Equal Employment Opportunity

The topic I had decided to choose for my final paper is on Equal Employment Opportunity. I feel that this topic is a very strong topic in human resource management. I can relate to equal employment opportunity for various reasons. I currently work at two different retail locations, and every day I see something new. Regardless what goes on anywhere everyone is a human being. The things topics people are discriminating against are race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information (eeoc.gov). Nobody should be discriminated against and not be able to maintain a certain job position because of any of the previous reasons I mentioned. I see it all the time where people say I am not going to listen to my manager because my manager is a female. Women can take on the same workload and responsibilities. Equal Employment Opportunity has become a huge deal in the workforce. It is such a big deal that in the 1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was created. The EEOC is a government agency that is reliable for creating laws that protect employees against any type of discrimination. Since the EEOC has been created there have been several laws created such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Sections 102 and 103 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) (The Law). With these laws being put in place, people should feel a lot safer about who they are in the workforce.

Equal Employment Opportunity brings a lot of good things to the workforce. The biggest pro I think there is with Equal Employment Opportunity is that it should make all employees across the country feel very safe at work. "The EEOC now appears to recognize that an employer's desire to promote worker safety, improve efficiency and/or provide a collegial work environment may justify English-only workplace policies," (Stevens) this a statement I found that shows way employees can be protected by the EEOC. Knowing that nobody can discriminate against you or harass you in anyway is just comforting. With knowing that you are safe against these problems it is even better to know that the EEOC is always there to have your back as an employee. Another big pro that comes along with equal employment opportunity is diversity. "One of the main advantages to having a diverse workforce is the synergy that occurs between people from different backgrounds, cultures and work values," (Mayhew) the statement provided shows how important diversity is. Diversity in the workforce is very important, especially with the country we live in. America is one of the most diverse countries in the world. In the United States, diversity in the workforce is at an all-time high. Also a very big benefit I think is absolutely amazing is that if someone is fired and they can prove that there was discrimination going on. The EEOC can force the employer to reinstate the employee and pay all of the back pay." Penalties for an EEOC complaint --- whether resolved through mediation, settlement or litigation --- start with providing relief for workers who suffered discrimination. That includes paying workers' back wages, reinstating them or even promoting them, depending on the nature of the complaint," (Merritt). It is really amazing to know that there is a government agency just for things going on like this every day in the workforce.

With so many positive things coming out of the equal employment opportunity there are some negative drawbacks that occur from it. The biggest negative I think there is with equal employment opportunity is with laws being made about equal employment opportunities, it probably puts more pressure on employers to go out and hire employees not because of their skills, but because of their background. I see a big problem with this because employers are just chasing people with all types of different backgrounds just to make the company look good because they have employees with all different ethnicities, cultures, religions, and ages working within the company. "Hiring decisions based on well-motivated efforts to assist minorities or increase diversity will likely constitute "reverse discrimination," and will lead to the same types of lawsuits and liabilities as are brought against employers who are accused of ill-motivated discrimination," (Trachtman, Newsletter Access) that is a way that by turning down employees for diversity can result in discrimination. Yes I understand that it is important to show interest and hire a very diverse workforce, but putting too much focus on diversity can hurt production if not hiring the right people for the right job. Also, another big con to equal employment opportunity is that it can create bad reputation for a company. It can create a bad rep

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