The Issue Of Workplace Discrimination In Malaysia And Possible Steps To Deal With It

Workplace discrimination is an unprofessional practised which does not have place in any civilised society. It is sad to learned that as people are now living in the 21st century equipped with many laws and rules, there are still allegations being put forward by workers that they been subjected to workplace discrimination. In November 2017, the Malaysian Labour Centre of the Union Network International (‘Uni-MLC’) claimed that several Muslim female hotel employees in the country had complained about the discriminatory practice of being told to remove their headscarf when they go to work. Ever since such claim was disclosed through the media, many workers regardless of their working sector has come forward and shared their own experience on such issue with the public. This issue had caused an uproar among the Malaysian society which wanted the government to take a strong stand and immediate action to deal with the matter concerning the issue of workplace discrimination more seriously. What is workplace discrimination and what constitutes discrimination against employees? In general, workplace discrimination happens when an employee is being subjected or treated unfavorably because of his or her race, skin colour, national origin, sex, gender, disability, religion, political belief, or even age. Workplace discrimination can come in many forms. Although such ill practised can sometimes be overt, such as the use of slurs or denial of advancement of any work opportunities, it can also be subtle or even concealed. Whatever it is, it is very important to eliminate workplace discrimination as the negative impact it can bring to the victim themselves, to the organisation which they belong to as well as to the country reputation. As such, it is the object of the paper to analyse the issue deeper by identifying the theoretical aspect on workplace discrimination by looking into its definition, forms in which it can take, the cause and affects which it can generate, examine the existing law and practice in the country to deal with such problem and locate for possible solutions to address the issue from legal perspective.