Employment Discrimination-Attractive People Earn More
According to research by Daniel Hamermesh and Jeff Biddle published in the Journal of Labor Economics, attractive people earn about 5 percent more in hourly pay than their average-looking colleagues, who in turn earn 9 percent more per hour than the plainest-looking workers.
What this means is that if an average-looking person earned $40,000, their prettiest co-workers would make $42,000 while their least attractive colleagues brought home just $36,400.
Research also indicated that plain-looking workers may also receive fewer promotions than those awarded to their more striking contemporaries.
Although this is all quite maddening, in New York State, this is legal. Unlike religion, national origin or disability, discrimination based on looks is legal in most jurisdictions.
Currently, both Washington, D.C. and Santa Cruz, California, are two of the only municipalities with laws explicitly protecting workers against discrimination based on physical characteristics or personal appearance, he said. Still, that hasn't stopped workers from launching unsuccessful lawsuits.
Bookmark: 
