Equal Employment Opportunity laws and regulations protect employees from certain types of job related discriminations at their places of work. These laws and regulations are monitored and enforced by the Department of Labor (Dobbin, Sutton, Meyer& Scott, 1993). The Department of labor has two agencies that deal with such laws and regulations, they include:
1) The Civil Rights Center,
2) The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.
Below are a number of federal equal employment opportunity laws and how they influence fair employment practices within our organization.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.
This act prohibits employers of federal financed programs and activities from discriminating against employees or potential employees based on their age. The Act advocates for use of other given age distinctions besides age. The act protects job applicants as well as employees who are above 40 years of age from being discriminated against during the recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, and discharge processes ((Dobbin, Sutton, Meyer& Scott, 1993).
All organizations are required to ensure that their recruiters comply with this law as failure to do so could lead to lawsuits. The company I work for does not obligate applicants to disclose their age when applying for a job. This ensures that the shortlisting process is free from age-based bias. The impact of this act on a company is that the company cannot disqualify an applicant based on their age. Consequently, the company is forced to hire individuals who are over 40. Although such individuals may be qualified for the position, their productivity tends to be lower than that of younger employees.
Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
This Act prohibits discrimination against potential employees, job applicants; current employees; and any other project participants of any federal sponsored program or activity, which is a member of the One-Stop system. This Act deals with discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, and place of origin. Section 188 also forbids discrimination based on an individual’s age, political belief, disability, and citizenship (for beneficiaries only)(Dobbin, Sutton, Meyer& Scott, 1993).
This means that an organization cannot disqualify an applicant based on their race, religion, place of origin and so on. The company I work for does not obligate applicants to disclose such information when applying for a job. This ensures that the selection process is free from discrimination. Furthermore, employees who belong to any of these minority groups are treated equally to other employees. The HR department is keen to ensure that discrimination does not take place.
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008.
This act protects potential employees, job applicants, and employees from discrimination based on their genetic information. Genetic information includes genetic tests of the job applicant or employee and that of their family members; occurrence of an illness or a health condition in the applicant’s or employee’s family; and receipt or requests by employer of genetic services(Dobbin, Sutton, Meyer& Scott, 1993). This act applies in hiring, during promotion, when discharging employees, during training and referrals, when offering pay and other benefits, and in all other aspects of engagement. This Act also controlscollection and disclosure of genetic information by the employer.
Read also Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Laws Reflection Paper
Our company does not request or obligate employees or applicants to disclose their genetic information except on very special occasions such as when a pre existing condition would interfere with performance. For instance, when an applicant is applying for a position that could worsen certain health conditions.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963.
This Act prohibits organizations from sex discrimination when paying wages to individuals of both sexes performing equal work. This Act dictates that individuals who hold a job position that requires equal responsibility, effort, and skill should be recompensed equally regardless of their gender. In line with this, our company has fixed wages for different job positions to ensure that such bias does not occur(Dobbin, Sutton, Meyer& Scott, 1993).
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