In an ideal world, there wouldn’t be such a thing as workplace discrimination but we don’t all live in that perfect environment and that means that there are numerous scenarios where it becomes obvious that someone is being treated unfairly.
You will often need someone like the Kingsley Law Firm to help you negotiate the various legal challenges you will encounter if you feel that you have been unfairly discriminated against in the workplace.
Here are some typical examples of employment law and how it is designed to deal with discrimination in the workplace.
Age discrimination
One area where the law has tightened up in recent times concerns age discrimination.
From the minute you reach your 40th birthday you will become protected by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which is an act that is specifically designed to ensure that you are not treated differently or unfairly by your existing or a prospective employer you apply to for a job, purely on the basis of your age.
Your gender or sexual orientation should not matter in the workplace
Another key area of discrimination that has also come into greater focus recently is the subject of being treated unfairly or unequally on the basis of your gender or sexual orientation.
Employment law relies on aspects of civil rights laws which clearly details that it is not acceptable for an employer to discriminate against you based on your sexual preferences or gender. If you feel like you are being discriminated against for any of these reasons, then you may want to look for the best EEOC attorney for federal employees, or an attorney suited to your industry, so that you can get the justice that you deserve.
If you have a disability
There are specific acts that are used in employment law to help ensure that employers are not permitted to discriminate against current or applicant employees if they have a mental or physical disability.
Employment law also aims to protect employees who may have had a previous medical condition, such as cancer.
The aim is to make employers accommodate workers with a disability and the Americans with Disability Act and the Rehabilitation Act are there to protect you if you don’t get that fair treatment.
Pregnancy
The issue of pregnancy has often been a regular cause of someone seeking redress through an employment lawyer and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act is there to give women the protection they deserve from being discriminated against because they are pregnant.
If you are a woman and have been subjected to discriminatory actions by your employer, employment laws exist to ensure that these actions can be challenged.
Your religious beliefs
Employers cannot discriminate against you on the grounds of your religion and the Civil Rights Law, dating back to 1964, sets out the framework where it states that employers must accommodate your religious beliefs and practices.
There are some caveats, where your religious practices should not be seen as too much of a burden to your employer when making these allowances, but it is clear that employment law is there to ensure you are treated fairly.
There is no question that eliminating workplace discrimination is always going to be challenging but you should find that employment laws offer plenty of scope for a lawyer to help protect your rights if you believe that you have been mistreated for some discriminatory reason.
