In the United States, it is generally illegal to base hiring decisions on factors other than the employee's qualifications. If this is violated, the costs of litigation, fines, and damage to the company's reputation can be significant.

Equal opportunities means that hiring decisions must be made based on the job requirements and the employee's qualifications. Unlawful discrimination occurs when these decisions are made on the basis of protected characteristics. These are individual characteristics such as race, age, gender, disability or religion that are protected by equal opportunities laws and regulations.

Discrimination remains a problem as the U.S. workforce becomes more diverse. Human resources professionals must be alert to workplace trends that may result in negative legal action. The first type, disparate treatment, occurs when people with certain characteristics not related to work are treated differently than others. Disparate impact is the second type of illegal discrimination.

It occurs when an employment practice that does not appear to be discriminatory disadvantages persons with certain characteristics to such an extent that they are significantly underrepresented due to employment decisions that are to their disadvantage.

The four key concepts help clarify core EEO ideas that lead to fair treatment and non-discriminatory employment decisions, business necessity, BFOQ, burden of proof, and non-retaliatory practices.

Even when human resources professionals and managers take these actions, EEOC investigations sometimes arise when allegations of retaliation and other forms of unlawful discrimination are made. Human resources professionals must develop a plan to respond to allegations and protect the interests of both the company and its employees.

The original purpose of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was to combat racial discrimination in the United States. This cause remains important today. To take appropriate action, employers should be aware of potential workforce problems based on race, national origin, and citizenship.

Pay equity involves the idea that pay should be similar for jobs requiring comparable knowledge, skills and abilities, even if the actual tasks performed differ significantly. The influx of women into the workforce has had significant social, economic and organizational consequences. In particular, the growing number of women has led to more gender-specific issues related to work and careers.

Effective sexual harassment prevention training will ideally include information on how to report sexual harassment when it occurs. Disability discrimination occurs when a person with a disability is treated less favorably than a person without a disability under the same or similar circumstances.

Before the ADAA, employers won 90% of challenges to whether a person actually had a disability. Now, that argument is essentially moot. Companies no longer work aggressively to exclude people from that status.

Age discrimination in the workplace is the practice of using a person's age as an unfair factor when deciding who gets a new job, a promotion, or other job benefits. In addition to the protections provided by Title VII, a number of federal laws have been enacted to combat these forms of discrimination. Many of these laws were passed in response to inappropriate corporate decisions that resulted in unfair treatment of applicants or employees.

Dealing with diversity is not about what people can and cannot say. It is about being respectful to others.

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