Youth@Work and the EEOC’s Advocacy to Prevent Abuse against Employees

 The young ones at work are the future of the country. For one, they are already on board the various companies and are making their mark in various industries. The United States’ Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) wants to make sure that the young workers are educated about their responsibilities and rights.

That is why the program, Youth@Work was established This initiative helps make sure that their employers are doing everything that they can to create a positive work experience.

This initiative has three main components:

·         The site. It is dedicated for the education of youngsters about their rights and responsibilities at work. The pages on this site contain explanations about acts of discrimination, enabling them to have the right reaction to such. It also features an engaging “Challenge Yourself” tool that lets them test their knowledge on analyzing discrimination scenarios at work.

·         Outreach events. Various events are held for high school students, youth organizations, and even small businesses where young employees are present. These programs lay out the laws enforced by the EEOC, as well as the rights and responsibilities of both the employees and employers so young workers will be better aware of what they need to know as they go and embark on their careers.

·         Projects in partnership with some business leaders, human resource groups, as well as industry trade associations. The EEOC is open for any possible partnerships with various groups as long as it involves the promotion of equal employment opportunity to all employees around the country, especially the young ones.

The fight against workplace abuse is a continuing battle not just for the EEOC, but for all abused employees around the country, especially the young, helpless workers. That is why the EEOC is opening its doors to people willing to help its cause.

One day, there would be no need for any employee to hire the services of a Los Angeles employment lawyer to defend them as they file cases of abuse against their employers. Let us all work together to put a stop to workplace harassment and abuse.

If you are interested in having EEOC speak to your high school or organization, or you want to help in the promotion of EEOC’s program, you may send the EEOC an e-mail at Youth.AtWork@eeoc.gov.

Requirements Needed by Workers to Have Access to EEOC Assistance

Lawmakers of the United States created legal policies to ensure that the country’s employment sector is well protected from various employer violations. These legal policies were cemented as laws that require the compliance of company owners regardless which industry they belong to. The main goal of these policies is to pave the way for a more balanced and justice driven employment system in the country.

Nonetheless, even though such laws are already in place, there are still documented cases of discrimination and abuse in different states. It seems that some company owners are not mindful of the penalties and consequences that their discriminatory acts may inflict.

Good thing the government had full knowledge of this, which prompted them to create different government agencies to help in the facilitation of the laws. One such agency is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the EEOC.

Employees must first fulfill the following requirements to be able to have access to the assistance provided by the EEOC:

•    The company must have 15 or more employees.
•    The employee has 180 days to file the complaint since the discriminatory act has occurred.
•    The worker was discriminated due to his or her race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
•    The laborer has filed a complaint at the Human Resources Department of the company but his or her grievance remained unaddressed.

Once the requirements were met, the EEOC will allow the filing of the complaint at their office that is nearest to where the complainant lives. If the discrimination occurred in California, then it is highly suggested to employ the services of experienced Los Angeles employment lawyers. These professionals may act as guides for the client regarding the initial steps that they have to undertake. They will also avert any tricks that could be done by the ailing company in order to stop the processing of the complaint.

Racial Discrimination: Its Roots and Forms

Some people are likely to believe that their race is superior to others. These beliefs have led to the death of thousands and even millions across the globe.

Historically, World War II started due to Hitler’s quest to show humankind that Germans were far superior. This ended brutally, making people realize that humans are created equal and would therefore need to have equal rights. 

Experts in the field of human interaction, on the other hand, called the act of humiliating or maltreating people belonging to different race as racial discrimination.   Some of the elements that constitute this are the following:

·         Color

·         Race

·         National Origin

The law specified under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its corresponding amendment in 1991 strictly forbids racial discrimination in the United States. This country was said to have been created due to the involvement of different states, and it would therefore be a violation to its creation if people discriminate one another. 

HIV/AIDS in Employment is nothing New

Recently, a wrongful termination lawsuit was filed against The Ivy, a Los Angeles restaurant famous for its high-end customers such as Hollywood stars like Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton, and Jennifer Aniston.

Reymundo Martinez, its former employee, filed the lawsuit at the California Supreme Court with the help of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

The reason: he was allegedly discriminated against and terminated by The Ivy for being HIV-positive.

Martinez worked at The Ivy for five months as a busser. During his stint at the restaurant, on December 2010, he was diagnosed with HIV. He took medication after a month, but the drugs’ strong side effects forced him to stay home for a day. However, The Ivy management told him not to return to work for the remainder of the week.

His doctor promptly requested The Ivy to facilitate Martinez’s request on work schedule change. However, the restaurant management denied Martinez accommodations. He was terminated immediately.

Martinez is yet another victim of discrimination for being HIV-positive. This also shows that employment discrimination on the basis of medical condition is not new in the society. A lot of cases concerning people with HIV or AIDS have been brought up to people’s consciousness ever since the disease was made known to the world in the 1980s.

Common Issues that Happen in the Workplace

A person’s lifetime is mostly spent on work. For the first-time employee, the fact of being employed is a fun way to gather work experience, wherein he or she gets to deal with quality-oriented tasks and with people around him or her.

Along the way, he or she may experience competition, wherein the possibility of getting promoted or earning a salary increase hangs in the balance. With good attitude and working experience, the person may be well on his or her way to achieve a good standing in the company. This, in turn, can create a decent working environment for all people in the workplace.

Workplace issues

However, working on a job, especially in the corporate setting, is not without its issues. Poor management of most employment aspects, such as hiring, termination, and allocation of wages may lead to unforeseen incidents.

Working relationships may get out of hand because of this. For instance, the professional relationship between the employer and the employee may become affected, especially if the former takes advantage or does something wrong to the latter. Also, working relationships between co-workers may become affected, wherein gossip and personal issues may decrease the employee’s ability to perform well.

Here are some issues that are common inside the workplace:

·         Harassment – Harassing someone can come in many forms. It could be done to inflict physical harm, as in physical harassment. It could also be done through verbal communication which could hurt the feelings of the person; as in verbal harassment. Display of actions or materials of sexual nature, or sexual favors in exchange for employment benefits, constitute sexual harassment.

·         Discrimination – Either it is done in an act or a spoken word, employment discrimination has been one of the growing problems in U.S. Biases in all the aspects of employment, including hiring, allocation of tasks, distribution of compensation, and termination, constitute discrimination. It usually involves jokes, comments, gestures and slurs that are distasteful to the protective classes, including physical or mental disability, age, race, sex, and nation of origin.

There are other workplace issues that are usually forms of misconduct, such as unfair wage allocation, acts of retaliation from the employer, and wrongful termination. Such issues must be dealt with accordingly by the victim through the help of an employment law attorney.