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Federal Labor Laws Prohibiting Discrimination

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Can you provide us with a run-down of some of the federal labor laws that prohibit job discrimination?

There are a number of federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on a variety of factors. Here is a brief overview of some of them:

-Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is commonly referred to as simply Title VII, is in place to prohibit employment discrimination based primarily on attributes such as national origin, race, gender, age, color and sex.

-The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), is in place to protect the equal pay of men and women that perform generally the same in the same place of work.

-The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) is designed to protect the rights of individuals that are aged 40 and over.

-Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits employment discrimination against individuals that would like to work but that have disabilities. This Act pertains to the private sector as well as state and local government organizations.

-Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 both prohibit employment discrimination against individuals that are qualified to work but have disabilities. These sections apply to the federal government (not the state or local governments, like Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.)

-The Civil Rights Act of 1991 is one of the more recent employment discrimination Acts. It helps to provide monetary damages for employees that have been the victims of employment discrimination.

All of the above laws are also enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC not only enforces these laws, but it also provides oversight and coordination between all of the many federal equal employment opportunity regulations and policies.

Of course, there are additional federal laws that the EEOC does not enforce. Among those laws is the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) which contains the prohibited personnel practices list.