Question

Please explain the main features of the following with 100 words or more for each one:

- Title VII

- The Equal Pay Act

- The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

- The Americans with Disabilities Act

- And the Civil Rights Act of 1991

Answer 1

1) Title VII - Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion. It generally applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state, and local governments. Title VII also applies to private and public colleges and universities, employment agencies, and labor organizations. It says “It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer … 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.” Title VII forbids discrimination in any aspect of employment, including

• Hiring and firing
• Compensation, assignment, or classification of employees
• Transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall
• Job advertisements
• Recruitment
• Testing
• Use of company facilities
• Training and apprenticeship programs
• Fringe benefits
• Pay, retirement plans, and disability leave
• Other terms and conditions of employment

2) The Equal Pay Act - The Equal Pay Act (EPA) is a federal employment law that prohibits sex-based compensation discrimination and mandates that men and women in the same workplace doing substantially equal jobs be given equal pay. The nature of the work—the skills, effort, responsibilities, and working conditions—rather than the job title determines whether the jobs will be considered substantially equal. The EPA is part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 as amended, which is administered and enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). “Equal pay” covers not just salary but any form of compensation, including overtime pay, bonuses, profit sharing options, stock options, life insurance and health insurance benefits, travel reimbursements, and vacation and holiday pay. People with EPA claims may also have a claim for sex discrimination under Title VII. Unlike some other anti-discrimination claims, individuals alleging that their employer violated EPA can sue in court without first filing a charge with the EEOC. If you want to file an EPA claim, you must either file in court or with the EEOC within two years of the compensation practice you allege was unlawful. If the violation is willful, you have three years from the time of the practice. Filing with the EEOC will not extend your time to file a lawsuit.

3) The Pregnancy Discrimination Act - The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) was an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that specifically prohibited pregnancy discrimination. An employer may not discriminate against job applicants or employees with regard to any aspect of employment on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. Aspects of employment include hiring, firing, pay, promotion, fringe benefits, and any other duty or condition of employment.The PDA only covers those employers that have at least 15 employees. It is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Several states, such as California, Connecticut, and Michigan, also have laws requiring parity in accommodations for pregnant employees. Medical impairments that arise because of pregnancy, like preeclampsia or gestational diabetes, may qualify as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and qualify an employee for 12 weeks of medical leave in a 12-month period under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Unlike PDA and ADA, FMLA is enforced by the Department of Labor, not the EEOC. It applies to employers with a minimum of 50 employees. Nursing mothers also have the related legal right to express milk in the workplace under the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

4) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. The ADA requires that reasonable accommodation be made to provide individuals with disabilities equal access to services, programs, and opportunities, such as employment and housing. Several federal agencies and departments enforce the ADA, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Justice. A person has a disability under the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. Whether or not a person's condition is a disability under the law is determined individually; the ADA does not list specifically covered disabilities, though some are excluded from coverage, such as pedophilia, transvestism, compulsive gambling, pyromania, and current drug use. People with past drug or alcohol problems are protected from job discrimination by the ADA, as are individuals with current alcohol problems who are able to perform their jobs.

5) The Civil Rights Act of 1991 - The Civil Rights Act of 1991 is a United States statute that was passed in response to a series of United States Supreme Court decisions limiting the rights of employees who had sued their employers for discrimination. The Act represented the first effort since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to modify some of the basic procedural and substantive rights provided by federal law in employment discrimination cases: it provided for the right to trial by jury on discrimination claims and introduced the possibility of emotional distress damages, while limiting the amount that a jury could award.