Discrimination at the workplace is protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Employment Act of 1967, Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. All of these acts and pieces of acts help to keep discrimination out of the workplace and away from employees from their employers.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans workplace discrimination based on sex, age, gender, color, religion, or national origin. This means that an employee cannot be hired, fired, compensated, transfer, promoted, laid off, recalled, recruited, tested, trained, paid or have benefits withheld based on discrimination of the employer. Employers are not also allowed to harass their employees based on the basis of their race, sex, color, religion, education, or national origin.
Age discrimination in the Employment Act states that no employer is legally allowed to discriminate against their employees based on their age. This includes hiring and firing, pay wages, hours, job assignments and much more.
The Equal Pay Act states that employers cannot discriminate against their employees based on wages. Men and women working the same job with the same skills must be paid the same wages and not different wages based on the employee's sex. Also, the act states that employers are not legally allowed to lower wages of either sex to make sure pay is equalized between men and women.
Who can file a charge of employment discrimination? Any individual at a place of work can file a charge of employment discrimination with their local Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. If someone wants their identity to be secure and not known in a claim, another individual or organization can file a claim on behalf of the person being discriminated against. How does one file a complaint? One needs to send the following information to their local Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding their complaint.
The information required is the name, address, and telephone number of the complaining party as well as name, address, and telephone number of the employer whom the complaint is being filed against. The complaint should also include a description of the discrimination incident or incident and the dates of the alleged incident or incidents.
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a claim against an employer for discrimination at the workplace must be filed within the first 180 days after the incident originally took place. If the charge is covered by state and local anti-discrimination law then the period for filing the claim can be extended to 300 days.
If a charge of discrimination is found to be true, the employee can be awarded back pay, be rehired, promoted, reinstated, be awarded front pay, reasonable accommodation, and any other accommodations that will alleviate the suffering of the victim. Also, paying of the legal fees, expert witness fees and court costs by the defendant will also be suggested by the victim as reparation for their discrimination.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was created in 1964 by Congress to enforce Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The President appoints five Commissioners and a General Counsel to run the Commission and all of the President's appointees must be approved by the Senate. Commissioners serve five year terms on the Commission while members of the General Counsel serve a four year term. The President also designates a Chair and Vice-Chair of the Commission. The Chair is considered the chief executive officer of the Commission. The Commission is legally allowed to establish equal employment policy and to approve litigation. The General Counsel's job is to carry out litigation.
Employment discrimination can occur to anyone at anytime during employment and can lead to wrongful termination, reduced pay, being reassigned to a lesser job, not being rewarded a deserved promotion, not being given benefits, and much more.
For More Information
- Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
- Garland's Digest on Employment Discrimination Law
- U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy
- Human Rights Campaign
- Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission – Employment Discrimination
- Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission