Legal Aspects of Diversity in the Workplace

Federal law has traditionally protected or ensured the rights of minorities and women since the 1960s and early 1970s to help enhance legal diversity in the workplace. As of 2010, workplace diversity, " is usually defined broadly to include dimensions beyond those specified legally in equal opportunity and affirmative action non-discrimination statutes," according to "Workplace Diversity," an article on Cornell University's ILR School website.

Age Discrimination

With Americans living longer and staying longer in jobs or changing careers later in life, age discrimination protection in the workplace is a necessity to ensure older employee diversity in jobs. The federal Age Discrimination Act bans age discrimination and prohibits excluding older workers over 40 from apprenticeship programs, job notices, or denying or reducing health benefits.

Disabilities Protection

Workers who qualify for protection under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ensures the disabled employment in the workplace. The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Before passage of ADA, disabled workers were typically excluded from employment consideration due to co-existing conditions such as cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, vision impairment and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to the EEOC Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination Q&As website.

Religious Protection

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on religion. According to the law firm of Seyfarth and Shaw, the number of workplace religious discrimination claims increased 100 percent between 1992 and 2007. In response to this, in 2008, the EEOC issued a 94-page policy that comprehensively addresses religious workplace discrimination practices.

References

• Cornell University: Workplace Diversity
• The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination Q&As
• The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Questions and Answers: Religious Discrimination in the Workplace
• Seyfarth Shaw: EEOC Releases Updated Guidance on Religious Discrimination Guidelines
• Westbrook Stevens: Communicating In a Diverse Culture

Resources

• University of California Berkley: Managing Diversity in the Workplace
• Cornell University ILR School: Workplace Diversity
• ADA: Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 as Amended
• The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Questions & Answers About Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in the Workplace
• U.S. Department of Labor: Age Discrimination Act of 1975