Although there are laws in California that protect workers from discrimination, this still occurs throughout all occupations and industries. Sometimes discrimination is more subtle, while other times it may result in someone losing their job or facing a demotion. There are different types of discrimination, and sometimes an employee may not even know it is occurring.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, discrimination protection extends to a wide variety of situations. Some, such as those that refer to one’s gender, race, religion or age, are more well known. Some of the others may not be as obvious. For example, marital, political or parental status should not affect hiring or pay decisions. However, victims of this type of discrimination need to report them to the Office of Special Council or the Merit Systems Protection Board as opposed to the EEOC.
Pregnancy discrimination may be obvious when it comes to hiring, but some employees do not fully understand what other protections the law supplies. If a pregnant woman’s doctor requires her to follow certain restrictions, the employer must honor these, and an employer may not require a pregnant woman to return to work after a certain amount of time.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission discusses rules regarding disability discrimination. Along with treating a disabled worker the same as others in terms of hiring, training and benefits, the law prohibits any type of harassment that creates a hostile environment.
An employer must also provide reasonable accommodation for disabilities. This may include providing assistive devices or equipment, modifying a worker’s schedule or allowing for missed work due to a doctor’s appointment.
