My Current State: 

Texas Discrimination

Saturday, June 28th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee based on his or her race, religion, national origin, gender or color. It covers all types of employment decisions including job transfers, promotions, disciplinary actions, training or other job-related issues. However, there is no ... continue reading

Idaho Payday

Friday, June 20th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
In Idaho, and in most states of the U.S., a worker is entitled to receive his or her pay on the designated payday through guidelines of the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor.   This agency is also responsible for policies dealing with minimum wage. ... continue reading

Alabama Payday

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 provides that in Alabama, as well as the other states, employers must not decline to pay their workers on payday.   Companies are allowed to decide which day of the week, or the frequency of the pay period. However, after that ... continue reading

Ohio Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation

Friday, June 13th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
An employer in Ohio declines to hire a man he knows is gay. This decision would be legal because there is no federal law that prohibits hiring someone based on sexual orientation.   Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discriminating against someone based on race, religion, color, ... continue reading

North Dakota Sexual Orientation

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
In 1964, a federal law was passed to protect workers from discrimination on a wide-ranging basis.   The Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically addressed race, sex, national origin, color, and religion. However, it does not address sexual orientation.   For that reason, employment discrimination based on sexual orientation ... continue reading

Wyoming Sexual Orientation

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
Posted by Tamara
In Wyoming there is no law, either federal or state, that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. This may change in the near future.  

The US House recently passed the ENDA, a bill that would make discrimination based on sexual orientation a federal offense and offer ... continue reading

Oklahoma Polygraph

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Federal law governs the administration of pre-employment polygraph exams in Oklahoma.   The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division enforces the federal regulations for the use of lie detector tests in the workplace.   In general, private employers are not allowed to require prospective or existing employees ... continue reading

South Carolina Sexual Orientation

Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
There is no federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in South Carolina . Other states have enacted laws to provide this protection since federal law does not outlaw such practices. New Jersey has the Law Against Discrimination which prohibits any employment decision based on sexual orientation. ... continue reading

Light Duty in Mississippi

Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Many employees have questions regarding light duty in Mississippi .

While many Mississippi employers offer alternate assignments to workers on a light duty restriction, there is no law requiring the employer to pay the worker, if no work exists.

Some employers find that light duty ... continue reading

Montana Sexual Orientation

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Federal laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace began with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Discrimination based upon a wide range of factors is specifically addressed in the act. This includes discrimination based on religion, race, sex, color, and national origin. Other federal have further outlined the national prohibition ... continue reading

Kentucky Polygraph

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
Posted by Tamara
Employees in Kentucky could be subjected to a pre-employment polygraph test if they are applying for a government position or for a job, which carries special security concerns.

However, most Kentucky employers are prohibited from using polygraphs for pre-employment screening under federal law. 

The U.S. ... continue reading

Nevada Sex Discrimination and Height

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Posted by Tamara

Workers in Nevada frequently question certain practices by employers. Can employers legally set minimum weight and height standards as requirements for specific jobs? Generally speaking, the answer to this question is no. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits such discrimination.

According to Title VII, employers ... continue reading

New Mexico Hostile Work Environment and Disability

Monday, March 31st, 2008
Posted by Tamara

A recent case in New Mexico involved an employee named Jessica. Jessica is a disabled employee, and complained to her boss that she was being harassed about her hearing and speech problems. In such situations, employers always need to take such claims seriously, and make sure that they put an ... continue reading

Massachusetts Sex Discrimination and Height

Friday, March 28th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

The year 1964 saw the creation of a law that offered protection against discrimination for employees in Massachusetts, as well as in all other states of this country. This is known as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Discriminatory acts within the workplace that are based on someone’s national ... continue reading

Florida Disability

Friday, March 28th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

Some employees in Florida have questions regarding a recent discrimination case in Texas. In this workplace situation, a disabled worker was being harassed about her hearing and speech difficulties. The worker filed a complaint stating that she was being subjected to a hostile work environment each day because of the ... continue reading

Arkansas Sex Discrimination and Height

Thursday, March 27th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

In Arkansas, quite a few employees have questions regarding whether employers can establish height and weight minimum requirements for particular jobs. Legally, most employers cannot do this.

In 1964, an act was created making it illegal for employers to discriminate against people based on their color, national origin, sex, ... continue reading

Alaska Sex Discrimination and Height

Friday, March 21st, 2008
Posted by Tamara

In the state of Alaska, if an employer creates minimum weight or height standards for certain jobs, it is usually illegal discrimination. Many workers have had questions about this issue. Employers would have to prove that they truly needed such specific requirements in order for it to be considered legal ... continue reading

Mississippi Disability

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

A hostile work environment was recently created in Mississippi in an all too common situation. Gary, a disabled employee, began complaining that he was being subjected to taunts and hurtful comments about his speech and hearing problems. Any time such a situation arises, employers should take immediate actions to put ... continue reading

Indiana Sex Discrimination and Height

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects workers in Indiana, as well as other states throughout the country. A question that comes up quite frequently among employees is, can employers set minimum height requirements for any job? Although there may be extenuating circumstances in some instances, the ... continue reading

Delaware Sex Discrimination and Height

Sunday, March 16th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

In the state of Delaware, if an employer creates minimum weight or height standards for certain jobs, it is usually illegal discrimination. Many workers have had questions about this issue.  Employers would have to prove that they truly needed such specific requirements in order for it to be considered legal ... continue reading

Michigan Polygraph

Friday, March 14th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

In the state of Michigan, many employees question whether pre-employment polygraphs are legal.

The state does not have its own polygraph law in regards to employment. Instead, it follows the federal model. In most cases, private employers are not allowed to give lie detector tests for pre-employment screening, or ... continue reading

Oregon Polygraph

Thursday, March 6th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

There are lots of employees in Oregon who wonder if pre-employment polygraphs are legal.

First, it is important to mention that Oregon does not have a separate polygraph law for employment. Instead, it follows the federal model. Most private employers are prohibited from administering lie detector tests for pre-employment ... continue reading

Illinois Polygraph

Monday, March 3rd, 2008
Posted by Tamara

Illinois employees frequently wonder if pre-employment polygraphs are legal in their state.

Even though Illinois does not have its own polygraph law for employment, the state does follow the federal model. According to the federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act, most private employers are prohibited from giving lie detector tests ... continue reading

Iowa Polygraph

Friday, February 29th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

Some workers in Iowa have wondered if pre-employment polygraphs are legal in that state.

Though the state does not have its own polygraph law in regards to employment, it does follow the federal model. Under the federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the majority of private employers are prohibited from ... continue reading

Arkansas Polygraph

Thursday, February 28th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

The state of Arkansas has numerous employees who wonder if pre-employment polygraphs are legal.

To begin, Arkansas does not have a separate polygraph law for employment. Arkansas follows the federal model, known as the federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act. This act prohibits the majority of private employers from giving ... continue reading

Utah Discrimination

Monday, February 18th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

Human Resources professionals consider it a bad practice. The federal government protects its own civilian employees from it. Many companies have developed policies prohibiting it.

“It” is discrimination in hiring and the workplace due to sexual orientation.

Despite these policies, however, no Utah or federal law currently makes ... continue reading

South Dakota Discrimination

Friday, February 15th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

Neither federal nor South Dakota law makes it illegal to discriminate in employment or in the workplace based on sexual orientation.

Even the foundational legislation known as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it against the law to discriminate on the basis of many ... continue reading

Kentucky Discrimination

Friday, February 15th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

Many companies have developed their own policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. The federal government protects its civilian employees from such discrimination. Nonprofit agencies and private firms that have federal contracts must not discriminate against gays, lesbians, and transgendered workers.

Yet neither Kentucky nor federal law prohibits discrimination ... continue reading

Virginia Discrimination

Thursday, February 14th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

No federal or Virginia law right now forbids job discrimination against gay, lesbian, or transgendered workers. 

This unfortunate state of events could change in the not too distant future. And there are some restrictions on discrimination against federal government workers because of sexual orientation.

In any case, the ... continue reading

Georgia Discrimination

Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
Posted by Tamara

Gay, lesbian, and transgendered workers cannot depend upon federal or Georgia law to protect them from discrimination on the job and in hiring. A major piece of federal civil rights legislation known as Title VII does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. And while some states have filled the ... continue reading