New Delhi, Jan.9 (ANI): Over eight in ten Chinese say that discrimination in China's job market is passe.

For, if a report in The China Daily is to be believed, about 85 percent of the 3,424 respondents covered by a recent survey in 10 big cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, said discrimination in work and employment did exist. Fifty-eight percent thought the problem was severe.

Appearance, height, gender and marital status are the most discriminative categories, those surveyed said.

A job in China can be refused if your name is "unlucky" or "accident prone".

Employers can also discriminate against people from certain regions or areas, such as Central China's Henan Province, because of the negative impression they have about them. Beijing residents, too, have their share of bad luck because they are generally considered lazy.

Cai Dingjian, a professor from China University of Political Science and Law, who headed the survey, said such requirements, which are not connected with the job itself, violate people's equal right to pursue a career.

Cai said governments should be vigilant against such discriminations because they exist not only in companies, but are also practiced by them.

Civil servants are usually required to have a pleasant personality.

China's existing Labor Law, enacted 13 years ago, is the only one in the country that contains items on job discrimination. It states that laborers shall not be discriminated against, regardless of their ethnicity, race, sex, or religious beliefs. But it does not elaborate on any of these points.

Experts have been calling for an amendment to the Labor Law to make it more penetrative, or for a separate law on job discrimination so that laborers could be protected more easily through legal means.

Although the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, the country's top legislature, has not adopted the suggestions, it is very likely to review a draft law on employment promotion this year.

China ratified an international convention on discrimination in employment and occupation in 2005, and promised to take appropriate action to grant equal opportunity and treatment. (ANI)
 

Source: http://www.dailyindia.com/show/101385.php/Over-8-in-10-Chinese-confirm-discrimination-in-getting-jobs