Introduction
EEOC stands for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It was a commission that was set up to ensure that job applicants and employees are not discriminated against. Discrimination may be in the form of race, gender, age, religious views, disability or nationality (Karsten 2006). According to federal laws, it is illegal to discriminate against an employee or job applicant. The EEOC covers employers with over 15 employees including labor unions and several employment agencies.
The role of EEOC
The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission is charged with the responsibility of receiving complaints from employees or job applicants who have been discriminated against. The commission will then conduct proper investigations to determine if the allegations are true. If the claims are true, the commission will try to resolve the situation. If the situation goes out of hand, the commission is mandated by the law to file a lawsuit.
Other tasks of the commission include; creating awareness put an end to workplace discrimination. The commission also evaluates and ensures that due process is followed whenever an employee is hired or fired. The commission also advised judges on cases involving discrimination at workplaces (Feagin & McKinney 2005).
The commission is constantly working with other federal agencies. This move is aimed at ensuring all citizens have equal employment opportunities as directed by the law. By working with these agencies, they can minimize discrimination and see to it that employment regulations are followed to the latter.
Recent research shows that in the year 2009 the commission was able to file and resolve over 90,000 discrimination cases (Feagin & McKinney 2005). According to this research, the most common types of discrimination are racial and age forms of discrimination. The commission has established that discrimination can either occur on the following grounds, age, sex, disability, equal compensation, pregnancy, nationality, race, and religion.
Race discrimination in the workplace
Race discrimination occurs whenever a job applicant or an employee is treated in a manner that may be unfair because of his or her skin color. This also occurs whenever an individual is discriminated against due to characteristics that are associated with his or her race or in other words racial stereotyping. Skin complexion forms the basis of this type of discrimination (Robinson 2003).
Racial discrimination may also occur when a person is treated unfairly because he or she is associated with a particular race. The association may be through marriage or being associated with a group or organization that deals with that particular race.
Role of EEOC in preventing racial discrimination in the workplace
It is illegal to discriminate a person because of his race or association with a certain race. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission here is charged with the responsibility of receiving racial discrimination complaints.
The commission will then try to conduct investigations to determine if the complaints are substantial. If the commission finds that the complaints are substantial, it will either file a lawsuit against the employer or try to resolve the matter outside a court of law (Robinson 2003). The latter is applied whenever the employer accepts the complaints and takes corrective measures.
The commission also tries to prevent this type of discrimination by educating various stakeholders. The commission employs various methods in raising awareness of racial discrimination. Some of the issues that are addressed here will include, developing an employment policy that is free from racial discrimination and guaranteeing that all employees are accorded with equal promotion opportunities in the workplace.
Role of employers
Employers should only hire people based on their qualifications and what they can bring into the organization. All interviews should be conducted in a fair manner according to the employment policies set by the organization. The employers should understand that the law forbids racial discrimination whenever they are filling in vacant positions in the organization.
Existing employees should also be given equal promotion opportunities regardless of their skin color. Employers should also not be retrenched or fired based on their skin complexion or association with a certain race (Livingston 2005).
To avoid cases of racial discrimination in the workplace, the employer, should ensure that they create awareness within the organization. By creating awareness, employees will be able to shun this vice. Those employees who may be found guilty of racial discrimination should face tough disciplinary measures.
The employer should also avoid giving promotions or firing workers based on their race. Promotions should strictly be accorded on merit. Firing employees should also be done whenever an employer is subject to gross misconduct (Robinson 2003).
Conclusion
It is important that no job applicants or employees be discriminated against. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission should work together with employers to see to it that discrimination in the workplace is a thing of the past. The law is clear and has banned all forms of discrimination in the workplace. This can only be achieved if the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission works closely with the employers and conduct awareness programs that will help contain this menace.
References
Feagin, J. R., & McKinney, K. D. (2005). The many costs of racism. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield.
Karsten, M. F. (2006). Gender, race, and ethnicity in the workplace issues and challenges for today’s organizations. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers.
Livingston, D. R. (2005). EEOC litigation and charge resolution. Washington, DC: Bureau of National Affairs.
Robinson, D. A. (2003). A legal and ethical handbook for ending discrimination in the workplace. New York: Paulist Press.
Types of Discrimination. (n.d.). EEOC Home Page. Web.