Equal employment opportunity is

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...

to attain or maintain employment in a company, organization, or other institution. Examples of legislation to foster it or to protect it from eroding include the U.S.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

, which was established by

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requi ...

to assist in the protection of

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

employees from discrimination. The law was the first federal law designed to protect most US employees from employment discrimination based on that employee's (or applicant's) race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (Public Law 88-352, July 2, 1964, 78 Stat. 253, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e et. seq.). On June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled that workplace discrimination is prohibited based on sexual orientation or transgender status. '' Bostock v. Clayton County'',

590 __NOTOC__ Year 590 ( DXC) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 590 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era bec ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

___ (2020). Employment discrimination entails areas such as firing, hiring, promotions, transfer, or wage practices and it is also illegal to discriminate in advertising, referral of job applicants, or classification. The Title is pertinent in companies affecting commerce that have fifteen or more employees. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is section 705 of the title. Equal employment opportunity was further enhanced when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Executive Order 11246 on September 24, 1965, created to prohibit federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on race,

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

, creed, religion, color, or national origin.

Related statutes

Along with those protected classes, more recent statutes have listed other traits as "protected classes," including the following: * The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 has protected those aged 40 and over but does not protect those under the age of 40. * The

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...

protects individuals who possess, or are thought to possess, a wide range of disabilities, ranging from paraplegia to

Down Syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

to autism. However, it does not force an employer to employ a worker whose disability would create an "undue hardship" on their business (for example, a paraplegic cannot work on a construction site, and a blind person cannot be a chauffeur). Similar protections have been in place for Federal employees and customers of federal agencies and contractors since 1973 under the

Rehabilitation Act The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 () is a United States federal law, codified at et seq. The principal sponsor of the bill was Rep. John Brademas (D-IN-3). The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 replaces preexisting laws (collectively referred to as the V ...

. * The

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (, GINA ), is an Act of Congress in the United States designed to prohibit some types of genetic discrimination. The act bars the use of genetic information in health insurance and employment ...

of 2008 forbids discrimination based on family history and genetic information. * The

Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (or VEVRAA, ) is an Act of Congress originally about Vietnam-era veterans, disabled veterans, and any other veterans who served active duty time in a war event that qualifies for a camp ...

of 1974 forbids discrimination on the grounds of a worker's military history, including any effects that the battlefield might have had on the worker's psyche. * Twelve states, over one hundred local governments, and the

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have passed statutes that forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation; also, the

Employment Non-Discrimination Act The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or, depending on the version of the bill, gender ...

would make sexuality a protected class, but this bill has yet to pass Congress. The

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

also required contractors to implement affirmative action plans to increase the participation of minorities and women in the workplace. Under federal regulations, affirmative action plans must consist of an equal opportunity policy statement, an analysis of the current workforce, identification of problem areas, the establishment of goals and timetables for increasing employment opportunities, specific action-oriented programs to address problem areas, support for community action programs, and the establishment of an internal audit and reporting system.

Related statutes

See also

References

Further reading