Fifth of workers with international roots experience workplace discrimination in NL

Just over 10 percent of workers in the Netherlands experienced discrimination at work last year, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. The problem was most prevalent against people who weren’t born in the Netherlands, with 22 percent of people from outside Europe and 19 percent of people born in another European country reporting workplace discrimination.

In addition to people with foreign roots, women, employees with a long-term illness or condition, workers with little autonomy, and people with dangerous work also feel discriminated against relatively often.

Workplace discrimination most often took the form of inappropriate comments and being ignored or excluded (both 35 percent) last year. Colleagues were the most common culprit here, according to workers who experienced discrimination.

A much smaller group (5.5 percent) experienced discrimination in the form of threats, violence, or aggression. Here, customers, patients, students, or passengers were the most common culprits.

CBS found that the composition of the workforce also has an influence on experienced discrimination, if to a lesser extent than the characteristics of the person themself. “In organizations where few women work, a large proportion of women feel discriminated against on the basis of their gender,” CBS said. “On the other hand, employees with a non-Dutch origin are less likely to feel discriminated against if there are relatively few other employees with a foreign origin.”