KNOWLEDGE OF ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LEGISLATION AND READINESS TO SEEK ANTI-DISCRIMINATION PROTECTION OF RESPONDENTS EMPLOYED IN THE SYSTEM OF SCIENCE AND HIGHER EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

Abstract

Globally, the population is experiencing two simultaneous processes: Growth and aging, which will inevitably affect the number of able-bodied people, and in such circumstances, age discrimination is extremely dangerous. Age discrimination comes to the fore at all stages of the employment process. It begins with attempts to become part of the labour force, and ends with measures designed to encourage earlier exit from the labour market. Age discrimination can imply a number of negative consequences for both young and older people. Negative consequences of age discrimination can be reflected in difficult access to the labour market, employment based on atypical contractual forms, difficulties in advancement and training, differences in working conditions and differences in salaries. The intention of the paper is to achieve two goals: To point out the seriousness of the consequences of age discrimination in employment and the importance of knowledge of law, and to check the situation in the science and higher education system of the Republic of Croatia when it comes to knowledge of anti-discrimination legislation to seek protection against age discrimination. In view of the above, the paper is divided into two parts, the general part, the theoretical part and the special part. The theoretical part is focused on definition and analysis of discrimination and age discrimination, statistical indicators of discrimination and age discrimination in the Republic of Croatia, the importance of knowledge of the law and the procedure for protection against discrimination before Croatian courts. Special attention in the theoretical part of the paper is paid to the analysis of the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU regarding age discrimination. A special part of the paper is focused on the presentation and analysis of data obtained through empirical research. Empirical research verified whether and to what extent respondents, employees in the science and higher education system of the Republic of Croatia were familiar with anti-discrimination legislation, to what extent respondents who experienced age discrimination were willing to react and seek protection of their rights and whether they would be willing to react in the future and seek protection of their rights in court. Employees of two Croatian universities were selected for the research group: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek and the University of Rijeka, and data collection was conducted using an online questionnaire posted on the Google Drive platform in the period from May 29 to June 21, 2017. The list of contacts and e-mail addresses of respondents were obtained from the official websites of the constituent universities and their rectors, and a total of 2958 addresses were identified: 1506 at the University of Rijeka and 1452 addresses at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek.The analyzed results of empirical research showed the following: (1) Only 21.43% of respondents know that there is a Law on Elimination of Discrimination in the Republic of Croatia and are familiar with its contents (2) There is a statistically significant difference in familiarity with the existence of the Act and familiarity with its contents between employees of different levels of education. Only 10.81% of respondents with high school know about the Act and are familiar with its content, compared to 21.14% of respondents with graduate studies and higher education. (3) Only 15.43% of respondents who had been exposed to age discrimination reacted in some way (addressing the employer, consulting with the union commissioner, addressing the ombudsman, filing a lawsuit (4) There is a statistically significant difference between teaching, administrative, technical and support staff in responding after exposure to age discrimination, more precisely, administrative and technical staff reacted most often in such a situation, in 28.21% of cases (5) In case of exposure to age discrimination in the future and after exhaustion of all other possibilities, only 13.53% of respondents would certainly turn to the courts (6) There is a statistically significant difference in terms of readiness to go to the courts between respondents employed on the basis of different types of employment contracts. Respondents who work on the basis of a permanent full-time employment contract would be more likely to go to court in case of exposure to age discrimination compared to respondents employed on the basis of other types of contracts. (7) The most common reasons for not going to court are lack of trust in courts and lengthy proceedings.