The diversity of the domestic and global workforce is increasing daily in the United States (U.S.). The growing number of immigrants and the expansion of globalization in the workforce forces organizations to make necessary adjustments to meet the needs of all their employees. People in organizations have different cultural and religious backgrounds that can be quite different in beliefs and practices (Johnson, 2012). The workforce is more diverse in ethnicity, culture, language, and religion (Borstorff & Arlington, 2011). The inflow of immigrants has augmented the number of religious denominations represented in the U.S. and as a result religious diversity is emerging as a significant issue.
Organizations often discriminate employees due to the lack of understanding of employee’s religious beliefs and needs. They understand their own religion practices but are ignorant about other religious practices. As a result, they often fail to make accommodations to meet the religious needs of the groups within the organization. The claims for religious discrimination in the U.S. increased from 1811 in 1999 to 3386 in 2009; an increase of $3.1 million to $7.6 million (Borstorff & Arlington, 2011). There are approximately 4.3 million Muslims in the U.S. and they feel the most vulnerable to religious discrimination (Alexis, 2011).
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. These laws protect people against employment discrimination when it involves the following conditions (Johnson, 2012):
• Unfair treatment because of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
• Denial of a reasonable wor...
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...hristian, but nonetheless qualified: The secular workplace-Whose hardship? Journal of Religion & Business Ethics, 3(1), 1-24.
Borstorff, P., & Arlington, K. (2011). Protecting religion in the workplace? What employees think. Journal of Legal, Ethical & Regulatory Issues,14(1), 59-70.
Johnson, S. H. (2012). Discrimination and the religious workplace. Hastings Center Report, 42(6), 10-11.
Lavin, H. S., & DiMichele, E. E. (2012). Are you my supervisor? The scope of supervisory authority under Title VII. Employee Relations Law Journal, 38(3), 89-94.
Scott, J.C. & Reynolds, D.H. (2010). Handbook of workplace assessment: Evidence-based practices for selecting and developing organizational talent. New York, NY: Wiley
Twomey, D. (2012). Unnecessary burdens on employers: Time for the EEOC to improve its systemic discrimination initiative. Labor Law Journal, 63(2), 81-92.
The EEOC carries out its work at headquarters and in 50 field offices throughout the United States. Individuals who believe they have been discriminated against in employment begin the processes by filing administrative charges. Individual Commissioners may also initiate charges that the law has been violated. Through the investigation of charges, if the EEOC determines there is "reasonable cause" to believe that discrimination has occurred, it must then seek to conciliate the charge to reach a voluntary resolution between the charging party and the respondent. If conciliation is not successful, the EEOC may bring suit in federal court. Whenever the EEOC concludes its processing of a case, or earlier upon the request of a charging party, it issues a "notice of right to sue" which enables the charging party to bring an individual action in court. The Commission also issues regulatory and other forms of guidance interpreting the laws it enforces, is responsible for the federal sector employment discrimination program, provides funding and support to state and local fair employment practices agencies (FEPA's), and conducts broad-based outreach and technical assistance programs.
Bennett, Alexander, Hartman (2003), Employment Law for Business, Fourth Edition II. Regulation of Discrimination in Employment 3. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The McGraw-Hill Companies.
“Religion in the American workplace is among the most contentious and difficult areas for employe...
Discrimination, in one form or another, goes on everyday in the world around us. Discrimination affects all of us whether we are aware of it or not. Discrimination is defined as “unjustified differential treatment, especially on the basis of characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or religion” (MacKinnon). According to Eugene Lee of California Labor and Employment Law “racial discrimination and racial harassment” are the most popular complaint when it come to discrimination in the United States.
Eileen P. Kelly was a tenured professor in Ithaca College’s School of Business and specialized in management, business ethics, and employment law. She was noted for her scholarly work and publications concerning business ethics, employment rights, religion and employee workplace rights, privacy rights, labor and management history. In this article, Kelly (2008) discusses the degree of religious diversity in the United States, the factors influencing religious expression in the workplace, the most common types of religious expression in the workplace and the extent of the legal obligations an employer has to accommodate them. “Clearly, religion and spirituality are key concerns of the American population. It should come as no surprise therefore that Americans would bring those beliefs into the workplace” (Kelly, 2008, p. 46).
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency that enforces the federal laws, policies and regulations as it relates to employment discrimination. Over the course of years, Title VII has been amended to reinforce its prohibitions to include pregnancy as a type of gender discrimination, jury trials, compensatory damage and punitive damages. Its amendments have also strengthened the enforcement policy of the EEOC. An employer and employee need to be aware of those areas that are and are not covered by Title VII. It applies to employers, unions, joint labor and management committees as well as employment agencies whose functions include referral and training decisions among others. It applies to all private, federal, state and local governments who employ 15 employees or more. An employer with less than 15 employees is not required to comply with the guidelines set by Title VII. Title VII covers all levels and types of employees. In 1991, the act was further extended to include United States (U.S.) citizens who are employed outside of the U.S. for American employers. Non U.S. citizens are also protected as long as they are employed in the U.S. Title VII however, does not a...
...though discrimination policies have come a long way, but it still happens today. A lot of employers have strict no tolerance policies to prevent those types of law suits. Also if discrimination does occur, the employee has one hundred and eighty days to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. If the employee does file a complaint through their employer first this does not affect the EEOC timing requirement (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2012).
Discrimination can be commonly found in social environments, but it is not only limited to just that. Cases of discrimination can also be found, and is more common than it should be, in employment situations. An employee can be discriminated against due to a variety of reasons by another employee, or sometimes a manager or supervisor, both of which are absolutely unacceptable and unprofessional from both a civil rights and a business standpoint. To protect workers’ rights, laws have been passed and enacted for the past fifty years to attempt to abolish discrimination in one of the more necessary areas of an individual’s life, the workplace. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act is seen as the most important law in combating employment discrimination
Introduction- Discrimination affects people all over the world. People of all ethnicities and from all different walks of life are influenced in some way by workplace discrimination. "Discrimination" means unequal treatment. One of the most common elements discriminated against is a persons ethnicity, or their race. This is called Racial Discrimination. While there are many federal laws concerning discrimination, most states have enacted laws that prohibit it. These laws may have different remedies than the federal laws and may, in certain circumstances be more favorable than the federal laws.
For the entirety of the United States’ existence, freedom of religion has been a guiding principle of the nation. Despite, or perhaps because of, the deep, varied religious heritage of many Americans, America was the first country in history to abolish religious requirements for civic engagement (Edwards). However, paradoxically, the United States also has a history of religious discrimination, as seen in historical bigotry towards Catholics, some Protestant sects, Jews, Atheists, Mormons, Muslims, and other marginalized groups. Indeed, the conflict between America’s secular ideal and its often faith-dominated reality is a common theme in American history, continuing to this day. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, persecution
Throughout the years the United States has faced many challenges with equal employment opportunities for everyone. The United States has developed The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, also known as the EEOC, to enforce laws that help prevent everyone from being treated unfairly when it comes to employment options. The EEOC has established stipulations and overlooks all of the federal equal employment opportunity regulations, practices and policies (“Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination Questions and Answers”). Some laws that have been passed are the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. Although some discrimination is still a problem, all of these laws have helped the United States citizens become treated more equally in the work force.
Workplace harassment is unwelcome actions that are based on a person’s race, religion, color, and sex, and gender, country of origin, age, ethnicity or disability. The targets of the harassment are people who are usually perceived as “weaker” or “inferior” by the person who is harassing them. Companies and employers can also be guilty of workplace harassment if they utilize discriminatory practices against persons based on ethnicity, country of origin, religion, race, color, age, disability, or sex. These discriminatory practices have been illegal since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Civil Rights Act of 1964), and have been amended to be more inclusive of other people who experience discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (The Civil Rights Act of 1991), and most recently, President Obama’s signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (Stolberg, 2009).
Furthermore, I will enter into the question how employers and employees should handle religious discrimination in the workplace. Since discrimination in the workplace cannot only cause costly lawsuits, but also has an impact on the moral of the employees, I will name some preventive measures. After that, I will switch to the employee’s view and give the reader an idea of what an employee should consider when filing a charge because of religious discrimination.
There are many laws protecting employees and employers against harassment and discrimination. Harassment and discrimination constitutes more than just race, color, and religion. However, employees fail to report harassment and discrimination due to the lack of knowledge about their rights. Three of the most important laws e...
Work plays an important role in our daily life, it is considered much more huge part of our personal life. During our daily work we make many relationships throughout our career history. Sometimes these relationships become lasting, and sometimes employment discrimination might happen. This relationships that we thought it last could be cut off by the devastation of claims of discriminatory treatment. Discrimination in the workforce has been an issue since the first people of workers in United States in the present day and as well in the past. Some employees were subjected to a harsh working conditions, verbal abuse, denial of advancement,, and many other injustices. There was also the fact that certain employees were being treated differently than other employees.