​Policies and Nondiscrimination Guidelines

​Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. This law makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. The law also requires that employers reasonably accommodate applicants' and employees' sincerely held religious practices, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business.

Amendments include:

• Civil Rights Act of 1991
  
• • Among other things, this law amends Title VII and the ADA to permit jury trials and compensatory and punitive damage awards in intentional discrimination cases.
• Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
  • this law amends Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. It overturned the Supreme Court's decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc., 550 U.S. 618 (2007), which severely restricted the time period for filing complaints of employment discrimination based on discriminatory compensation.

​Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

• Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
• Title IX applies to schools, local and state educational agencies, and other institutions that receive federal financial assistance from the Department. These recipients include approximately 17,600 local school districts, over 5,000 postsecondary institutions, and charter schools, for-profit schools, libraries, and museums. Also included are vocational rehabilitation agencies and education agencies of 50 states, the District of Columbia, and territories of the United States.

​The FMLA is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division

• The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.

The PWFA went into effect on June 27, 2023. On April 15, 2024 the EEOC issued its final regulation to carry out the law. The final regulation goes into effect on June 18, 2024.

Generally, the PWFA requires a covered employer to provide a “reasonable accommodation” to a qualified employee’s or applicant’s known limitations related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an “undue hardship.”

Covered employers must not:

• Fail to make a reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of an employee or applicant, unless the accommodation would cause an undue hardship;
• Require an employee to accept an accommodation other than a reasonable accommodation arrived at through the interactive process;
• Deny a job or other employment opportunities to a qualified employee or applicant based on the person’s need for a reasonable accommodation;
• Require an employee to take leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided that would let the employee keep working;
• Punish or retaliate against an employee or applicant for requesting or using a reasonable accommodation for a known limitation under the PWFA, reporting or opposing unlawful discrimination under the PWFA, or participating in a PWFA proceeding (such as an investigation);
• Coerce individuals who are exercising their rights or helping others exercise their rights under the PWFA.

The PWFA applies only to accommodations. Other laws that the EEOC enforces make it illegal to fire or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

The PUMP Act is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor. On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 into law. This legislation introduced the PUMP Act, expanding these rights to more nursing employees, including agricultural workers, nurses, teachers, truck and taxi drivers, home care workers and managers.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), most nursing employees have the right to reasonable break time and a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view to express breast milk while at work. This right is available for up to one year after the child’s birth.

The following federal laws are also enforced by the U.S. EEOC

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
  
  • This law protects people who are 40 or older from discrimination because of age. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.
• Equal Pay Act of 1963
  • This law makes it illegal to pay different wages to men and women if they perform equal work in the same workplace. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.
• Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
  • This law makes it illegal to discriminate against a qualified person with a disability in the federal government. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. The law also requires that employers reasonably accommodate the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant or employee, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business.
• The Genetic Iformation Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)
  • This law makes it illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants because of genetic information. Genetic information includes information about an individual's genetic tests and the genetic tests of an individual's family members, as well as information about any disease, disorder or condition of an individual's family members (i.e. an individual's family medical history). The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.