The most common form of discrimination in the workplace is not immediately obvious and you may not even realize that it’s happening to you. Identifying subtle forms of discrimination requires examining all of the circumstances to determine if you have been treated differently from your colleagues on the basis of such identifying factors as your age, gender, race, or disability.

Some indicators that there might be an issue in your workplace include: a lack of diversity; repeatedly being passed over for a promotion even though you have strong performance reviews; exclusion from training or career development opportunities; favouritism in assigning high profile or lucrative projects; receiving differential treatment (in comparison to your co-workers) with respect to discipline; suddenly receiving negative performance reviews after a long history of positive reviews; being asked to perform tasks with unreasonable deadlines (i.e. you are being set up for failure); exclusion from opportunities for social interaction; being held to a higher performance standard; and unwarranted criticism of soft skills such as your “communication style”.

If you suspect that you are being discriminated against, you should begin keeping a detailed diary of the above types of events and make note of any specific incidents, including dates, times and names of any potential witnesses. You should also consider consulting with a lawyer to discuss your particular situation and to obtain assistance in making a formal complaint where it is warranted.

Author: Priya Sarin, Partner at Whitten & Lublin