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Equality at work

THE GLOBAL REPORT of the International Labour Organisation on equality at work, which draws attention to discrimination at the workplace taking on new, subtler forms, is a timely reminder to Governments and institutions that the battle against inequality needs to be continually fought through a combination of awareness campaigns, policy measures and legal efforts. Progress in tackling even the long-recognised discrimination against women is described in the report as patchy, thus underlining the difficulty involved in removing deeply-ingrained prejudices that show up in the workplace. Whether they have institutional sanction or not, societal biases and stereotypes contribute to the discrimination against vulnerable groups and ethnic and cultural minorities. Added to this, the report notes, there has been an increase in religious discrimination over the past decade with the international political climate of counter-terrorism fuelling sentiments of mutual fear among Muslims and non-Muslims. There has also been a rise in discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS. Obviously, Governments and institutions must show greater concern while looking into complaints of such forms of discrimination. But, women continue to constitute the largest group that faces discrimination at the workplace, and, invariably, the seriousness of a Government in ending all discrimination would be measured first and foremost in this sphere.

In the Indian context, the fight against sexual discrimination made major gains only with the Supreme Court laying down guidelines for dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace. The Union Labour Minister, Sahib Singh Verma, took the opportunity of releasing the ILO report in New Delhi to announce the formation of a committee to ascertain the extent to which the Government had been able to remove discrimination, particularly sexual harassment, at the workplace. Sadly, when the committee submits its recommendations by the month-end, it would only make abundantly clear that India lags behind other countries in ensuring a safe, non-discriminatory working environment for women. The Infosys case, where the company paid $3 million to a former employee who filed sexual harassment charges against a Board member, is a pointer to the gap between India and the developed countries in this aspect. It is unthinkable that Indian companies would pay out such huge amounts in cases of sexual harassment before Indian courts. But actually, the Infosys payment, which is part of an out-of-court settlement, is only a fraction of the amount demanded as compensation by the former employee. Not surprisingly, women's groups are of the opinion that the laws in India are weighted in favour of the accused in cases of sexual harassment. Enforcement of existing laws is another area where the Government is found wanting. The Supreme Court guidelines, which put the onus on employers in public and private sectors for setting up mechanisms for dealing with complaints from aggrieved women, are yet to be implemented effectively throughout the country. Anyway, such guidelines are meaningless for the unorganised sectors, where the women, low-skilled and ill-paid, are the most insecure.

In such a situation, stringent laws must be complemented by adequate redress mechanisms beyond the workplace. Governmental policies and support measures must be backed up with initiatives that would involve the larger community in identifying and addressing the problem areas. In the absence of concerted efforts, where the courts succeed, the Governments might fail. And where the Governments succeed, the community might fail. As the ILO report says, any failure to tackle the widening socio-economic inequalities would adversely affect social cohesion and political stability. That, surely, is the huge cost of status quo.

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