Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

To best understand how affirmative action (AA), equal employment opportunity (EEO) and diversity work together, I will take a look at each of them and how they interact with each other and also explore the differences of the three initiatives . First Equal employment opportunity is the policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of color, race, creed, religion, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, arrest or conviction record, disability, ancestry, marital status, political affiliation, or membership in the National Guard to allow all individuals access to the benefits and privileges of the workplace.In short, this means that everyone has an equal opportunity in employment based on his/her qualifications. Both federal and state legislation have provided that no one can be discriminated against based on their protective class. Not entirely true! ‘Federal law’ does not protect sexual orientation. It applies to all areas of employment, from interviewing to termination, known as employment protection policies.

EEO laws were initially put in to help minorities, women and people with disabilities to have equal access to the benefits and privileges of employment based solely on their qualifications and that they could not be discriminated based upon the items listed above. Any suspected violations would be referred to the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity commission (EEOC) or brought up in a private lawsuit.

While EEO laws were developed to “make everyone equal”, years of discrimination and unfair treatment would not end just because of a law being passed.Affirmative action was developed to take extra steps to correct the effects of past unequal treatment. It meant going beyond just complying with EEO laws. Affirmative action would be taken if a job area is underutilized for women, minorities or both to ensure equal opportunity and also eliminate barriers to equal treatment. This means taking specific actions in employment to ensure equal representation of minorities, women and persons with disabilities at all levels of the organization where under-representation is occurring.Accomplishing this would mean aggressively seeking out qualified women, minorities and persons with disabilities and also implementing programs and such that would specifically help out the group members so that they can compete for promotions.

Affirmative action programs were meant to break down barriers, both visible and invisible, to help level the playing field and to make sure that everyone is given an equal break.Affirmative Action consists of the good faith efforts taken by a federal fund recipient to ensure equal opportunity and eliminate barriers to equal treatment, which have historically affected certain groups. Executive Order 11246 issued in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and treated fairly without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin.American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, and Hispanic individuals are considered minorities for purposes of the Executive Order.

Therefore, equal employment opportunity and affirmative action are integral elements of a contractor's agreement with the government. (Wesleyan University) Diversity is the valuing of differences between all employees to foster an environment which enhances participation in and access to all privileges and benefits of the workplace for all persons.Its concept involves acceptances and respect. Diversity allows the exploration of differences in race, gender and other ideologies in a safe, positive and nurturing environment. It improves understanding of the different groups so they move from beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebration the dimensions of diversity contained within each individual and in groups. While affirmative action “brings the targeted groups in” and EEO “makes them equal”, diversity is when “they become we”.

Diversity works to change the culture of the organizations while affirmative action focuses on taking positive steps to get the individuals into the organization. Instead of just changing the workforce representation, companies are dedicated to a diverse workforce realize the value in a mixture of varying cultures, backgrounds and experiences. As far as the legal aspect, there is no law currently governing diversity in the workplace but there are many federal civil rights laws that require equal opportunity and affirmative action, that in turn may affect diversity.These laws include: The Equal Pay Act of 1963 which prohibits discrimination based upon sex in payment of wages, Federal Executive Order 11246 that was defined before, Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin or religion, Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, Civil Rights Act of 1991, The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.