Race, ethnicity, and discrimination at work: a new analysis of legal protections and gaps in all 193 UN countries

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-01-2022-0027
• Published date: 01 February 2023
• Date: 01 February 2023
• Pages: 16-34
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion
• Author: Jody Heymann,Sheleana Varvaro-Toney,Amy Raub,Firooz Kabir,Aleta Sprague

Race, ethnicity, and discrimination

at work: a new analysis of legal

protections and gaps in all

193 UN countries

Jody Heymann

Fielding School of Public Health, Luskin School of Public Affairs,

University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA

Sheleana Varvaro-Toney and Amy Raub

WORLD Policy Analysis Center, Fielding School of Public Health,

University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA

Firooz Kabir

Fielding School of Public Health, University of California,

Los Angeles, California, USA, and

Aleta Sprague

WORLD Policy Analysis Center, Fielding School of Public Health,

University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA

Abstract

Purpose –While only one aspect of fulfilling equal rights, effectively addressing workplace discrimination is

integral to creating economies, and countries, that allow for everyone’s full and equal participation.

Design/methodology/approach –Labor, anti-discrimination, and other relevant pieces of legislation were

identified through the International Labor Organization’s NATLEX database, supplemented with legislation

identified through country websites. For each country, two researchers independently coded legislation and

answeredquestionsabout key policyfeatures. Systematicquality checksand outlier verificationswereconducted.

Findings –More than 1 in 5 countries do not explicitly prohibit racial discrimination in employment. 54 countries

fail to prohibit unequal pay based on race. 107 countries prohibit racial and/or ethnic discrimination but do not

explicitly require employers to take preventive measures against discrimination. The gaps are even larger with

respect to multiple and intersectional discrimination. 112 countries fail to prohibit discrimination based on both

migration status and race and/or ethnicity; 103 fail to do so for foreign national origin and race and/or ethnicity.

Practical implications –Both recent and decades-old international treaties and agreements require every

country globally to uphold equal rights regardless of race. However, specific national legislation that

operationalizes these commitments and prohibits discrimination in the workplace is essential to their impact.

This research highlights progress and gaps that must be addressed.

Originality/value –This is the first study to measure legal protections against employment discrimination

based on race and ethnicity in all 193 UN countries. This study also examines protection in all countries from

discrimination on the basis of characteristics that have been used in a number of settings as a proxy for racial/

ethnic discrimination and exclusion, including SES, migration status, and religion.

Keywords Discrimination, Labor law, Race, Ethnicity, Migration status, Class

Paper type Research paper

EDI

42,9

16

© Jody Heymann, Sheleana Varvaro-Toney, Amy Raub, Firooz Kabir and Aleta Sprague. Published by

EmeraldPublishingLimited. This articleis publishedunder the CreativeCommons Attribution(CC BY 4.0)

licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivativeworks of this article (for both

commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and

authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

The authors are grateful for funding from the Willi am and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Bill &

Melinda GatesFoundation.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 31 January 2022

Revised 15 July 2022

Accepted 18 August 2022

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 42 No. 9, 2023

pp. 16-34

Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-01-2022-0027

Introduction

Work plays a fundamental role in shaping the conditions of people’s lives. Earnings from

employment are the predominant source of income for most people; income in turn shapes

access to a wide range of necessities including housing, transportation, and food, as well as

non-essentials that impact quality of life and access to opportunities. In many countries where

health insurance is partial or incomplete, work shapes access to healthcare. And by affecting

where families live and whether caregivers can take time off to meet the developmental needs

of children, the availability and conditions of work can have profound impacts on child

development and education. Likewise, as adults age, as well as at the end of life, work

histories can and do shape retirement income in most countries, and working conditions

influence the ability of adults to care for aging family members.

As a result, when discrimination impedes work opportunities or results in loss of income,

the consequences affect not only the quality and equality of work lives, but also of many other

spheres of life. Moreover, when certain groups of workers routinely face bias in the

workplace, this discrimination widens other inequalities in the economy, with ripple effects

that have impacts on health, housing, children’s access to quality education, and equal rights

more broadly.

Given these vast and intergenerational impacts, the extent and persistence of workplace

discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity worldwide—which occurs at each stage of

employment, including hiring, promotions, demo tions, pay, working conditions, and

terminations—represents a significant threat to both individual households and societies

as a whole, as well as a clear violation of fundamental human rights. Moreover, studies in

countries around the world have documented how employment discrimination on the basis of

race/ethnicity commonly intersects with discrimination based on migration status,

socioeconomic status, gender, and other characteristics, compounding other forms of

inequality. While only one aspect of fulfilling equal rights, effectively addressing workplace

discrimination is integral to creating economies, and countries, that allow for everyone’s full

and equal participation.

In this article, we review the research evidence on employment discrimination based on

race and on the impact of anti-discrimination legislation, and then present the methods and

results of the first study of anti-discrimination protections in all 193 UN countries.

Discrimination in hiring

A wide range of studies have demonstrated racial and ethnic discrimination in hiring,

including studies in which researchers submit fictitious CVs and applications that reflect

similar credentials and experience, but that vary with respect to photos, names, and/or

experiences suggestive of different racial or ethnic identities. These “correspondence

studies,”which improved on prior methods of testing for racial discrimination by making

candidates substantively identical except for markers of race/ethnicity (Bertrand and Duflo,

2017), find that presumed race/ethnicity influences the likelihood that a particular candidate

receives an invitation to interview, with those representing historically marginalized racial or

ethnic groups consistently receiving fewer callbacks (Baert, 2018).

Other research approaches include direct interviews with hiring managers and

simulations in which study participants rate the strength of hypothetical job candidates

based on their photos and descriptions of their experience and characteristics where, again,

the principal aspect varied is race/ethnicity, either on its own or together with intersectional

characteristics like migration status or gender.

These research approaches also document the persistence of discrimination in hiring

across jobs and geographies. For example, research in Nigeria found that managers of both

public and private organizations were more likely to hire applicants from their own ethnic

Analysis

of legal

protections

17