Women’s Equality Day is an annual celebration in the United States that recognizes significant achievements that past leaders have made in the area of women’s rights. Now, Women’s Equality Day may also serve as an occasion to focus on ways in which workplace gender discrimination still occurs, and what employees and employers can do about the issue.
Both direct discrimination and indirect discrimination are illegal at work, whether it is job applicants or current employees experiencing the discrimination. If you experienced either, then you may have a discrimination claim. This is because it is illegal to discriminate against an employee based on certain characteristics that the employee may possess, such as the person’s color, race, gender, age, disability status, dress, religious affiliation, sexual orientation and pregnancy status.
Workplace discrimination occurs when an employer mistreats an employee or job candidate in various ways due to said employee or candidate belonging to a protected class. For example, discrimination may involve an employer denying a worthy employee a promotion due to their race. Or it can involve firing an employee because of their religion.
Employment law refers to the legal relationship which has been established between employers and employees. It covers several features of the employer/ employee relationship. This includes different types of discrimination in the workplace, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, wage theft and retaliation from the employer when an employee has complained about illegal practice in the workplace.
Some common legal issues in employment law include the following.
There are both Federal and state laws that protect workers against discrimination by employers. Illinois workers are protected by the Illinois Human Rights Act, also referred to as “the Act”. This Illinois law goes further than some Federal laws to protect workers from discrimination by employers and prevent wrongful termination or forced resignation based on illegal discrimination.
Both federal law and many state laws prohibit employers from discriminating against older workers in the hiring process. Unfortunately, not all employers obey these laws.
Do you believe a potential employer discriminated against you due to your age during hiring? If so, you may be able to seek justice by filing a discrimination claim.
Several laws in the United States prohibit age discrimination in hiring, including:
While most waged employees work on what are called “at-will” employment conditions, employers may be in breach of employment law if they fire an employee for certain reasons. These include discrimination and whistleblowing.
In California, both federal law and state law prohibit employers from illegally firing employees for discriminatory reasons.
If you live in a right-to-work state, you may have questions about your potential options should your employer ever fire you for illegal reasons. Is it even possible to file a wrongful termination claim in a right-to-work state?
If you’ve developed a disability, per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), your employer may need to provide you with reasonable accommodations to ensure you can continue to perform your work duties. You may be wondering how long they have to do so.
