Research Paper on Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972

Introduction

Equal Employment Opportunity Act (EEOA) of 1972 is a public law that was designed in 1972 to protect employees against employment discrimination in terms of religion, race, sex, color, and national origin (Selden, 2015). It gives all the job applicant equal opportunities to be selected for the job positions they have applied for. However, the term equal does not mean that the applicant's skills and competency should be considered as equal but rather it means the employees or applicants are all equals and should be treated fairly. This policy also prevents employers from retaliating against employees who exercise their rights. This policy is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which has the authority to sue any employer reported of exercising employment discrimination to the federal court. This commission also protects the employee's rights with its main aim being to promote equal employment opportunities to American workers. Therefore, this paper seeks to analyze the EEOA of 1972, the merits of the acts, programs that is being undertaken by the act and also how it works and whose interest it safeguards.

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Operations

The major funder for this policy is the federal government through the congressional annual appropriations (Schlanger & Kim, 2014). The president of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that is responsible for enforcing this law proposes a budget and it passes through the Congress for approval. At the federal level, the federal government is in charge of EEOA and Congress makes all the necessary decision affecting it. At the state level, the state government is in charge and the final decision maker at this level is the state governor. At the city level, the mayor is in charge of all the decisions. With the help of the regional and district directors, the commission is able to carry out the investigations.

The city level offers the services to the people within that specific city and it is the duty of that office to take all complaints and investigate them. The state level ensures that the employers within that state adhere to this rule and it is their duty to carry out the investigations in case there is a complaint. The federal level ensures that the federal agencies and department follow this law and to all the follow-ups the make sure the complaints get justice. All the levels work together and the person in charge of each level is answerable to the federal government.

The services reach the people within the communities by following the political subdivisions. The federal government delegates the responsibility to protest the state employees to the state government. The state government makes creates a procedure to assess all the employers and they come up with a procedure for reporting employment discrimination reports. To make work easier for the state government they delegate some responsibilities to the municipal council which is in charge of the cities. This makes sure all the communities receive these services through their city leaders. With duties to enforce this law being shared up to the smallest political subdivision, the communities are guaranteed to get the services.

Programs

Age Discrimination Program

This is a program that protects the American worker who is above 40 years. It makes sure that the workers above the age of 40 get equal opportunities with the other employees and make sure they are treated fairly in terms of hiring, wages, promotion, layoffs, and termination. Some employees consider workers above this age as not energetic and they end up receiving the shorter side of the stick no matter the efforts they put (Sargeant, 2016). This program protects their rights as workers and makes sure they have similar privileges as the younger employees.

This program covers workers who are 40 years old and above. The federal law does not protect those below the age of 40 but some states have laws that protect them under this program. Those who get helped are the older people who are being discriminated because of their age such that they cannot be hired or promoted, they receive less wage and compensation and other benefits, or they are victims of layoffs and terminations without a better explanation. They get help by reporting their cases to the EEOC offices in their area so that the directors can carry out their investigations. Such workers can only treat the experiences they have as age discrimination if they have all the qualifications the others have yet missed out the hiring process, that is for those seeking job or they have a clean working record and meet the required criteria to be promoted or get increased payments. They must not have attained the age of 65 with is the mandatory retirement age according to the American labor laws. The major funder for this program is the federal government through the EEOC.

Sex Discrimination Program

Sex discrimination can be considered as gender discrimination or sexual orientation discrimination. This program helps workers not to be discriminated because of their gender or sexual orientation. Some organization avoids employing women and other men because of the prejudice they have over the other gender. This program makes sure men and women all have equal opportunities when it comes to employment matters. Gone are the days when some of the careers were considered to be for men and others for women. The performance does not depend on gender but on individual skills and competency (Lewis, 2018).

The program covers all people because they can be victims of gender discrimination at any time. Some of the states, local governments and districts are against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Same sex relationships are legal in America but not all people support them. As a result, some of them are discriminated because of that. Those who get help are those who face employment discrimination because of their gender or sexual preferences. They either face challenges when it comes to being hired or they are treated unfairly by the employers.

Both men and women are victims of this discrimination even though women are the most affected. This program helps those covered by setting policies to show that they all that right to employment and all benefits that other workers have. The victims should check the EEOC policies to evaluate if they have a Title VII claim. After identifying that you are a victim one should file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the area or ant federal agency that has the mandated to enforce anti-discrimination laws. The federal government is a major funder for this program (Thompson, 2015).

People with Disabilities Program

This program works in conjunction with the National Council on Disability and the Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination of the people with disabilities. According to this program, as long as a person in is a stable mental condition they should be treated the same way as the other worker and get fair treatment without being looked down to. This program helps people with disabilities to get employment through the right means and to be treated like other people while they are at work. It covers people with disabilities of all kinds provided they are in the right mental state. Those who get help are the people with disabilities and they have the skills and competency that is required. This program does not consider the people with disabilities to have equal skills and competency with others instead, it helps them to get equal treatment. On top of fair treatment, these people should have special treatment to make the working conditions favorable to them. Employers are required to offer reasonable accommodation to them and their washrooms show be effective for their use (Baldwin & Choe, 2014).

These people can get help by filing a complaint with the EEOC, civil rights, National Council on Disabilities, and other agencies with the authority to enforcing discrimination laws. Before filing a complaint, one must make sure they have the required skills and competency for the job they are looking for, they meet the criteria used by their employer to get a promotion, increased wages, and other benefits, they have clean records to avoid layoff or termination due to other reasons. The major funders for this program are the federal government via EEOC and they also receive funds from the National Council on Disabilities and other organizations showing their support for the disabled.

Genetic Information Program

People with genetic disparities are people born with rare genetic conditions like skin pigmentation and Down syndrome (Wolf, 2017). This program covers only the people with the rare genetic condition and it helps such people to fight for their employment rights as long as they have the skills, competency, and they are mentally stable. Such rare conditions do not make a person less of a human. All they have is a few altered genes in their bodies but they have equal rights as others and should be given equal privileges as others. It sets rules to the employers to make sure such people get equal opportunities as others when it comes to a background check, hiring, wages, promotion, compensation, leaves, dressing, termination, and layoffs among others. Because of the special condition, it may be hard for them to voice their opinion but the program makes sure the employers are aware of their existence and special needs for a better working environment.

People with such conditions should join organizations supporting such people so that they can help them to fight for their employment rights. With the help of the organization, it is easy for them to enrolled into the program and get assistance because the organizations taking care of them will follow-up on them as they look for jobs and as they are working to make sure they are discriminated in any way. Just like those covered by other programs they should also file a complaint with the EEOC or other agents if they are sure they have a Title VII claim which is the only claim that can make the commission help them via the program. Just like the other programs the major funder is the federal government.

Immigration and Nationality Program

This program helps to protect immigrants or people with different national origin from America from being discrimination when it comes to employment matters. It does so because the law prohibits employers from discriminating people because of their national origin when it comes to recruiting, hiring, compensation, referring, and discharging of employees. The program covers those with citizenship that is against the US citizen, US nationals and aliens with authority to work like permanent and temporary residents (Schlanger & Kim, 2014). The programs make sure they are treated fairly like the others and given equal opportunities as them since they have the skills and competency required. The program helps them by helping them to verify their work status to show that they have all the qualification required for employers to hire them. It is also funded by the federal government.

Pregnancy Discrimination Program

This covers the mothers and mothers to be because they face discrimination because of their maternal responsibilities. Some employers may think that a mother or a pregnant woman cannot work and when hiring they leave them out and in case or layoffs and termination, they are the first to be picked (Alonso, Moscoso, & Salgado, 2017). This program helps pregnant women and mothers to fight for their rights. All the damages that occur to the baby especially if carried to full term are the responsibility of the employer. It helps mothers to have better working conditions that are suitable for the situation they are in. It's funded by the federal governmen...