CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964, as amended
Title VI prohibits discrimination on grounds of race, color, or national origin in federally assisted programs.
Title VII prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex or national origin by employers or unions with 15 or more employees. The designation employer includes the government of the United States, corporations wholly owned by the United States, and state or political subdivisions thereof.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 1972
This is an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which adds sex and religion to the Title VII portion and extends Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) to state, local and municipal organizations, all employment agencies (private and public) and to labor organizations. This Act empowers EEOC to bring civil action against any organization, which is alleged to be practicing discrimination. The Act also gives the right to an individual to take a complaint directly to a court of law.
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.
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1991
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 expands the protections afforded individuals under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It provides for damages for intentional discrimination and unlawful harassment in the workplace and codifies the concepts of "business necessity" and "job related" as enunciated in various Supreme Court decisions. Additionally, it confirms statutory authority and provides guidelines for disparate impact suits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and in response to recent Supreme Court decisions, expands the scope of relevant civil rights statutes.
AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 1967
This Act prohibits arbitrary discrimination against persons 40 years of age or older.
REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973
This Act sets the standards for promoting, expanding, and assisting in employment opportunities for the handicapped in all programs or activities receiving Federal financial assistance. Sections 503 and 504 provide for the prohibition of discrimination against qualified handicapped individuals. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), U. S. Department of Labor, enforces section 503. Section 504 is enforced by the agency providing the federal funds in question.
EQUAL PAY ACT OF 1963
This Act provides that an employer may not discriminate on the basis of sex by paying employees different wages for doing equal work on jobs requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions in the same establishment. The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces this Act.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990, AS AMENDED BY THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008
Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("the ADA") to eliminate discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the areas of employment, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public service. Title I of the ADA prohibits discrimination in employment against individuals with disabilities and establishes the standards governing an employer's affirmative duty to accommodate an individual with a disability. Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by state and local governments. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 broadens the coverage of "disability" and thereby brings more individuals under the protection of the law. EEOC issued regulations under this Act.
FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT of 1993
This act requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave to "eligible" employees for certain family and medical reasons. Employees are eligible if they have worked for a covered employer for at least one year, and for 1,250 hours during the year preceding the start of the leave, and be employed at a worksite where the employer employs at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius. The U. S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division is authorized to investigate and resolve complaints of violations.
Unpaid leave must be granted for any of the following reasons:
- To care for the employee's child after birth, or placement for adoption or foster care;
- To care for the employee's spouse, son or daughter, or parent, who has a serious health condition; or
- For a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the employee's job.
Section 585(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amended the FMLA to provide eligible employees working for covered employers two important leave rights related to military service:
- Qualifying Reason for Leave. Eligible employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave because of "any qualifying exigency" arising out of the fact that the spouse, son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active duty, or has been notified of an impending call to active duty status, in support of a contingency operation.
- Leave Entitlement. An eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered service member who is recovering from a serious illness or injury sustained in the line of duty on active duty is entitled to up to 26 weeks of leave in a single 12-month period to care for the service member. This military caregiver leave is available during "a single 12-month period" during which an eligible employee is entitled to a combined total of 26 weeks of all types of FMLA leave.
UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT
(USERRA)
USERRA protects the job rights of individuals who voluntarily or involuntarily leave employment positions to undertake military service. USERRA also prohibits employers from discriminating against past and present members of the uniformed services, and applicants to the uniformed services. The U. S. Department of Labor, Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) is authorized to investigate and resolve complaints of
USERRA violations.
GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2008
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 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.
