Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

All employers are required to display certain Federal and State Labor posters within their organizations. These posters are required to be displayed prominently so that job applicants and employees can easily and readily see them. They should also have similar statements in their policy/procedure manuals and employee handbooks.

The required federal posters include the following:

• The Federal Minimum Wage Poster
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act Poster
• Your Rights Under USERRA
• Job Safety and Health – OSHA
• Employee Rights and Responsibilities Under the Family and Medical Leave Act
• Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law Poster

Each State has its own set of required posters. For South Carolina the mandated posters include the following:

• S.C. Labor Law Abstract
• Safety and Health Protection on the Job
• Workers Compensation Compliance Poster
• Unemployment Insurance Poster
• Your Rights as a Worker in South Carolina
• Employment Discrimination Poster

I would like to take just a minute and focus this discussion on two of these mandated posters which essentially say the same thing. The Federal Equal Employment Opportunity poster and the South Carolina Employment Discrimination poster both state that it is illegal to discriminate against anyone on the basis of that individual’s race, sex, age, religion, color, national origin or disability. The federal poster also includes genetics and retaliation. Each of these discriminatory prohibitions is backed up by specific Federal or State laws.

In December of 2015, the EEOC issued its own agency policy statement on discrimination. In that release the EEOC said the following: "EEOC employees and applicants for employment are protected by federal laws, Presidential Executive Orders, and state and local laws designed to protect federal employees and job applicants from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, family medical history or genetic information, political affiliation, military service or other non-merit based factors"

It is easy to see that the EEOC has added several factors into the discrimination equation which have no basis in established law.

On March 1, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a press release announcing that it had filed its first two sexual orientation discrimination claims against private sector employers. Each of these lawsuits alleges violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC’s theory is that since Title VII prohibits discrimination and retaliation because of an individual’s sex – harassment or retaliation because of an individual’s sexual orientation is also unlawful.

Employers should note that the filing of these lawsuits alone will likely trigger increased litigation in this area. In fiscal year 2015, the EEOC received 1,412 charges alleging sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination.

A company’s best defense against the potential expense and aggravation related to federal or state law violations is to proactively review and revise as needed their Human Resources policies, handbooks, hiring procedures, compensation, benefits, training programs, communications tools and other functions. The professionals of PHHR are ready to assist your organization maintain compliance with the latest state and federal mandates.

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Paul Hilton is a certified Human Resources Consultant, located in Columbia, SC.
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