Analytics, Labour-market, Latvia, Markets and Companies

As the ombudsman's representative Ruta Silina told LETA, most often, or in 46% of cases, employees reported discriminatory attitudes on the part of their director superiors, other colleagues and managers, but less often on the part of clients or business partners. 

The survey reveals that young employees tend to be exposed to unfair or discriminatory treatment more often than their older colleagues. The survey showed that the longer employees have been with their companies the less likely they are to experience discrimination. 

As many as 44% of the surveyed employees said they had noticed in the past five years job adverts containing discriminatory requirements regarding candidates' age and sex. Describing job ads containing age-based discrimination, the respondents said that employers tend to offer jobs to younger candidates, not older than 40 or 50, for example.

Respondents also pointed out that they had seen job ads discriminating both male and female candidates. Job ads offering work in the trade or services sectors, for instance, typically target female candidates, while adverts offering other positions expressly favor male candidates. 

Silina noted that some job ads also included discriminatory requirements regarding candidates' health, appearance, as well as skills and qualifications.