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Discrimination versus Equal

Employment Opportunity
and Affirmative Action
Discrimination
The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different
categories of people or things, especially on the
grounds of race, age, or sex.
Types of discrimination
• age
• being or becoming a transsexual person
• being married or in a civil partnership
• being pregnant or on maternity leave
• disability
• race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin
• religion, belief or lack of religion/belief
• sex
• sexual orientation
What is Equal Employment
Opportunity and Affirmative
Action?
Equal employment opportunity
(EEO)
Is the freedom from discrimination on the basis of
protected classes such as race, color, sex, national
origin, religion, age, disability or genetic information.
Equal employment opportunity
is an employment practice where employers do not engage in employment activities
that are prohibited by law. It is illegal for employers to discriminate against an applicant
or employee on the basis of:

Race
Age
Color
Sex
Religion
National origin
Policy Objective
The overall policy objective for the employment discrimination
laws we will be examining is summed up by the phrase equal
opportunity. These laws generally do not aim to create equal
outcomes, but rather seek to ensure that all employees or job
applicants have an equal opportunity to engage in the
employment market. In other words, these laws try to level 'the
playing field' so that certain classes of people who have been
discriminated against in the past are not subjected to adverse
treatment based upon certain characteristics that have nothing
to do with being a qualified job applicant or employee.
Anti-Discrimination Employment Laws
Now, we're going to look at the laws that were set up to stop discrimination in the
workplace.
Modern anti-discrimination employment laws and policies in the United States have
their foundation in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the act makes certain
discriminatory practices illegal, including discrimination based on race, color,
religion, sex, or national origin. Title VII applies to private employers employing 15 or
more employees, labor unions, and employment agencies. The Civil Rights Act also
helped create the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is charged
with the enforcement of the federal anti-discrimination employment laws.
Title VII protects employees or applicants from discrimination in the many
employment activities, including:

Recruitment
Hiring
Promotion
Compensation
Benefits
Training
Other employment terms, conditions and privileges
Harassment
Retaliation, which is adverse action taken because an applicant or employee
asserted rights under Title VII or participated in an EEOC proceeding, such as
testifying and assisting
Segregation and classification
Pre-employment inquiries and requirements, which means nothing should be
required that tends to disclose a characteristic protected under Title VII
Religious practices that don't impose an undue hardship on an employer
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is a policy in which an individual's color,
race, sex, religion or national origin are taken into account by
a business or the government in order to increase the
opportunities provided to an underrepresented part of
society. Affirmative action is designed to increase the number
of people from certain groups within businesses, institutions
and other areas of society in which they have historically had
low representation. It is often considered a means of
countering historical discrimination against a particular group.
BREAKING DOWN 'Affirmative Action‘

In the United States, affirmative action came to prominence in


the 1960s as a way to promote equal opportunity across the
various groups within society. It was developed as a way to
enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which sought to eliminate
discrimination. Today, affirmative action has both strong
supporters and staunch critics.
Affirmative action is the result of President John F.
Kennedy’s 1961 executive order requiring government
employers and contractors to “take affirmative action to
ensure that applicants are employed, and that
employees are treated during employment, without
regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.”
Since that time, any employer receiving federal funds
has been required to document their affirmative action
procedures and actual hiring numbers.
Affirmative Action in the Workplace

While the Federal government, and employers funded by the Federal


government, are required to observe Affirmative Action in the workplace,
corporate affirmative action programs are a strictly voluntary effort to improve
diversity in the workplace. Corporate endeavors often take a different form, such
as assertive outreach to identified minority groups, as well as mentoring and
targeted recruitment.
Companies utilizing these forward-thinking methods find that greater diversity
leads to greater creativity and innovation, thus improving the company’s bottom
line. While it has been proven that Affirmative Action in the workplace
profoundly influences job opportunities for minority groups, studies have shown
that quite often current and prospective employees have a negative opinion of
the practice. This may be due to the use of such negative terms as “reverse
discrimination,” “quotas,” and “preferences.”
Affirmative Action Laws

By law, Affirmative Action must be taken by federal contractors and


subcontractors to recruit, hire, and advance qualified minority
applicants, including women, covered veterans, people with disabilities,
and people from minority national and ethnic origins. More than just a
hiring plan, Affirmative Action laws address training programs,
advancement programs, outreach efforts, and other steps to increase
the diversity of the workplace.
Such employers are required to incorporate an Affirmative Action plan
into their written personnel policies, and to implement them, keeping
records of such efforts and their results. The Affirmative Action efforts
of private entities that are government contractors are overseen by the
Office of Federal Compliance Programs.

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