Research Project: VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

BHR 3301 – Compensation and Benefits

Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Throughout the years, a multitude of regulations have been put into place on both the state and the federal level to protect employees from unfair treatment by employers. Some regulations cover all employees, others are aimed at ensuring fair treatment of protected groups who might otherwise face disadvantages in the workplace. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark civil rights legislation and US labor law that seeks to ensure fair treatment of all groups and is the most encompassing of federal labor regulations. Title VII prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,

it shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer –

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (Civil Rights Act (1964)).

Prior to enacting the Civil Rights Act, individuals had no recourse if an employer treated them unfairly because they were members of a specific group. Title VII of the act specifically addresses discrimination in the workplace. But the Civil Rights Act was not born overnight, rather, it was born from years of struggle during the civil rights movement, led by civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

History of the Act

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka sparked the Civil Rights Movement in 1954. Brown v. Board of Education struck down “separate but equal” and ruled that racial segregation was not legal. This landmark ruling legally recognized that all Americans are created equal, regardless of the color of their skin. With this ruling the Civil Rights Movement was born. Now people of color had the legal right to be treated as equal and were ready to fight for that right, along with their allies. The Civil Rights Movement was born and eventually led to some significant legislation to protect the rights and fair treatment of all Americans and paved the way for the birth of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which included Title VII. Prior to enactment of Title VII, classified ads often spelled out which genders and races could apply for particular jobs (Lytle, 2014). Today, this practice would be considered blatant discrimination.

Title VII not only provides special protection in the employment sector but also created an agency solely for the purpose of policing that such discrimination does not happen. This agency is called the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or short, EEOC. Since the initial legislation passed, Title VII has added legislation to protect additional groups. In 1967, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was added followed by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and more recently, in 1990, The Americans with Disabilities Act.

Current Issues

In her article “Title VII Changed the Face of the American Workplace”, Tamara Lytle takes an in-depth look at how Title VII has been influencing the makeup of the American workforce and provides statistical data as well as personal accounts of several minority employees to strengthen her point. Her article gives us a brief history lesson about Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the progress that was made since enactment of the legislation in 1964 and discusses the importance for businesses to employ a diverse workforce, not only to stay in compliance with State and Federal regulation, but also as a healthy business strategy. The article also addresses current issues regarding equal pay, specifically pay discrepancies still evident today in the pay of minority groups. Lytle’ article is a non-biased overview of the history, the present, and the future of Title VII and her information is backed up by statistics, opinions of current HR professionals and real-life examples of employees and the progress they have experienced since enactment of Title VII.

The establishment of the EEOC and laws governing discrimination in the workplace signified drastic changes for U.S. employers. Prior to this legislation there was no rule and employers hired who they wanted at the wages they felt fit to pay. Now, almost overnight, not only were there laws to follow but also a governing agency that enforced said laws. Organizations now had to put checks and balances into place to ensure compliance to the new regulation or face fines imposed by the EEOC. Organizations responded to the new laws by either establishing practices to measure compliance, by lobbying for changes to the law in favor of employers, or simply ignored the ruling and defended their stance in court instead, risking stiff penalties. Today, employers keep strict records on employee wages, and compare them based on sex, ethnicity and age groups. Usually, a new hire is asked to fill out a Voluntary Disclosure form asking for the new hire’s race, gender, disability and veteran status. This helps employers gather data and aids in staying in compliance with Title VII regulations. Most employers are required to file an EEO-1 report, a compliance survey mandated by the EEOC and filed with the Joint Reporting Committee that has to be submitted on an annual basis.

For employees, enactment of Title VII meant that they finally had a recourse when employers treated them unfairly. An employee can file a claim with the EEOC if he or she feels that he or she is being discriminated against. Subsequent equal treatment opened doors for many formerly disadvantaged groups and afforded many people the opportunity to provide a better life to themselves and their families. Today, workers of all races, genders and social status work side by side in all professions. Only sixty years ago, this was unthinkable.

Since Title VII was enacted, great strides were made in pay equality but pays are far from equal. Even today, studies suggest that in 2015, the average salary for women is only 79.6% of the salary the average male worker makes. In 1960 a woman only made 60.7% of the salary of a man. While we are moving in the right direction, pay regulations are needed to further close the pay inequality that is still prevalent in today’s labor market (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016).

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is a fluid regulation and as times change, amendments and additional legislation is added, affording additional groups protection under the act, like it has previously regarding age discrimination, and protection for people with disabilities. A current hot topic is whether sexual orientation and gender identity should be covered under Title VII. The employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, was proposed in the United States Congress numerous times but has yet to be passed into law. Most Fortune 500 employers voluntarily provide protection against sexual orientation discrimination. Since many employers are already in compliance with this proposed legislation, it is safe to assume that eventually ENDA will pass and become part of Title VII. In today’s highly competitive market, more and more employers realize that talent can be found everywhere and to leave special groups out of the equation might be a disadvantage when recruiting and retaining a highly competitive workforce. According to Tamara Lytle’s article, minorities represent 37% of all Americans, up from 17% in 1970. This means that not only did the labor pool change, but also the customers that are being serviced by American businesses. A diverse staff has a better understanding of its diverse clients. Nicole Butts, a client services manager at Berkshire Associates, a human resources company makes a great point: “diversity in the workforce today is a financial issue. I need to speak to my customer base, and my customer base is diverse” (Lytle, 2014).

Conclusion

Since the Civil Rights Act has been passed in 1964, great strides towards equal pay and fair treatment have been made but genuine equality for all Americans is far from achieved. Especially with the constant change in today’s social makeup, Title VII is still current and needed to ensure fair treatment. While overt discrimination was largely replaced by unconscious bias, discrimination is still evident today. The EEOC has reported 94,000 charges in 2013 alone (Lytle, 2014). Until all Americans are being compensated equally, we need legislation that ensures workers are paid fairly but until there is true equality in all aspects of life and in the minds of all people, pay equality may never be fully achieved.

References

Civil Rights Act of 1964 § 7, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq (1964).

Lytle, T. (2014). Title VII Changed the Face of the American Workplace. Retrieved from

https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/title-vii-changed-the-face-of-the-american-workplace.aspx

National Committee on pay Equity. (2016). The Wage Gap Over Time. Retrieved from https://www.pay-equity.org/info-time.html