All employers must have a written policy to reduce and prevent harassment, discrimination and sexual assault in the workplace. They must make this policy available to all workers when they are hired, and it must be easily accessible to all workers. A policy template to help employers develop their policy is available in English and Spanish. A “protected class” is simply a common characteristic that employers cannot use as the basis for an employment decision under the law. For example, an employer cannot refuse to hire a candidate on the basis of race, gender or any other protected category. Oregon law prohibits an employer from discriminating against a person solely because another member of that person`s family works or has worked for that employer. For example, it is illegal for a college to refuse to hire a woman for a science teaching position because her husband already works for the college in the English department, even though neither spouse would supervise the other. ORS 659A.309. Oregon employers cannot fire, refuse to hire, or discriminate on the basis of age if they are 18 years of age or older. ORS 659A.030(1). Example: A company rejects a qualified 19-year-old candidate because the employer is concerned that the employee will not fit into an older workforce. In addition, the BFOQ defence does not apply to all protected classes. The BFOQ defence does not apply where a BFOQ is based on race.

Section 703 (e) of title VII provides: An employer shall not discriminate against a person because that person is dealing with members of a particular race, colour, or national origin. For example, it is illegal for an employer to screen a white employee more carefully for delays due to their relationship with an African American. * Protection from harassment under the Employment and Housing Equity Act applies regardless of the number of employees. California Labor Code Section 230.1, which prohibits employers from discriminating against a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault when they are absent from work to receive medical, psychological, and crisis services, applies only to employers with 25 or more employees, while all other California labor laws apply to victims of domestic violence. sexual assault and criminal harassment in Section 230, regardless of the number of employees. A compelling government interest is a legal concept in which the government is able to violate a constitutionally protected right or discriminate on the basis of certain characteristics, such as race, when a crucial or important government interest is at stake. Restrictions on freedom of expression based on national security considerations are an example of a compelling government interest that violates a constitutional right. For example, an employer`s use of word-of-mouth by its predominantly Hispanic workforce may be against the law if the result is that almost all new hires are Hispanic. In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, which amended the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Equal Pay Act prohibits employers and trade unions from paying different wages depending on the sex of the employee. Other discriminatory hiring practices are not prohibited. It states that when workers do equal work in jobs that “require equal skills, effort and responsibility.

be carried out under similar working conditions”, workers must receive the same wage. The Fair Labor Standards Act applies to employees engaged in any aspect of interstate commerce, or to all employees of an employer if the enterprise as a whole engages in a significant portion of interstate commerce. Although state and federal equality laws do not clearly prohibit employers from disproportionately making or eliminating requests to members based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, or age prior to hiring, such requests may be used as evidence of an employer`s intent to discriminate, unless the questions asked cannot be justified by a business purpose. If an employer requires candidates to take a test, the test must be necessary and job-related, and the employer must not exclude people of race, colour, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), national origin or persons with disabilities.