The Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 – Eliminating a Catch-22

law, jobs, unemployment, The Fair Employment Opportunity Act, NYC employment attorneys
NYC employment attorneys have pointed out that the Equal employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a public hearing. A disturbing trend triggered this hearing. Several companies had been discriminating against job applicants who were unemployed. These job applicants had been excluded from any hiring consideration. Some even ran ads saying that a candidate would only be considered if employed. Ads would have statement like “Unemployed candidates will not be considered at all” or “No candidate will be considered by client if not currently employed, whatever the reason.” The same NYC employment attorneys also point that however disturbing and discriminatory this may seem, it is legal. At least for now.


The Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 is designed to prohibit employers and employment agencies from using unemployment as a sole factor to screen out or exclude job candidate.Employment, job, economy, job search, NYC employment attorneys
In this time of severe recession, many workers are merely victims of the economy. However, as NYC employment attorneys have noted, many employers hang on to the outmoded idea that unemployed people are somehow damaged, are poor workers and weak links.
Employers and staffing firms are not correcting this issue on their own. In fact, the NELP says that these firms are continuing to deny job openings to unemployed candidates.
This is a demoralizing double whammy to those who have lost a job and learn they will not be considered for new openings because they are not working. This old Catch 22 states that you have to have a job to get a job. The fact is there are currently highly qualified, skilled, experienced workers who cannot seem to get their foot in the door because they lost a job through no fault of their own. The NYC employment attorneys state that this makes no sense from a business standpoint.Employment, job, economy,
The Fair employment Opportunity Act of 2011 is designed to stop employers and employment agencies from discriminating against job candidates who are not working. The job search environment is already tough. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that there is one job opening for every five unemployed workers and the job crises has a long way to go.
 
The NYC employment attorneys are confident that this new legislation will eliminate the discriminatory practices that are making a long term unemployment problem even worse. Apparently, this legislation has strong support and, if enacted, unemployed job candidates should get a fairer shot at job openings.

Retaliation – Employees Should Not Fear Reporting Discrimination –

Employees who have been discriminated or harassed against in the workplace should not be hesitant to report these claims.  Retaliation laws are in place to protect the employee from being harassed or targeted after they exercise their right to report discrimination.  When an employee reports discriminatory acts to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, their respective state equivalent, the Department of Labor, or even internally to their employer, retaliation laws are in place to stop the employer from taking adverse action against the wronged employee.
 
Retaliation laws protect against all forms of retaliation.  Retaliatory actions include, but are not limited to:
–          Disparate Hiring Practices
–          Unwarranted Firing
–          Pay Reductions
–          Change in Job Assignments
–          Promotion Discrepancies
–          Layoffs
–          Unwarranted Training Procedures
–          Denial of Fringe Benefits
–          Alteration of any other Term or Condition of Employment.
 
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is a federal agency in place to protect the rights of employees.  It is “an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of his employees…because the employee has opposed any practice made unlawful employment practice by Title VII.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a).  EEOC Retaliation laws bar the employer from exercising any retaliatory acts, even retroactively, against an employee after they file an EEOC Charge of Discrimination.  Employees should not fear reporting discrimination because the EEOC is an agency to rectify these wrongs.
 
Most states have a functional state equivalent to the EEOC and this is another avenue for discriminated employees to use to remedy the harassment they have endured.  In New York specifically, New York Labor Law Article 20-C § 740 is in place to forbid an employer from taking retaliatory actions against an employee who reports discrimination in the work place.  New York employees have protection at both the Federal and State level when exercising their right to be free of discriminatory actions taken by their employer.  For employees working in New York City, they even have a third layer of protection under the New York City Human Rights Law.
 
Employees do not have to report acts of discrimination to one of these agencies in order to be afforded protection under these anti-retaliation laws.  An employee is safeguarded against retaliation in any form when they complain about discrimination or harassment directly to their employer by complaining to Human Resources, management or some equivalent.  It is vital, however, when complaining directly to your employer, that the aggrieved employee document their complaint of discrimination or harassment in some manner, whether through a formal document, email, or in the presence of a trusted witness.

 
For an employee to prove they have been retaliated against, they only need to show that the retaliation has produced “an injury or harm.” Burlington Northern & Sante Fe Ry. V. White, 548 U.S. 53, 67 (2006).  The injury or harm requirement must however stem from or convey a feeling or perception of discrimination.  Employees should not be weary of reporting acts of retaliation, but should exercise their right to be free of these acts.  Retaliation can also occur if someone has been negatively affected by your report of discrimination.  The EEOC’s Retaliation laws protect the rights of third–parties, even though they have not made claims of discrimination themselves. Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP (2011).  For a more detailed discussion on how third-parties are protected by the law, check back to see further blog discussion on our website.