WORKPLACE LAW - Employer in Monterey
Question:
I recently heard that the EEOC has issued new guidance regarding race and color discrimination. What is this new guidance, and where can I find it?
Answer:
On April 19, 2006, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a new Compliance Manual and a Question & Answer Fact Sheet regarding race and color discrimination. This new guidance does not change existing law regarding race and color discrimination, however, it does clarify how to identify and respond to contemporary workplace issues involving race and color discrimination. According to the EEOC, there is still significant work to be done in eradicating race discrimination. Although it may be a surprise to some, race discrimination was the most frequently alleged basis of employment discrimination under federal law in 2005, accounting for 35.5 percent of the charges filed with the EEOC.
The prohibitions in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against race and color discrimination apply to anyone including Whites, Blacks, Asians, Latinos, Arabs, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and persons of more than one race. The guidance states that race discrimination generally encompasses discrimination on the basis of ancestry, physical characteristics associated with a certain race (i.e. skin color, hair texture, height, weight, or certain facial features), race-linked illness, culture (i.e. person’s name, dress, accent or manner of speech), a perception that an individual is a member of a particular race, association by an individual with someone of a particular race, and “reverse” race discrimination. The guidance also states that color discrimination includes discrimination based upon a person’s skin pigmentation, complexion, shade or tone, and that color discrimination can occur even between persons of the same race or ethnicity (i.e. an African American employer commits unlawful discrimination if he refuses to hire other African Americans because their skin is either darker or lighter than his own).
This new guidance includes sections with illustrative examples regarding the following topics: evaluating unlawful discrimination in employment decisions (including decisions motivated by stereotyped thinking or other forms of less conscious bias); equal access to jobs through recruiting, hiring and promotion, and diversity and affirmative action programs; racial harassment; racial bias affecting work assignments, performance evaluations, training and feedback, workplace networks, appearance and grooming standards, compensation, and discipline; retaliation (i.e. for opposition to discrimination and/or for filing a discrimination complaint); remedies for unlawful discrimination, and suggestions for proactive prevention of unlawful discrimination.
Specifically, the guidance provides examples of best practices for employers to use in a proactive approach against unlawful race and color discrimination. Some of these practices are highlighted below:
- Develop a strong Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policy that is embraced by the top executives of a company including the CEO, train managers and employees on the policy’s contents, enforce the policy, and ensure accountability of company managers.
- Recruit, hire, and promote by implementing practices designed to widen and diversify the pool of candidates considered for employment openings (i.e. remove barriers to Equal Employment Opportunity such as word-of-mouth recruiting in a workforce that does not reflect the diversity of the qualified labor market for the position).
- Employers should monitor compensation packages and performance appraisal systems for patterns of potential discrimination (i.e. ensure based upon actual job performance).
- Employers should promote an inclusive culture in the workplace by allowing employees of all backgrounds to have equal access to informal workplace networks (i.e. social functions on and off the job between employees and decisionmakers).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Back to Menu- Work Place Law 2006 Articles