Besides the most common grounds of discrimination, there are many more ones which can seem less obvious but are still protected under French law.
In addition to the prohibited grounds of discrimination described in other sections of this guide, the French Criminal Code also forbids discrimination on the following grounds:
- Family situation (such as having children or not, being married, divorced, widowed etc.)
- Pregnancy
- Physical appearance (includes many characteristics: morphology, clothing, facial features, hairstyle, tattoos, piercings, eye colour, skin colour, scars etc.)
- Particular vulnerability resulting from the person’s apparent or known economic situation
- Surname
- Place of residence
- Health
- Loss of autonomy
- Genetic characteristics
- Morals
- Gender identity
- Political opinions
- Trade union activities
- Status of whistleblower
example Refusing to hire a candidate to a job just because he lives in a sensitive neighbourhood or lives far away from the job would be discriminatory.
example Refusing to a hire a candidate to a job just because she plans on being pregnant in the future is discriminatory.