race, sex, or religious belief. However, it does not elaborate on these points, and leaves no clear interpretation of discrimination - or the penalty for disregarding the law.

No support

So, it's just \"too general to be implemented\", explained Jiang Junlu, director of the All China Lawyers Association's labour law committee.

Since 2004, experts have been calling for an amendment to the Labour Law or for a separate law on job discrimination so that people can get greater legal protection.

Japan, Britain and Denmark all have laws on job discrimination. They give a detailed interpretation of what constitutes discrimination.

Cai Dingjian, a China University of Political Science and Law professor, said it was important for Chinese law to distinguish between actual discrimination and legitimate job criteria.

The lack of a clear definition is often exploited by employers who can impose discriminative rules, such as age or gender restrictions.

This also discourages people from trying to fight against discrimination. It appears to be common in China but few cases are filed. One obvious reason is that people simply don't know when their rights are being violated, said Cai.