How to Protect an Employee's Civil Rights

The United States Equal Opportunity Commission coordinates and enforces laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace. They work to protect an employee's civil rights while on the job. To protect an employee's civil rights, you should know the basic Federal laws prohibiting job discrimination.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Read Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating because of a person's race, color, religion or national origin. It also prohibits discrimination of those who are affiliated with associations or individuals covered under one of these protected categories.
2. Understand the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This legislation was passed by the Federal Government in 1963 and prohibits dispensing different wages to men and women for jobs requiring identical effort, responsibility and skill, and performed in work environments that exhibit similar conditions.
3. Learn about the Age Discrimination Act of 1967. This legislature makes it illegal to employ hiring procedures that limit or bar the hiring anyone over 40. This law also prohibits hiring, promoting, basing wage assessments, firing or laying off individuals based on age. It prohibits stating age preferences in employment advertisements, denying benefits to older employees. The law also prohibits mandatory retirement based on age in most fields.
4. Acquire knowledge of Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination, under certain circumstances, based on an employee's disability.
5. Grasp the concepts illustrated in Section 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This law gives the government a significant role in promoting the employment of individuals with disabilities, including offering vocational rehabilitation services to those who qualify.
6. Familiarize yourself with the Civil Rights Act of 1991. This statute provides an employee the right of trial by jury for discrimination claims. It also introduced the possibility of an award to an employee based on emotional damages. This act modified the Civil Rights Act of 1964