October 10, 2024
The types of discrimination considered illegal in the United States.
Before starting, let's see what the word discrimination means: Discrimination or discriminating against a person is treating them differently, unfairly or less favorably because of their country of origin, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion. The law prohibits discrimination at any stage of employment: during hiring, firing, unequal payment, job assignments, promotions, benefits or conditioning work.
It is important that you know the different types of discrimination that exist, identify them in your workplace and know what to do when you face a situation like this. Discrimination can occur in different situations. Lear about the types of discrimination and some examples:
National origin discrimination, example: The employer assigns a higher salary to an American national than to a Mexican national, but both perform the same type of work in the company or farm.
Age discrimination (+40 years old), example: It happens a lot during the recruitment process. People over 40 years old are no longer hired to work with a temporary work visa. There’s even advertisements specifying an age range for job openings: “Looking for people between the ages of 20 and 38…”
Sex-based discrimination, sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, or pregnancy discrimination, for example: It is very common that the majority of people who work in agricultural fields with H-2A visas are men, there is a very small number of women in this program. When women are hired, requirements such as a pregnancy test are requested in order to qualify; or employment opportunities being denied to people with a different sexual orientation.
Race/color discrimination, for example: People of a different ethnicity than the hiring person or employer are discriminated against due to their particular characteristics, such as hair texture, skin color or certain features.
Religious discrimination, for example: Employers or recruiters discriminate against people based on their religious beliefs such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, among others.
If you identify any discrimination in your workplace, contact the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), responsible for enforcing federal laws related to discrimination against a job applicant or worker, or the agency in charge of enforcing anti-discrimination laws in your state. For support, contact our team for free and confidential legal advice. You can do so at SOL, or by calling us Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm, from Mexico at 800 590 1773 and from the United States at 1 855 234 9699. Do it as soon as possible!
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