Sexual harassment has been illegal in the workplace for over half a century under Title VII of the Civil Rights Ac of 1964. However, as the #metoo movement made clear, being illegal does not mean it does not continue to happen. Most sexual harassment at work is never...
Does your employer have unconscious biases?
If you ask your boss if they’re biased against any group of people -- people of a certain age, ethnic group or religion, for instance -- they’re almost definitely going to tell you that they are not. However, you may still think you see discrimination in the...
Kentucky’s LGBTQ workers have yet to achieve equity with other employees
The U.S. Supreme Court entered a ruling on June 15, acknowledging how federal employee protections now prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace. While many members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer...
Do hourly workers have a right to holiday pay on certain days?
The final weeks of each year include a cluster of popular holidays. From Thanksgiving in November to New Year's Day on the 1st of January, the winter holiday season is often full of travel, family get-togethers and celebrations. Many people prefer to take these...
Should you date your boss?
Workplace relationships can get complicated. For adult workers, anywhere from one-third to one-half of the day is spent at work. Co-workers are people that they see even more than family members and friends. Naturally, there are plenty of cases where these...
What can employers ask you about your disability?
Anyone with a visible disability (permanent or temporary) has an added sense of dread when they go to a job interview. Will the potential employer write them off entirely based on their own (often uninformed) views about what people can and cannot do? It can be...
What does workplace sexual harassment look like?
There’s no excuse for sexual harassment in the workplace (or anywhere else). Should you find yourself a victim, it’s vital that you take the right steps to protect yourself and your legal rights. Protecting yourself against workplace sexual harassment starts with...
Is it illegal to discriminate against a worker with mental health concerns?
In 2018, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) National Network (ADATA) compiled data that showed that 44 million American adults, or 18.5% of the U.S. population, reported having a mental health condition. The researchers also found that 18% of U.S. working...
So-called ‘jokes’ can create a hostile work environment.
Someone makes an insulting and discriminatory comment to or about you at work. Maybe it’s about your race, gender or sexual orientation. You’re hurt, and you speak up for yourself and tell them how wrong it was. They tell you that they were just joking. This is a very...
Does the Civil Rights Act protect transgender people?
Science is absolutely clear about something: Sex and gender aren’t the same thing. Biological sex is generally defined on a mostly binary scale. When a human baby is born, a birth certificate is filled out that lists the child as either “male” or “female” based on...