Equal Employment Opportunity

What Is Equal Employment Opportunity?

Equal employment opportunity is the idea that everyone should be treated fairly when they’re considered for various employment decisions (including hiring, promotion, termination, compensation, etc.). This means, for example, that anyone competing for a position at a company should have the same chances of succeeding if they’re right for the job. It is illegal for employers to discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of:

• Race
• Age
• Color
• Sex
• Religion
• National origin

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) doesn’t guarantee that people of underrepresented groups will get hired. The purpose of EEO regulations is to make sure nobody will face rejection or difficulties because they’re in a protected group.

For example, under several EEO laws, recruiters cannot reject a candidate simply because they’re Jewish or Christian, African or Caucasian, or because they’re pregnant. Similarly, also they cannot advertise jobs asking for candidates of a certain age, and  cannot promote men over women – recruiters can only base this decision on each person’s proven capabilities, performance and other objective criteria, rather than biases against protected groups.

 

Bona fide occupational qualification

Equal employment opportunity that concerns protected characteristics does have some exceptions. These exceptions of the EEO definition are bona fide qualifications (or “genuine occupational qualifications” in the UK) for a specific job. The nature of certain jobs may allow you to make an employment decision based on one of the protected characteristics.

For example, if a film producer is hiring for an actor to play a teenager, he can hire a person more closely to the age of the film character, rather than a middle-aged actor. Or, if a company makes clothes for men, it can advertise for male models. Another example is when a religious organization of a certain faith hires only candidates who share that faith if their job is related to it (for instance, when they are members of the clergy.)

 

EEO Globally

Globalization has affected the area of EEO in terms of formal applicability of one country's EEO laws to persons working in another country and in terms of expectations about the extent to which equal employment opportunity should be a societal or organizational norm.

In some instances, for example, discrimination is prohibited against the citizens of the native country but explicitly permitted when it comes to immigrants, especially illegal immigrants. There is currently debate in the U.S. as to what rights immigrants—both legal and illegal—should have in terms of EEO. The right to work in a foreign country is subject to that country's immigration laws, which vary widely from country to country.

 

Why Should Employers Care About Equal Employment Opportunities?

Employers who promote EEO attract more diverse workers, improve worker productivity and promote a healthy workplace culture.

Furthermore, employers can minimize liability in the event of a complaint from an employee. Employers are usually held responsible for any discrimination, harassment and bullying of employees by others in the company. However, if employers can show that they took reasonable steps to minimize the issue, they may not be held liable. Employees on the other hand get their ‘Work Place Rights’ under an EEO Policy.

Therefore, EEO policies can set out a transparent and fair process for complaints to be managed and resolved.

 

What is a workplace right? 

An employer is prohibited from taking adverse action against a person as a result of a person’s workplace right, the exercise or non-exercise of that right, or the person’s proposal to exercise or not exercise a workplace right in the future.

A person has a 'workplace right' if they: 

• are entitled to the benefit, or have a role or responsibility under a workplace law, workplace instrument or order of an industrial body (for example, an entitlement or benefit such as personal leave);
• are able to initiate, or participate in, a process or proceeding under a workplace law or instrument (for example, the participation in protected industrial action); or
• are able to make a complaint under a workplace law to seek compliance with that law or an industrial instrument (for example, an application to the Fair Work Commission for the initiation of unfair dismissal proceedings, or a complaint to the Fair Work Ombudsman).

 

An Equal Employment Opportunity policy can help promote diversity and minimize discrimination, harassment and bullying in the workplace. Also EEO will motivate the employees to do their job well since they are satisfied about their job. Ultimately EEO will be mutually beneficial for both Employer and the employee.

 

References

Legal Vision. (2020). What Is Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)? | Legalvision. [online] Available at: https://legalvision.com.au/equal-employment-opportunity-eeo/

[Accessed 05 July 2020].

Hradvance.com.au. (2020). Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Summary. [online] Available at: https://hradvance.com.au/information/eeo-summary

[Accessed 05 July 2020].

Recruiting Resources. ( 2020). What Is Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)? [Definition And More]. [online] Available at: https://resources.workable.com/hr-terms/what-is-eeo

[Accessed 05 July 2020].

Study.com. (2020). What Is Equal Employment Opportunity? - Definition, Laws & Policies. [online] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-equal-employment-opportunity-definition-laws-policies.html

[Accessed 05 July 2020].