Attorneys & Professionals

Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provided updated and additional guidance regarding caregiver discrimination under federal employment laws in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. In its new guidance, the EEOC explained the circumstances under which caregiver discrimination might occur under federal law.

Although the EEOC recognized that Federal employment discrimination laws do not prohibit employment discrimination based solely on an employee’s or potential employee’s status as a caregiver, the agency made clear that such discrimination is illegal when based on a protected characteristic. The guidance then provided a number of illustrations of types of decisions that would be unlawful discrimination under federal employment law, including:

• It would violate the law if an employer refused to hire a female applicant or refused to promote a female employee based on assumptions that, because she was female, she would (or should) focus primarily on caring for her young children if they attend school remotely, or on caring for her parents or other adult relatives.
• It would be unlawful for an employer to deny leave or permission to work a flexible schedule, care for a family member with COVID-19, or handle other pandemic-related caregiving duties to male employees if the employer grants such requests when made by similarly situated female employees.
• Employers may not impose more burdensome...

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