The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the authority that oversees the enforcement of U.S. laws prohibiting various kinds of workplace discrimination.
In this blog series, we'll highlight some of the specific practices these laws prohibit American employers from doing, as well as present some common examples of how each prohibited practice may be carried out or displayed by an employer.
If you need assistance fighting back against workplace discrimination – or if you need experienced help overcoming any employment legal issue, don't hesitate to contact the Atlanta employment lawyers at the Law Firm of Barret & Farahany, LLC. Our attorneys are here for you, ready to help you obtain justice.
Some Prohibited Practices for Employers, According to the EEOC
1 – Discriminating in Job Ads
When publishing ads seeking job applicants, employers are prohibited from including language in the ad that specifically discriminates against people based on their race, ethnicity, religion, gender/sex, age and/or disabilities. In some cases, even seemingly innocuous phrases that could be perceived as discouraging certain groups or demographics of job applicants from applying to particular a position can be viewed as being discriminatory.
For instance, job ads requesting only “recent college graduates” can be viewed as specifically discouraging more mature people from applying, and this could, consequently, be viewed as being illegal.
2 – Discriminating in the Recruitment Process
Just as employers cannot discriminate when seeking job applicants, they can also not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, disability, race, national origin and/or religion when recruiting new employees.
This can be problematic when, for example, a company's recruitment processes are more informal, occurring by word of mouth within a relatively homogenous community. This can lead to the same types of people being hired (for example, mostly people of the same ethnic background), generating the appearance of discriminatory recruiting and violating EEOC-enforced laws.
3 – Discriminating in the Hiring Process
The hiring process is another time when employers are specifically prohibited from discriminating against potential new hires. While this means that employers are NOT allowed to overlook applicants (or only hire applicants) based on their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age and/or disability, it also means that:
- If an employer is requiring job applicants to take a test during the hiring process, the test may not exclude applicants based on their personal attributes/beliefs (e.g., their race, religion, etc.)
- If a job applicant needs some special accommodations to apply for and/or perform a given job, the employer is required to provide these accommodations so long as they are not unreasonably expensive, difficult or burdensome.
For our continued discussion regarding prohibited practices for employers in the workplace, be sure to check out the additional parts of this blog series. They will be published soon.
Atlanta Employment Lawyers at the Law Firm of Barret & Farahany, LLP
Have you been the target of workplace discrimination? Or do you need help resolving any employment legal issue? If so, you can turn to the experienced Atlanta employment attorneys at the Law Firm of Barret & Farahany, LLP for aggressive legal advocacy and the highest quality legal services.
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