The results of our fight against discrimination. Don’t let yourself be deceived!

Discrimination on the grounds of sex, age, nationality, religion, language, ethnicity, social status, or convictions is not only a problem that stains Lithuania’s reputation, but it is also something that may happen to each of us. The European Foundation of Human Rights has noticed the issue, and for a long time it has been fighting a battle against discrimination by lodging complaints to proper law enforcement bodies.

While reading job offers on the Internet, one can find a lot of signs of discrimination. The authors of job announcements, though probably unwittingly, often break the law. The European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR), concerned about discriminatory advertisements, has started to monitor the Internet in search of those. Positive results of the monitoring are already visible, as the Lithuanian Office of Equal Opportunities (Lygių galimybių kontrolieriaus tarnyba) has warned several employers against discriminatory practices.

The eleventh article of the Law on Equal Treatment states that apart from very few exceptions, job advertisements must not contain any requirements concerning sex, race, nationality, language, social background, disability, ethnicity, or religion.

However, at www.darbo.lt there are still several discriminatory job offers, such as “we are waiting for a nice, communicative, responsible, and kind woman,” “we are looking for a 30+ woman for the position of shop assistant/consultant at a children’s clothing store,” “a female pizza baker needed,” or “we are looking for a female shop assistant/consultant.” Moreover, in one of the advertisements age (24+) is mentioned as a crucial condition to become a training assistant in the announcer’s firm.

According to employers themselves, it is insufficient knowledge of the law of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as of the requirements of The State Commission of the Lithuanian Language, that  lies behind posting such discriminatory ads.

EFHR believes that the Lithuanian Office of Equal Opportunities will start to monitor the Internet in search for unlawful job offers, as it is one of the body’s duties. Nonetheless, the interventions of EFHR have shown that the office often fails in this respect.

In order to help employers, EFHR have prepared a leaflet, which clearly explains how to construct a legal job advertisement.

The foundation kindly asks you to report on every announcement that potentially violates the law. Also, we would like to thank everybody who has already informed us about discriminatory job offers. Feel invited to cooperate with us!