Employment Law 101

Human resource professionals need to be thoroughly trained in three areas: Equal Employment Opportunity, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family Medical Leave Act. Here’s an overview of these HR areas of concern, and you can find more information by taking an IAML training course.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The Equal Employment law prohibits discriminating against employees based on race, religion, originality, and sex. It also abolishes discrimination based on sexual orientation, marital status, age, and disabilities. The laws also protect women from being discriminated against based on their pregnancy status. The law protects individuals from biases that deny them access to fair treatment.

The categories of the Equal Employment Opportunity laws include:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
• The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
• The Equal Pay Act
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Family and Medical Leave Act

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

The law bans race, color, religion, the nation of origin, or sex as a reason for discrimination. The law further requires employers to respect and protect employees’ religious practices. This includes giving employees days off to celebrate their religious festivities.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Women have often failed to secure employment due to pregnancy. This law is an amendment to Title VII to illegalize discrimination against women due to pregnancy or childbirth or medical conditions resulting from pregnancy or childbirth.

The Equal Pay Act

The equal pay act advocates for equal pay for men and women who perform the same task in the workplace.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act

This law protects people over forty from discrimination or bias in employment due to their age.

Americans with Disabilities Act

The ADA makes it illegal to deny a qualified person a chance at employment because of a disability. In addition, employers are required to create a suitable environment for people with known mental and physical limitations.

Family and Medical Leave Act

This law grants employees unpaid leaves without losing their jobs or insurance coverage from their employers. Employees can take leave for medical or family reasons. Eligible employees are entitled to twelve weeks within twelve months:

• Due to childbirth and care of a newborn
• Upon adoption or placement of a foster child with the employee
• To take care of an ailing partner, child, or parent with serious health issues
• To recover from a health condition that renders the employee unable to do their job

This law eliminates the need for parents to choose between their jobs and families. Women have mostly had to give up their jobs due to unfavorable laws, leading to an imbalance in the employment sector.

All these laws discourage retaliation against a person for filing a discrimination complaint or participating in an investigation or lawsuit against discrimination.

Why Training is Important

Every organization and company is at risk of knowingly or unknowingly violating equal employment opportunity laws. The allegations and convictions could cost the company thousands of dollars in fines. The reputation of the company will be jeopardized, leading to dire consequences.

Employees also need to be aware of the changes to labor laws and other relevant adjustments to their practice fields. This creates harmony, improves productivity, and builds cohesion that helps maintain good employees.

To ensure an up-to-date work environment, seek experienced trainers for the employees. IAML offers extensive training on a wide variety of work-related subjects. Training company staff with IAML guarantees comprehensive materials with a wide coverage of the subject of training.

IAML offers different training platforms, both in-person and virtual, to ensure access to a wide range of companies and organizations.