PRISM: Human Rights issues relating to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) in Aotearoa New Zealand - A report with recommendations struggle to maintain a livelihood.336 Data from Counting Ourselves showed the annual median income for trans and non-binary people is $15,001 - $20,000, compared with a median income of $35,001 – $40,000 for the general population.337 The relationship between income and poverty is evident in the stark material hardship experienced by trans and non-binary people, with 51% of participants having gone without fresh fruit and vegetables compared to 18% of the general population; and 64% reporting putting up with feeling cold, compared to 20% of the general population, to reduce costs. Pre-employment and employment discrimination The Commission has produced pre-employment guidelines for employers and employees to ensure equality and fairness for all job applicants.338 ‘Pre-employment’ includes job advertising, job applications and interviews, and job selection processes. The Commission receives a high number of complaints from SOGIESCdiverse people related to pre-employment and employment discrimination. As shown in Table 1, employment is the most common area of discrimination under the ground of sexual orientation. Employment was also the most frequently mentioned form of discrimination in submissions from transgender people to the Transgender Inquiry.339 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has produced two recent papers which describe this discrimination.340 They confirm with survey-based and experimental341 The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions’ network, Out@Work, represents union members who have a diverse SOGIESC.342 Out@Work report that organisations seem to be struggling to support their SOGIESC-diverse workers.343 Discrimination related to a person’s diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics often goes unreported for a number of reasons, including that the recipient would have to out themselves to make a complaint. Instead, they just leave the job.344 Remarks, insults, jokes, and exclusion can make workplace environments difficult for SOGIESC-diverse employees. Whether deliberate or unintentional, such behaviours foster an environment that can make people feel unsafe and can deter them from to disclosing their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or sex characteristics. Concealing SOGIESC in the workplace The high risk of experiencing discrimination leads many people to conceal their diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, or sex characteristics in the workplace.345 This can have an adverse effect on their productivity and mental health. In 2019, the State Services Commission conducted an anonymous online International Labour Organization “Message for International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia” (media statement, 17 May 2014). 337 Jaimie Veale and others Counting Ourselves: The health and wellbeing of trans and non-binary people in Aotearoa New Zealand (Transgender Health Research Lab, University of Waikato, Hamilton, 2019). 338 New Zealand Human Rights Commission The A-Z pre-employment guide for employers & employees. (Wellington, 2016). 339 New Zealand Human Rights Commission To Be Who I Am: Report of the Inquiry into Discrimination Experienced by Transgender People (Wellington, 2008) at [4.27] to [4.49]. 340 Marie-Anne Valfort “LGBTI in OECD countries: A review, working paper no. 198” (OECD, Paris, 2017); Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development “Society at a glance 2019: OECD social indicators” (Paris, 2019). 341 Experimental evidence in this paper referred to the random assignment of individuals to a treated group (SOGIESC-diverse) and a control group (not SOGIESC-diverse). Individuals in both groups are typically fictitious “applicants” for a specific benefit (such as a job, an apartment for rent, a service, or a piece of information). Such experiments enable the extent of discrimination to be measured, which could not be achieved using observational data. 342 New Zealand Council of Trade Unions “Out @ Work Council” <https://www.union.org.nz/outatwork/>. 343 Human Rights Commission meeting with Out@Work (18 April 2019). 344 New Zealand Human Rights Commission To Be Who I Am: Report of the Inquiry into Discrimination Experienced by Transgender People (Wellington, 2008) at [4.37] and [4.42]. 345 Victor Madrigal-Borloz Report to the General Assembly by the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity UN Doc A/74/181 (17 July 2019) at [11]. 336 56 evidence that people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities face barriers in the labour market. This includes being less likely to get an interview than their heterosexual counterparts; and experiencing gaps in employment status, remuneration, and access to career progression.