Chapter Two
Equal Employment Opportunity: The Legal Environment
Chapter Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Define equal employment opportunity.
2. Describe the intent of the Equal Pay
Act of 1963.
3. Describe the intent of Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
4. Define disparate treatment and
disparate impact.
5. Discuss the purpose of the Age
Discrimination in Employment
Act of 1967.
6. Discuss the purpose of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
7. Describe the intent of the Vietnam-Era
Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act
of 1974.
8. Discuss the purpose of the Pregnancy
Discrimination Act of 1978.
9. Describe the intent of the Immigration
Reform and Control Act of 1986.
10. Describe the purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Chapter Outline
Equal Employment Opportunity Laws
Equal Pay Act (1963)
Title VII, Civil Rights Act (1964)
Age Discrimination in Employment
Act (1967)
Rehabilitation Act (1973)
Vietnam-Era Veterans Readjustment
Assistance Act (1974)
11. Explain the purpose of the Older
Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990.
12. Discuss the intent of the Civil Rights
Act of 1991.
13. Explain the intent of the Family and
Medical Leave Act of 1993.
14. Discuss the purposes of Executive
Orders 11246, 11375, and 11478.
15. Describe the significance of the
following Supreme Court decisions:
Gr/ggs v. Duke Power, McDonnell
Douglas v. Green, Albemarle Paper
v. Moody, University of California
Regents v. Bakke, United Steelworkers
of America v. Weber, Connecticut
v. Teal, Memphis Firefighters, Local 1784 v. Stotts, City of Richmond v. J. A. Crosan Company, Wards Cove v. Atonio, Martin v. Wilks, Adarand Contractors v. Pena, Hopwood v. State of Texas, and University of Michigan's admissions procedures.
16. Name the federal agencies that have
primary responsibility for enforcing
equal employment opportunity.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978) Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986) Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (1990) Civil Rights Act (1991) Family and Medical Leave Act (1993) Executive Orders 11246, 11375, and 11478 State and Local Government Equal Employment Laws
21
22 Part One Introduction and Background of Human Resources
Landmark Court Cases
Griggs v. Duke Power Company
McDonnell Douglas v. Green
Albemarle Paper v. Moody
University of California Regents v. Bakke
United Steelworkers of America v. Weber
Connecticut v. Teal
Memphis Firefighters, Local 1784 v. Stotts
City of Richmond v. J. A. Crosan Company
Wards Cove v. Atonio
Martin v. Wilks
Adarand Contractors v. Pena
State of Texas v. Hop-wood
University of Michigan's Admission
Procedures
Enforcement Agencies
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Summary of Learning Objectives
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Incident 2.1 Debate over Retirement Age Incident 2.2 Accept Things as They Are
Exercise 2.1: Discrimination because of
Sex, Religion or National Origin
Notes and Additional Readings
Two of the most important external influences on human resource management are government legislation and regulations and court interpretations of the legislation and regulations. Numerous laws influence recruitment and selection of personnel, compensation, working conditions and hours, discharges, and labor relations. Whenever appropriate, this text describes government legislation and its court interpretations as they relate to the specific area of human resource management being discussed.
However, because equal employment opportunity is so important and covers so many areas of human resource management, two separate chapters are devoted to the topic. This chapter describes the legal framework of equal employment opportunity. Chapter 3 describes specific organizational requirements for implementing equal employment opportunity.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY LAWS
equal employment opportunity
The right of all people to work and to advance on the basis of merit, ability, and potential.
Equal Pay Act
Prohibits sex-based discrimination in rates of pay for men and women working on the same or similar jobs.
In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery. In addition, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1868, and the Civil Rights Act of 1871. Yet Americans continued to live and work in a dual society, one black and one white. Businesses often refused to hire black workers or, if they did, placed them in low-paying and low-skilled jobs.
Discrimination against women was based on the view that men should work to support their families and women should care for their families at home. Furthermore, it was a rather commonly held belief that women were not equipped to do certain jobs.
Discrimination in society and in the workplace gave impetus to the civil rights movement, which in turn pressured the U.S. Congress to pass laws designed to eliminate discrimination. As a result, Congress has passed numerous laws to ensure equal employment opportunity. Unfortunately, a common misconception is that equal employment opportunity means that an employer must give preference to women and minorities in the workplace. However, equal employment opportunity refers to the right of all people to work and to advance on the basis of merit, ability, and potential.
•) Equal Pay Act (1963)
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits sex-based discrimination in rates of pay for men and
women working on the same or similar jobs. Specifically, the act states:
No employer having employees subject to [the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act] shall discriminate, within any establishment. . ., between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.
Chapter 2 Equal Employment Opportunity: The Legal Environment 23
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Keystone federal legislation that covers disparate treatment and disparate impact discrimination; created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
disparate treatment
Intentional discrimination; treatment of one class of employees differently from other employees.
disparate impact y
Unintentional discrimination involving employment practices that appear to be neutral but adversely affect a protected class of people.
The act permits differences in wages if the payment is based on seniority, merit, quantity and quality of production, or a differential due to any factor other than sex. The act also prohibits an employer from attaining compliance with the act by reducing the wage rate of any employee.
The Equal Pay Act is actually part of the minimum wage section of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), described in more detail in Chapter 12. Thus, coverage of the Equal Pay Act is coextensive (covers the same groups) with the coverage of the minimum wage provisions of the FLSA. Generally, the act covers employers engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, employers that have two or more employees, and labor organizations. Responsibility for enforcing the Equal Pay Act was originally assigned to the secretary of labor but was transferred to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on July 1, 1979.
Title VII, Civil Rights Act (1964)
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the keystone federal legislation in equal employment opportunity. Several important provisions of Section 703 of the act state the following:
Sec. 703.
(a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer—
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate
against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of
employment, because of'such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way
which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual, of employment opportunities or
otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual's race,
color, religion, sex, or national origin.
(b)lt shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employment agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, or to classify or refer for employment any individual on the basis of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
(c) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization—
(1) to exclude or to expel from its membership, or otherwise to discriminate against any
individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify its membership or applicants for membership or to classify
or fail or refuse to refer for employment any individual, in any way which would deprive
or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities, or would limit such
employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee or as
an applicant for employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin; or
(3) tofause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an individual in
violation of this section.
(d) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for any employer, labor organization, or joint
labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining,
including on-the-job training programs, to discriminate against any individual because of his
race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in admission to, or employment in, any program
established to provide apprenticeship or other training.
Section 703 covers two basic areas of discrimination: disparate treatment and disparate impact. Disparate treatment. Section 703(a)(l), refers to intentional discrimination and involves treating one class of employees differently from other employees. Disparate impact, Section 703(a)(2), refers to unintentional discrimination and involves employment practices that appear to be neutral but adversely affect a protected class of people.
Title VII, the name most frequently used to describe the Civil Rights Act, was amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. Organizations covered by the provisions of Title VII include the following:
• All private employers of 15 or more people who are employed 20 or more weeks per year.
• All public and private educational institutions.
• State and local governments.
• Public and private employment agencies.
24 Part One Introduction and Background of Human Resour,
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
Prohibits discrimination against employees over 40 years of age by all companies employing 20 or more people in the private sector.
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Prohibits discrimination against handicapped individuals.
handicapped individual
Person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of majnr life activities, has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.
• Labor unions that maintain and operate a hiring hall or hiring office or have 15 or more
members.
• Joint labor-management committees for apprenticeships and training.
Title VII also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to administer the act and to prohibit covered organizations from engaging in any unlawful employment practices. The composition and powers of the EEOC are described later in this chapter.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967)
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), passed in 1967, prohibits discrimination in employment against individuals aged 40 through 69. An amendment to the ADEA that took effect on January 1, 1987, eliminates mandatory retirement at age 70 for employees of companies with 20 or more employees. The prohibited employment practices of ADEA include failure to hire, discharge, denial of employment, and discrimination with respect to terms or conditions of employment because of an individual's age within the protected age group. Organizations covered by the ADEA include the following:
• Private employers of 20 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more
calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.
• Labor organizations.
• Employment agencies.
• State and local governments.
• Federal government agencies, with certain differences; for example, federal employees
cannot be forced to retire at any age.
One exception specified in the law concerns employees in bona fide executive or high policy-making positions. The act permits mandatory retirement at age 65 for high-level executives whose pensions exceed $44,000 a year.
Section 4(f) of the ADEA sets forth several conditions under which the act does not apply. The act does not apply where age is a bona fide occupational qualification, that is, reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business. For example, pilots and copilots face mandatory retirement at age 60. In addition, a bus company's refusal to consider applications of individuals between ages 40 and 65 for initial employment as intercity bus drivers was ruled legal.l Furthermore, it is not illegal for an employer to discipline or discharge an individual within the protected age group for good cause, such as unsatisfactory job performance.
Originally, the secretary of labor was responsible for enforcing the ADEA. On July 1,1979, the EEOC assumed that responsibility.
Rehabilitation Act (1973)
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, contains the following general provisions. It
• Prohibits discrimination against handicapped individuals by employers with federal
contracts and subcontracts in excess of $2,500.
• Requires written affirmative action plans (AAPs) from employers of 50 or more employees
and federal contracts of $50,000 or more.
• Prohibits discrimination against handicapped individuals by federal agencies.
• Requires affirmative action by federal agencies to provide employment opportunities for
handicapped persons.
• Requires federal buildings to be accessible to handicapped persons.
• Prohibits discrimination against handicapped individuals by recipients of federal financial
assistance.
Section 7(7)(B) of the Rehabilitation Act defines a handicapped individual as follows:
any person who:
(l) has a physical u/ mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such
person 's major life activities, (ii) has a record of such an impairment, or
Chapter 2 Equal Employment Opportunity: The Legal Environment 25