Unlawful Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace: What You Need to Know

Workplace discrimination and harassment are serious issues that California employers must be aware of and actively prevent. Understanding what constitutes unlawful discrimination or harassment is crucial for maintaining a safe and inclusive work environment.?

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Protected Characteristics?

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) enforces laws that protect employees from illegal discrimination and harassment based on various characteristics, including:?

• Ancestry?
• Age (40 and above)?

• Color?

• Disability (physical and mental, including HIV and AIDS)?

• Genetic information?

• Gender, gender identity, or gender expression?

• Marital status?

• Medical condition?

• Military or veteran status?

• National origin?

• Race?

• Religion?

• Sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions)?

• Sexual orientation?

FEHA Regulations?

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and its implementation regulations outline several important provisions for California organizations:?

• Harassment Prohibition: Employers are required to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment of employees, applicants, and independent contractors.?

• Discrimination Prohibition: Employers are required to take all reasonable steps to prevent discrimination against employees or job applicants in hiring, promotions, assignments, termination, or any term, condition, or privilege of employment. Additionally, California organizations are prohibited from making discriminatory pre-hiring inquiries or publishing help-wanted advertisements that express a discriminatory hiring preference.?

• Retaliation prohibition: Employers are required to take all reasonable steps to prohibit retaliation against an employee or job applicant who reports harassment or discrimination or assists another person to oppose unlawful discrimination or harassment.?

• Language Use: Employers cannot limit or prohibit the use of any language in the workplace unless justified by business necessity.?

• Sexual Harassment Prevention Training: Employers must provide information to all employees on sexual harassment, its nature, illegality, and legal remedies. California organizations with 50 or more employees are required to provide sexual harassment prevention training for all supervisors every 2 years.?

• Religious Accommodations: Employers are required to reasonably accommodate an employee's or job applicant’s religious beliefs and practices, including religious attire and grooming, which are part of an individual’s observance of his or her religious beliefs.?

• Disability Accommodations: Employers are required to reasonably accommodate employees or job applicants with a disability to enable them to perform essential job functions.?

• Pregnancy and Family Leave: Employers are required to provide leaves of up to four months for employees disabled due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Eligible employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of family and medical leave because of childbirth, adopting or fostering a child, a medical/health condition, or the need to care for a parent, spouse, or child with a serious health condition.?

The law requires California employers to investigate any claim relating to harassment or discrimination by a California-licensed investigator, lawyer (performing duties as an attorney), or internal employee. If the fact findings of the HR investigation sustain that an individual has experienced unlawful discrimination or harassment in the workplace, the employer is required to provide a remedy, such as hiring, front pay, back pay, promotion, reinstatement, cease-and-desist orders, expert witness fees, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, punitive damages, and emotional distress damages.?

Why choose California Labor Solutions????

California Labor Solutions (CLS) is one of the only HR firms licensed* to conduct workplace investigations in California. We serve private businesses and public-sector organizations throughout the state. We have conducted hundreds of neutral, impartial, objective, and unbiased workplace investigations related to identifying issues and risks within the organization as well as for employee complaints relating to allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, workplace violence, and various types of employee misconduct with the utmost quality, detail, and efficiency.???????

*California Private Investigator License Number 26311.???????

Disclaimer:???

Please note that the updates, advisories, and regulations we receive from the promulgating agency often contain ambiguities and/or are often amended, modified, or updated. This material/article/email does not contain any legal advice. The information and opinions expressed herein are based on our reasonable interpretation of the issuing agency’s publication at the time the opinion is expressed and is, therefore, subject to change based on further developments. The effect of the opinions expressed may be different based on your particular circumstances, and it is recommended that you not rely upon these general opinions prior to obtaining a consultation with your legal and/or financial advisors.??

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