Even as the government shutdown stalls work in Washington, D.C., the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is taking additional steps to undermine its mission.
The primary federal agency charged by Congress with enforcing the federal employment discrimination laws recently made it easier for employers to discriminate against workers, according to a new internal memo, reported but not yet publicly released.
Since 1971, federal law prohibiting employment discrimination (as interpreted by the Supreme Court) has required employers to use hiring practices which accurately measure job applicants’ ability to do the job. This is to avoid barring people from jobs because of irrelevant characteristics such as their race or gender, even if such exclusion was not intended.
Referred to as the “disparate impact” rule, it enables workers to challenge employment practices that disproportionately exclude groups of people based on race, gender, or other protected, non-job-related characteristics, where those are not valid measures of who can do the job.
In short, it means that arbitrary hurdles for job applicants have historically been eliminated, and when they haven’t, workers have been able to bring a discrimination claim. That means the job market has a more level playing field for everyone.
For example, let’s say a job posting for a retail or entry-level administrative job requires job applicants to have a college degree. That college degree is likely not necessary to do the job, but...
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