Discrimination and Harassment
Understand your rights against workplace discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and discover how CAIWU supports workers facing unfair treatment.
Discrimination Has No Place in the Workplace
No worker should face discrimination, harassment or degrading treatment because of who they are.
Yet cleaners and other outsourced workers can experience racism, discriminatory treatment, offensive comments, intimidation and exclusion in workplaces where their contributions are often overlooked.
For migrant workers, language barriers, insecure employment and fears of retaliation can make speaking out particularly difficult.
Discrimination should never be accepted as part of the job.
Recognising Discrimination and Harassment
Workplace discrimination can take many forms. It may involve being treated less favourably because of your race, nationality, sex, disability, religion, age or another characteristic protected by law.
Harassment can include unwanted behaviour related to certain protected characteristics that violates a person's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Sexual harassment is also prohibited.
Discriminatory treatment may affect recruitment, promotion, working arrangements, disciplinary decisions or dismissal.
Workers can also face victimisation for raising discrimination concerns or supporting someone else's complaint in circumstances protected by law.
Not every instance of unfair treatment is unlawful discrimination, but employers have legal responsibilities to address discriminatory practices and protect workers from prohibited conduct.
Your Dignity Is Worth Defending
Reporting discrimination can be intimidating, particularly when the person responsible is a supervisor, manager or someone employed by the organisation where you work.
Outsourced cleaners may also experience mistreatment from people who are not directly employed by their cleaning company.
At CAIWU, we support members in raising discrimination complaints, challenging unfair treatment and demanding accountability from employers.
We also help workers organise collectively to challenge workplace practices that undermine equality, respect and dignity.
No worker should feel that they must remain silent to protect their livelihood.
Respect at work is a right, not a privilege.
Join CAIWU and stand alongside workers challenging discrimination and fighting for workplaces where everyone is treated with dignity.