Sexual harassment is a very strong phrase within the workplace. Those two words send chills of fear through most managers. Before the 1970's these words were nothing more than words. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed in order to set some laws on the subject of employee discrimination. The main point of Title VII is to protect employees from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. This paper will discuss the evolution of Title VII, its impact in the workplace, what individuals are covered and which ones are not, and some policies that companies should have to avoid doing anything to violate the laws of Title VII.
Title VII is a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that deals directly with the rights of employment. Dr. Martin Luther King had a lot to do with the passing of the Civil Rights Act, but ten years before the act was passed, Brown v. Topeka Board of Education made the firtst stirring in 1954 which led to a decade of protest and marches. .
Since 1964 there have been some ammendments to the act, including the Equal Oportunity Act in 1972 and the pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978. It has only become stronger and in more favor of equal opportunity for employees over the years. .
With all of the pressure that Title VII has put on the employer the impact in the workplace has been very visable. It has allowed for employees to have power and speak out. Before Title VII employers could do whatever they wanted to. They could hire, fire, promote, demote, all on the color of someone's skin. Now that someone is protected from the discrimination through Title VII. Workplaces are becoming more culturally diverse and have found this diversity to be rewarding.
The good part about Title VII is that everyone is covered. This feelimg of security is something that some companies even use to bring new employees in. The only exception is that employers with less than 15 employees are not covered by the act entirely.