Equal Employment Opportunity
Introduction
Equal Employment Opportunities is an act of law that was introduced into the United States by the Civic Acts Right of 1886 to protect workers from discrimination during employment. The concept of Equal Employment Opportunities discourages employers from using surrogate methods to discriminate against their employees (Edwards et al., 2019). This act, being backed by the law, prohibits employers from considering race, sex, religion, national origins, age, and color, among others, when hiring new employees into their firms or companies (Edwards et al., 2019). Failure by employers to abide by this code of employment is tantamount to subverting the law and is therefore punishable as per the laws of the United States.
An English macro-economics specialist by the name Olwen was once unlucky to find herself a victim of sex discrimination. Olwen’s applications for the position of senior economic advisor were rejected on two occasions by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) despite having the required and necessary credentials for that position. She also had a rich resume having worked for the Bank of England and the IMF (Levitan, 2019). Despite the plethora of qualifications that Olwen had, she still could not secure a position with the ONS, who would rather hire less qualified males instead of her. Olwen would later realize that the company did not employ females for the high-ranking positions she had been applying for. Women were not allowed to hold senior positions even if they had magnificent qualifications and would only be hired for junior positions. Olwen decided to take up a junior position with the hope that she would get a promotion soonest. However, only young male employees who had not even worked in the company long enough were promoted at the expense of experienced female employees (Levitan, 2019). She lodged her complaints that landed on deaf ears and would later resign out of frustrations.
The Equity Act of 1974 is synonymous with Olwen’s case. The Equity Act of 1974 appended various amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that lacked specific essential clauses. The amendment included the prohibition of discrimination against one’s sex, marital status, and sexual orientation (Bailey, 2018). This legislation was, therefore, highly applicable to the case of Olwen. This law shielded her from discrimination against sex, as was the case. Olwen, feeling disgusted and her rights having been tramped on, filed an official complaint with a labor relations court which found her evidence sufficient. It was noted that she was discriminated against, and ONS was forced to compensate her for infringing on her civil rights (Levitan, 2019).
Conclusion
The concept of Equal Employment Opportunity plays a critical role in eliminating discrimination in places of work and during the recruitment of new employees. This concept ensures that all people have equal chances at employment opportunities and that only one’s academic and professional credentials give them a cutting-edge advantage at securing employment.
References
Edwards, L. N., Hasebe, T., & Sakai, T. (2019). Education and Marriage Decisions of Japanese Women and the Role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. Journal of Human Capital, 13(2), 260-292.
Bailey, J. J. P. (2018). US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Las Trancas of Martinsburg, Inc.
Levitan, C. (2019). Real-Life Examples of Discrimination in the Workplace | Staff Squared. Retrieved 10 April 2020, from https://www.staffsquared.com/blog/real-life-examples-of-discrimination-in-the-workplace/