Equal+Opportunity+and+Access+2

toc

=Equal Opportunity and Access=

Equal employment and opportunity is extremely important to employees working in a market and nation that believes in giving every citizen an opportunity regardless of race, religion, ethnic background, disability etc. In order to maintain the equal employment, congress has created a commission named U.S equal employment opportunity commission who is in charged of enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.

However, the U.S equal employment opportunity commission is not the only entity that looks after equal employment. The department of labor currently has a Civil Right Center that enforces statutes, regulations, and executive orders, which relate to equal opportunity and non discrimination within the department of labor. Their practice is based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that prohibits not only intentional discrimination, but also **practices** that have the effect of discriminating against individuals because of their race, color, national origin, religion, or sex.

More information regarding these entities can be found at their website [|www.eeoc.gov] and []

But in order to provide equal employment to citizens, laws need to be implemented to assure that employees are treated equally. The following is a link that provides a time line of the laws created throughout the years to assure equality in employment. []

Some of these laws include:

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967)
// In 1967, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was implemented. Yet, this Act only applies to persons that are of 40 years of age or older. The Act protects workers over the age of 40 from an employer being able to hire or fire the employee solely on the bases of age. Yet, many States have their own laws on age discrimination as well. // []

Race Discrimination (Civil Rights Act )
Discrimination on race not only includes skin color but also, hair texture, and certain facial features. No employer is allowed to discriminate on any one of these things. The exception for this law is if the practice is job related and consistent with business necessity. For example, If an employer needed a white woman to play Marilyn Monroe in a play and they denied an African American girl to play her, this would not be considered discrimination. However discrimination is not only illegal by race. There were other factors such as color, religion, national origin, or sex that could not be used as reasons to discriminate and therefore are illegal as well. [] = = = =

The pregnancy discrimination Act –
This law amended Title VII to make it illegal to discriminate against a woman because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. []

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act –
This law makes it illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants because of genetic information. Genetic information includes information about an individual's genetic tests and the genetic tests of an individual's family members, as well as information about any disease, disorder or condition of an individual's family members (i.e. an individual's family medical history). []

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 ( EPA)
This law makes it illegal to pay different wages to men and women if they perform equal work in the same workplace. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. []

The American Disability Act 1990 ( ADA )
This law makes it illegal to discriminate against a qualified person with a disability in the private sector and in state and local governments. Title I requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide qualified individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from the full range of employment-related opportunities available to others. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. The law also requires that employers reasonably accommodate the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant or employee, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business. []

The ADA Act in title II requires state and local governments to follow strict architectural standards in the contruction of new and alteration of pre-existing buildings. The transportation provisions of title II cover public transportation services, such as city buses and public rail transit (e.g. subways, commuter rails, Amtrak). Public transportation authorities may not discriminate against people with disabilities in the provision of their services. They must comply with requirements for accessibility in newly purchased vehicles, make good faith efforts to purchase or lease accessible used buses, remanufacture buses in an accessible manner, and, unless it would result in an undue burden, provide paratransit where they operate fixed-route bus or rail systems. A link to an in-depth of the ADA Act []

**ADA Amendments Act of 2008**
The ADAAA requires that courts interpreting the ADA and other Federal disability nondiscrimination laws focus on whether the covered entity has discriminated, rather than whether the individual seeking the law's protection has an impairment that fits within the technical definition of the term "disability." The Act retains the ADA's basic definition of "disability" as an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment. However, it changes the way that the statutory terms should be interpreted.

Other disability laws
__Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974__ prohibits discrimination against and requires affirmative action for qualified special disabled veterans, as well as other categories of veterans. This law is enforced by the OFCCP. __Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998__ prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who are applicants, employees, and participants in WIA Title I-financially assisted programs and activities, and programs that are part of the One-Stop system. Section 188 also prohibits discrimination on the grounds of age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation or belief, and for beneficiaries only, citizenship or participation in a WIA Title I-financially assisted program or activity.

media type="youtube" key="XFwzs0VYmiE" height="344" width="425"

media type="youtube" key="zmEK8pnFmQs" height="344" width="425"