Adverse Effect

An adverse effect, in an HR context, is a discriminatory outcome that ends up hurting a specific group of employees or candidates, usually showing up in decisions like hiring, promotions, or other employment practices. Even a policy that looks neutral on paper can produce one if it consistently works against a particular group in practice.

Spotting these patterns matters because they point to bias or inequality that might not be obvious from the policy's wording alone. Once an organization sees an adverse effect in its numbers, the next step is fixing the process behind it, not just the outcome.