{"id":355630,"date":"2016-04-04T10:41:57","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T15:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/civilrights\/discrimination\/employment-discrimination-federal-laws.html"},"modified":"2021-03-18T10:36:24","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T15:36:24","slug":"employment-discrimination-federal-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/civilrights\/discrimination\/employment-discrimination-federal-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"Federal Employment Discrimination Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Federal Employment Discrimination Laws<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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Seeking and retaining employment is crucial to taking care of one’s basic needs. But since discrimination unfairly jeopardizes people’s opportunities, federal laws prohibit treating employees differently on the basis of race or other such personal characteristics. These laws prohibit discrimination in virtually all aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission<\/a> (EEOC) enforces many of these laws, while some state laws also address employment discrimination and sometimes extend these protections to LGBTQ employees and other categories.<\/p>\r\n

Below are summaries of various federal anti-discrimination laws that protect U.S. employees.<\/p>\r\n

Age Discrimination in Employment Act<\/h2>\r\n

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act<\/a> (ADEA) prohibits discrimination and harassment against employees or job applicants who are at least 40 years old. The act does not apply to independent contractors<\/a>. ADEA applies to:<\/p>\r\n