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This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.
As the US economy continues to recover from the Great Recession, many employers are hiring new employees. In a typical workplace, women and minorities are often overlooked for jobs or promotions for reasons outside of their control. The overt form of discrimination that people think of is someone who is denied a job based on race, gender, or ethnic origin. But there are subtle forms of discrimination that are just as destructive and have a ripple effect on the workplace. Concerns about discrimination have made headlines over the past couple of years because many people in these protected classes cannot get jobs or promotions despite having the qualifications for them. This is an egregious violation of their rights and has punished not just the individual but everyone else in their class as well.
What Is Workplace Discrimination?
Discrimination occurs when a person’s actions or treatment is based solely on the fact that they belong to one of the protected classes. The protected classes include women, minorities, and people with disabilities. There are federal and state laws that prohibit discrimination. Federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, national origin, age, or disability. State law may protect additional classes, such as sexual orientation. Employers are prohibited from asking questions regarding your age, marital status, or family history during the hiring process. An employer can ask about your ability to perform the required functions for the job. An employer cannot ask what your salary history is, so be wary of any questions that are designed to get that information from you.
What Are Protected Classes?
The term “protected class” is often used in the news media to describe the demographics of people who are discriminated against in some way. However, it is important to understand that this term is not meant to be a legal classification; rather, it is an identification used to describe what type of discrimination law applies. For example, people who belong to the protected classes of women, minorities, and people with disabilities are protected. Discrimination based on age is prohibited under federal law as well as some state laws. Under the federal age discrimination law (Age Discrimination in Employment Act or ADEA), it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against an older worker who is over the age of 40. Under the Equal Pay Act, employers are prohibited from paying different wages to men and women who do essentially the same job.
What Is Workplace Discrimination?
Discrimination occurs when a person’s actions or treatment is based solely on the fact that they belong to one of the protected classes. The protected classes include women, minorities, and people with disabilities. There are federal and state laws that prohibit discrimination. Federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, national origin, age, or disability. State law may protect additional classes, such as sexual orientation. Employers are prohibited from asking questions regarding your age, marital status, or family history during the hiring process. An employer can ask about your ability to perform the required functions for the job. An employer cannot ask what your salary history is, so be wary of any questions that are designed to get that information from you.
What is Sex Discrimination?
Federal law prohibits sex discrimination. The prohibition covers discrimination based on gender. It does not cover discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, but there are federal laws that cover some of these areas. It is illegal to harass a person because of their sex. This can include sexual harassment, such as unwanted sexual advances, sexual language or jokes, or derogatory comments about an individual’s sex.
What is Age Discrimination?
Federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on age. The ADEA applies to employers with 20 or more employees, including state and local governments. It prohibits discrimination against individuals who are 40 years of age or older. Most states have passed their own laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on age. Some of these state laws apply to smaller employers, and some cover both the private and public sectors. The laws generally prohibit employers from discriminating against someone because of their age. In some states, it is also illegal to discriminate against someone who is over the age of 40 based on their physical limitations. The laws usually prohibit such discrimination against someone who has reached the age of 40, but they may also apply to those who are over 40 but not yet 50.
Conclusion:
There are laws that protect employees from workplace discrimination based on age, gender, national origin, disability, and other categories. Although it’s important for you to be aware of these laws, it’s also important for you to be aware of the fact that not every employer will comply with them. To some extent, this is due to a misunderstanding of the law, so if you feel targeted at work or by a manager or co-worker because of your protected classification, don’t try to take matters into your own hands.
If you feel your rights are violated in the workplace, refer to this link to consult with a law firm with years of experience handling cases dealing with discrimination.
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This content is brought to you by Chiranjit Sinha
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
