Year-end bonuses and discrimination

Regardless of the field you work in, you need to take a firm stand for your rights as an employee. Every year, many hard-working people find themselves taken advantage of and treated unfairly, which is especially unsettling when mistreatment is a result of their racial background, age, religious views or disability.

Discrimination takes a wide variety of forms, and some victims do not even realize that the company they work for has violated their rights. For example, some people experience discrimination with respect to bonuses.

Discrimination involving bonuses

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that it is unlawful for covered employers to discriminate against staff members with respect to bonuses. In some instances, proving that discrimination occurred with respect to bonuses is difficult, but some people have no doubt that their bonus pay (or lack thereof) constitutes illegal discrimination.

For example, if an employer says that they decided not to give a bonus to a worker as a result of their racial background, while they gave bonuses to staff members from other racial backgrounds, this clearly constitutes discrimination.

Discrimination and other forms of pay

Aside from bonuses, EEOC laws cover many other types of pay. For example, employers cannot discriminate against workers with respect to their stock options, overtime payments, salary, vacation pay and other benefits. Sometimes, it is difficult to pinpoint discrimination, especially since some people receive a higher bonus for legitimate reasons. However, if a worker has evidence that their employer decided to deny a bonus due to discrimination, it is critical to hold the employer accountable.