American Employment Regulations. Employment in the United

¶ … American employment regulations. Employment in the United States is governed by a patchwork of laws that can be divided into roughly three categories. The first are equality-based laws; the second category is laws that govern treatment of workers once hired; and the third reflects worker's rights, in particular with respect to freedom of speech.

Equality-based laws were developed over time to include a number of different groups. These laws seek to eliminate numerous forms of workplace exclusion. The most important of such laws was the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which established the foundation for the antidiscrimination laws that would follow. This act prohibited employment discrimination based on race, sex, national origin or religion. Later laws extended these protections to employees over the age of forty and to the disabled (Lieberwitz, n.d.). Some states have enacted further protections, so it is necessary to understand state laws as well as federal law when it comes to discrimination. At the federal level, there is an enforcement mechanism in the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. It is also best to understand that this category of employment law is negative rights, in that the groups covered have the right to not be discriminated against.

The best course of action is to enact a strict no-discrimination policy in hiring and promotion as this would defend against any potential discrimination suits.

Discrimination in any form should also be absent from all parts of the hiring process. Managers cannot ask questions about a candidate's family situation and should not make any assumptions about the applicants -- questions should be asked to confirm or reject any suspicions. Assumptions can fall under the category of stereotyping, which can lead to court challenging if this stereotyping can be successfully argued in court. Although the disabled are a protected group, interviewers can ask specifically what accommodations they might need if hired. Discrimination against the candidate is still not allowed if the accommodations required are reasonable (WAGE Project, 2012).

Laws that govern treatment of workers once hired are usually also based on the negative rights model. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires employers to pay men and women equally for performing substantially similar work (Lieberwitz, n.d.). Race discrimination in the formation of contracts is also prohibited, under the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Again, it is recommended that absolute neutrality in pay and promotion opportunities is granted, as the laws surrounding such cases are vaguely written. This has led to a string of legal decisions that only further complicate the issue of workplace discrimination. Title VII protections under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 being subject to considerable judicial interpretation. Pomodoro does not want to find itself mired in expensive, complex litigation over a few dollars of pay.

Sexual harassment laws also emerge from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Employers must provide a workplace environment that is free from hostility to employees based on national origin, religion or gender. Numerous court cases have defined and clarified what a hostile environment might be. Thompson has always had a no-tolerance policy with respect to harassment of any protected group under Title VII, but also some non-protected groups as well because of our philosophy that workplace harassment is counterproductive. While case law has provided some specificity to the concepts of "harassment" and "hostile environment," these are constantly being refined as new cases emerge (Lieberwitz, n.d.). Thus, we have system in place to police any potential instances of harassment and we tolerate no behavior that even looks like harassment.

The last category of laws governing employment are positive rights laws. These are rights that are granted under law to all workers. For example, employees are granted certain protected speech under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. This act protects the rights of employees "to organize and bargain collectively" (NLRB, 2012). The management of the company cannot interfere in any way with this right, and both our written policies and our actions should reflect that. For example, the NLRA prohibits management from harassing employees who are engaged in organizing activities or speech. Discriminating against workers who have spoken out against management practices, or who have sought to organize, is prohibited under the NLRA, as is punishing workers for such speech or activities that could be deemed as protected airing of grievances. It should be noted that there are no positive rights with respect to affirmative action -- quotas in hiring or promotion are illegal under the 14th Amendment, affirmed in Regents of University of California v Bakke

1978 (PBS, 2007).