Racial Discrimination in Hiring Practices
- The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has the responsibility to monitor and address racilaly discriminatory hiring practices. The EEOC defines race discrimination as treating an applicant or employee negatively as a result of personal attributes related to race, including skin color, hair texture,or specific racial characteristics. Racial unfairness may also occur because someone has a spouse or associates with a person or organizations of a particular race
- In theory, workplace opportunities should depend on factors such as merit and job performance. Yet studies indicate that race continues to play a prominent role in hiring practices. For example, a study in the Journal of Labor Economics indicates that the race or ethnicity of the hiring manager plays a significant role in the racial makeup of an organization's workplace. Focusing on 24 months of data from a well-known national retail chain, the report found that when management in the average store changed from a black manager to a white, Hispanic or Asian manager, the number of blacks hired at the stores dropped from 21 percent to 17 percent.
- Federal and state laws prohibit racial discrimination in hiring as it relates to all components of workplace employment, including hiring, firing, pay and promotion. The federal law, Title VII, covers employers with 15 or more workers, including federal agencies and state and municipal governments. The law also applies to employment agencies and to labor unions. A person cannot suffer hiring, firing or difference in pay because of race. In addition, work assignments, job promotions and employment benefits must be fair and not consider a person's race. Other conditions of employment include layoffs and job training.
- Sometimes a workplace practice or rule not associated with the job and applicable to all employees in a workplace may be unlawful if the practice has a negative affect on people of a specific race and violates the spirit of the law. Although a company may have a policy that prohibits wearing beards in the workplace, such a practice may discriminate against black men because of the acute razor bumps many African-American men experience when shaving.
- Individuals who believe they have suffered job discrimination must file a complaint with the EEOC and their state's equivalent of the EEOC. The available remedies for racial discrimination in hiring practices include hiring, reinstatement or promotion to the position. Wages, benefits and other monetary damages may also apply. In many cases, the organization may have to stop or modify certain practices.
- According to statistics from the EEOC, the agency handled 33,937 complaints of race discrimination in 2008 and 28,321 of the charges received resolution. The EEOC alone obtained monetary damages for $79.3 million dollars for individuals bringing the charges. Individuals may also receive damages through private litigation.