| Employment & Labor Law |
| Discrimination |
| Rights: Americans Disabilities Act |
| Employment Contracts |
| Family & Medical Leave |
| Human Resources |
| OSHA |
| Sexual Harassment |
| Wage and Hour Law |
| Wrongful Termination |
Discrimination
It is illegal for any employer to discriminate against workers because of the following reasons: race, skin color, gender, religious beliefs, national origins, disability or age, if you are at least 40 years old. In most instances, it is also illegal for employers to discriminate employees for the following factors: HIV positive patient, pregnant women, divorced, and homosexuals.
Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the most powerful antidiscrimination law that governs the workplace. The Act created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) whose tasks include administering and enforcing the legal standards it set.
In addition to the above law, some of the applicable federal laws that are used to fight unfair workplace discrimination include the following:
* The Equal Pay Act of 1963 which specifically makes it illegal to discriminate workers' wages based solely on their gender.
* The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) makes it also illegal to discriminate workers based on age of 40 years and above.
* The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, which amends ADEA, that explicitly make it illegal to discriminate any employee from coverage of benefit programs on the basis of their age. This Act also prohibits employers to use waivers, which require older workers to waive their rights to institute legal action for discrimination based on their age.
* The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which outlaws refusal of an employer for hiring a pregnant woman, or for terminating her employment because of her pregnancy, or for compelling the pregnant woman to go on maternity leave.
* The Americans with Disabilities Act outlaws discrimination against workers because of their disability, whether physical or mental.
* The Labor Management Relations Act, including its amendments, which generally outlaw discrimination against employees who belong to or refuse to join a labor union.
If you suffer from any workplace discrimination, you are entitled to some remedies, such as reinstatement and promotion, or wages and work-related losses. You may want to contact your lawyer to know your other worker's rights under the law.