Fifty years may have been enough time to change the face of the American workplace, but the journey toward workplace equality is far from over.
Figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that women earn 82 cents for every dollar a man makes. The figure at the start of 1979, by comparison, was 75 cents. (However, earnings data do not adjust for types of occupations and years of experience.)
Some of the problems now are more subtle than, say, simply paying women a lower wage. For instance, more needs to be done to make sure there is equal opportunity to get the plum jobs, Butts says. “We need to look at the decision-making that impacts pay—not just the pay itself,” she explains.
And just as the authors of Title VII didn’t anticipate the need to include sexual orientation and disability status in the law, other groups may emerge in the future to claim new protections.
Segal predicts that age discrimination may become an issue as Baby Boomers linger in jobs and Millennials itch to take their place. Workers with criminal records also have gained attention due to minorities’ disproportionate incarceration rates. (See “ Choices and Chances ” also in this issue.)
Procedurally, Farmer would like to see alternative dispute resolution required to force both sides in a dispute to negotiate. For employers, going to trial is expensive and disruptive as employees are called to testify. In addition, the outcomes are uncertain. Farmer compares a jury trial to betting all your money on one color on a roulette wheel. “There is no predictability in the system,” he says.
He would also like to see better guidance and clearer tests from the courts that employers and workers can use to understand when discrimination has taken place.
But balance is needed between legislating diversity and taking a more organic approach, Lewis says. “While the laws are an important component, [so too are] policy and culture and how we engage each other in a community.”
HR departments have an important role to play, Segal says, by “looking at equal employment opportunity not just as a compliance issue but as a value—make sure you hire, mentor and promote the best and the brightest.”
Frye says companies need to make sure managers and supervisors understand the law. “Employers who are on top of these issues are doing yearly training with managers and employees.”
Employers are pushing for diversity and fairness in the workforce for more than just altruistic reasons. “The purpose is so we can thrive as companies and as a country because we are taking advantage of this diversity of thought,” Butts says, adding that “It simply is good business.”
Tamara Lytle is a freelance writer in the Washington, D.C., area.
HR must always include human intelligence and oversight of AI in decision-making in hiring and firing, a legal expert said at SHRM24. She added that HR can ensure compliance by meeting the strictest AI standards, which will be in Colorado’s upcoming AI law.
The proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the ensuing expected increase in productivity and efficiency, could help usher in the four-day workweek, some experts predict.
Learn how Marsh McLennan successfully boosts staff well-being with digital tools, improving productivity and work satisfaction for more than 20,000 employees.
News, trends, analysis and breaking news alerts to help HR professionals do their jobs better each business day.
Success caption
IMAGES
COMMENTS
A Long Struggle for Freedom > Civil Rights Era (1950-1963)
Rights Act of 1964. Throughout this thesis, I collect data, compare data, analyze data, and conclude on employment discrimination towards African Americans in the United States of America. I also incorporate data tables with crosstabulations and the Chi-square Test. ... Civil Rights Act of 1964 also allowed the federal government new power ...
Civil Rights Act | Summary, Facts, President, & History
Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Definition, Summary & Significance
Though Title VII and the Civil Rights Act came to fruition in 1964, this civil rights law is the product of hard-fought battles, strategic campaigning, organizing, protests, violent resistance, and bloodshed—public and private—for decades if not centuries preceding its passage. Consequently, this revolutionary civil rights statute is also ...
The law was passed July 2, 1964. Following a civil rights law passed in 1957, it was only the second such law to pass Congress since 1875. The bill had wide reach, for example requiring equal access provisions in all public accommodations, excluding only private clubs. In both its provisions and its use of federal power, the law achieved many ...
eginning of the twentieth century. Or-dinary citizens and civil rights groups had pushed for federal anti-lynching legislation since the 1920s and had advocated for federal legisla-tion creating a permanent Fair Employment P. actices Committee since the 1940s. Indeed, the Act came on the heels of the 1963 "March on Washington for Jobs and ...
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (henceforth, CRA) was a watershed moment in American history. Its passage sum marily outlawed the systematic, far-reaching, and in some cases, legally sanctioned discrimination that had prevailed. Juliet R. Aiken and Elizabeth D. Salmon have contributed equally for. this paper.
Civil Rights Act (1964)
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a pivotal moment in American history, marking the end of the Jim Crow era and institutionalized racial segregation. Before the Act, African Americans faced widespread discrimination and were denied basic civil rights. The civil rights movement, led by influential figures such as Martin Luther King ...
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 resulted from one of the most controversial House and Senate debates in history. It was also the biggest piece of civil rights legislation ever passed. The bill actually evolved from previous civil rights bills in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The bill passed through both houses finally on July 2, 1964 and ...
the Act was "an idea whose time has come"3 as Senator Dirksen suggested, then perhaps it merely ratified and facilitated a process already underway. This Article argues that the Civil Rights Act did indeed precipitate new economic advances for African Americans in income, occupational status, and educational attainment.
This act coincided with a Gallup Poll in June 1991 finding that 58% believed the black community had been helped by civil rights legislation. As the thirty year anniversary approached of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a Gallup/CNN/USA Today Poll in 1993 found that 65% believed the civil rights movement had had a significant impact on American society.
Civil Rights Movement: Timeline, Key Events & Leaders
Nonviolent Philosophy and Self Defense The success of the movement for African American civil rights across the South in the 1960s has largely been credited to activists who adopted the strategy of nonviolent protest. Leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Jim Lawson, and John Lewis believed wholeheartedly in this philosophy as a way of life ...
22 essay samples found. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark legislation in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. An essay on this topic could delve into the historical context leading up to its passage, its impact on the Civil Rights Movement, and the changes it brought to ...
Civil Rights Act of 1964: P.L. 88-352
Causes and Effects of the American Civil Rights Movement
0:00 8:37. Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration. Sixty years ago this week, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a monumental ...
Essay grade: Good. 2 pages / 795 words. The Civil Rights Movement was a variety of activism that wanted to secure all political and social rights for African Americans in 1946-1968. It had many different approaches from lawsuits, lobbying the federal government, massdirect action, and black power.
Title VII Changed the Face of the American Workplace
The civil rights act attempted to level the playing field and in some cases it did. It required that all people live, work, and go to school together. It was the groundwork for the beginning of an African-American middle-class and basically was the first step in getting an African-American person elected president only 44 years after the Act ...