Abstract: Human resource practices in Pakistan are largely affected by stereotypic attitude that persists in the mindset of local

HR practitioners. Due to this mindset the executives are unable to provide equal employment opportunities to all prospective employees. The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan contains certain provisions regarding providing equal opportunities to all. However, the issue is not about nonexistence of the relevant laws but is about lack of proper implementation mechanism. Due to this, we can clearly see limiting of certain jobs for people from certain age, gender, race etc. In order to cope with this issue proper mechanism should be adopted. Employers must also overcome the thought of EEO being a western concept. They must understand that EEO is not an additional cost but a way of achieving organizational competitiveness. Keywords: Equal employment opportunity (EEO), Stereotype, Discrimination, Laws and EEO

Background: Not long ago human resource function was not considered vital for the success of any organization. Also the employee related policies were never given importance as employees were hardly considered a source of competitive advantage. But today this approach has been revamped and now people working in any organization are considered to be key players in deciding the fate of any organization. Today, dedicated human resource department works for attracting, recruiting, selecting, promoting and retaining employees in an organization. Though the importance of having a separate and devoted human resource department in our local organizations was realized long time after it had been adopted in organizations around the world but even today our human resource management system faces numerous challenges. The most vital in this regard are the challenges of coming over the stereotypes that are attached with certain individuals and the tribulations related to providing equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all competent individuals (Syed, 2003). Stereotypic mindset and HR practices: When it comes to being stereotypical the problem is not just with its prevalence in employee selection, promotion and retention etc., in actual this phenomena is common in our society and has been deeply amalgamated in our roots. Attaching girls with medical studies and boys with engineering studies is one form of this stereotypic thinking that is persistent in this part of the world. Apart from this, most of our interactions with others are somewhat and somehow influenced by the stereotypes that we have developed about that person. However