Even Job Applicants May Be Subjected to Employment Discrimination

When thinking about discrimination in the workplace, it usually involves an employer or a co-worker and an employee. However, employment bias may also involve an employer and an applicant. Discrimination in hiring is any practice that entails bias towards the selection and recruitment of potential employees.

As it is, people who are seeking a position within a company or workplace are protected from discrimination. Federal and state laws prohibit such bias in hiring on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age.

Three important employment laws protect potential employees from discrimination in hiring. These are the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Each has specific provisions with regards to protecting job applicants from unlawful treatment.

In particular, employers with 15 or more employees are prohibited to exercise discriminatory acts, as stated in Title VII and the ADA. Employers with 20 or more employees must also do so in accordance to the provisions of the ADEA.

Meanwhile, here are some of the prohibitions that employers must consider to avoid getting slapped with employment discrimination charges based on biased practices in hiring potential employees:

• Prohibitions against race discrimination. When posting a job opening, employers must present it as job-related and does not exclude members of a certain race. They must also do so when they are considering applicants for a particular position.
• Prohibitions against age discrimination. Generally, employers must not include age limits in job advertisements or posting, unless age is factor for a job requiring a bona fide occupational qualification. ADEA protects job applicants aged 40 and above from discrimination in hiring.
• Prohibitions against disability discrimination. During the hiring process, employers in the interview must not bring up job applicants’ existence, nature or severity of their respective disabilities. They may only verify their abilities of doing the desired job. Likewise, they may also ask the disabled applicants if they need reasonable accommodations for them to perform their jobs.

Accordingly, a job applicant may consult with a Los Angeles employment lawyer to know more about the laws that govern them and how they can file charges against an employer who discriminated against them during the hiring process.