Protection against
gender-based discrimination
extends to all aspects of employment, including
hiring,
firing, pay, pensions, conditions of employment, and
promotions. The law specifically mandates that
each sex receive equal pay for equal work, which is
defined as work requiring substantially the same skill,
effort, or degree of responsibility.
Title VII's broad provisions against sex discrimination
specifically covers:
 |
Sexual
Harassment - This includes practices ranging
from direct requests for sexual favors to workplace
conditions that create a hostile environment for
persons of either gender, including same sex
harassment. (The "hostile environment"
standard also applies to harassment on the
bases of race, color, national origin, religion,
age, and disability.) |
|
Pregnancy-Based
Discrimination - Pregnancy, childbirth,
and related medical conditions must be treated
in the same way as other temporary illnesses or
conditions. |
Both state and federal laws mandate that there should
be no differentiation between a female or a male employee,
and require:
|
Equal pay for equal
work |
|
Equal treatment at the work
place |
|
Uniform policies for both female
and male employees |
|
Standard procedure for females
and males in all phases of the employment relationship |
It is discriminatory practice when:
|
Job advertisements
deny women a chance to apply for a job |
|
The employer refuses to hire
women who have children, while hiring men with
children |
|
Female employees are asked
to resign when they get married, but there is
no similar requirement for males |
|
The employer extends benefit
plans to the male employee's spouse, but refuses
to extend the same or similar benefits to spouses
of female employees |
|
Qualified female employees are
denied certain jobs without a reasonable opportunity
to demonstrate their ability to perform those
jobs, which are labeled as men’s domains
|
|
The employer refuses to hire,
train, assign jobs, or promote pregnant or married
women, or women of childbearing age, on the basis
of gender |
|
The employer makes a separate
policy of compulsory retirement for female employees,
with a lower retirement age than for male employees. |
Gender Discrimination
- also called sex discrimination—is covered
by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well
as by the revised Civil Rights Act of 1991. The Equal
Pay Act of 1963 also makes it illegal to discriminate
against women concerning salary or wages.
The Civil Rights Act of 1991
The Act prohibits discrimination in all aspects of
the employment process, including compensation, assignment,
demotions, transfers, promotions, wages, working conditions,
recruitment, testing, use of company facilities, training
programs, fringe benefits, retirement plans, disability
leave, hiring, and discharge. Retaliation and on-the-job
harassment are also prohibited.
Equal Pay Act
The law specifically mandates that
each sex receive equal pay for equal work, which is
defined as work requiring substantially the same skill,
effort, or degree of responsibility. Fringe benefits
are considered pay under the Act; the employer must
provide equal benefits to men and women, even if there
is difference in the cost of providing them.
