Selected model for the prevention of discrimination at the workplace

Sa？etak The workplace is the environment where people spend the greatest part of their active life. Day-to-day events in the work environment, the treatment of workers at the workplace and the general atmosphere in an organization affect to a great extent not only the state of mind, the productivity and efficacy of the workers, but very often their health, too. Discrimination at the workplace is one of the negative, humiliating and degrading forms of treatment. Its consequences are great and impact the individual and his mental health, his family, the work organization and society as a whole. Thus, discrimination deserves that special attention be paid to the causes and consequences of this undesirable behaviour. Special accent should be placed on finding adequate methods of preventing discrimination in order to eradicate it or at least reduce its occurrence to a minimum. Various discrimination prevention models have been implemented so far and the most successful ones proved to be those that acknowledge individual differences and regard them not as obstacles to overcome but as useful potential for the development of a work organization and a basis for creating pleasant working atmosphere and increasing work quality and productivity. The paper purports to promote a model of building cultural tolerance by implementing positive measures and diversity management as methods for dealing with differences among people in working environments, but it also recognizes the importance of the anti-discrimination laws