Most professionals choose their careers based on the final positions or titles they hope to assume. They secure the necessary education and credentials, acquire relevant experience and seek employment in the industry of their choosing. They may then work to secure promotions and new job opportunities.
Frequently, people move from one company to another to secure advancement opportunities. Others hope to move upward within the same organization. Unfortunately, even companies that boast about providing internal advancement opportunities to ambitious workers generally do not have enough high-level openings to satisfy all of the professionals they employ. In some cases, companies may deny advancement opportunities to certain workers, which may technically constitute discrimination.
Decisions about promotions should be fair
Employers are subject to federal and state regulations regarding how they treat their workers. Typically, companies cannot consider protected characteristics when choosing who they hire or who they let go during widespread staff reductions. Decisions related to promotions are also employment-related decisions that should not involve discrimination.
Businesses should not consider protected characteristics when deciding who moves into an empty office in the C-suite. Protected characteristics that should not influence eligibility for promotions include race, national origin, age, sex, religion and medical disability.
Unfortunately, some groups tend to have a very difficult time breaking into the upper echelons of business leadership. Women and workers from different races are among those who may find that their advancement opportunities stall out after reaching a certain point.
Despite candidates having the experience and credentials necessary, other, potentially less-qualified candidates receive promotions instead of a qualified candidate. A single missed promotion opportunity isn’t necessarily indicative of discrimination, although it could be.
Particularly in cases where professionals find themselves repeatedly passed over for opportunities their employers offer to those with less experience or fewer credentials, workers may start to question whether their difficulty securing a promotion is indicative of organizational discrimination. If the company made the decision in part because of their protected characteristics, discrimination may have occurred.
Keeping records of lost opportunities and questionable company decisions could help workers fight back against promotion discrimination. If companies consider protected characteristics instead of capability, workers denied opportunities may have the right to take legal action.
