ABA Family Legal Guide

Law and the Workplace

On the Job

Discrimination in the Workplace

Besides hiring, what other aspects of the employment relationship are regulated by antidiscrimination laws?

Antidiscrimination laws regulate all aspects of work, including hiring, firing, promotions, job duties, wages, benefits, and reviews. Generally speaking, the laws do not require an employer to provide specific benefits or to institute job review procedures or to draw up job descriptions. Rather, the employer is allowed to establish its own policies so long as they are applied to all employees in a nondiscriminatory manner and so long as the policies do not have the effect of discriminating against a protected class.