Provisions under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)

The employment discrimination law in California provides its citizens with equal rights and protection against attempts that seek to degrade people’s worth within the human society.  The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is the agency that governs anti-employment discrimination laws in the State. True to its promise, in the course of years, DFEH has created different ways to be able to extend its hand to employees whom were maltreated by owners.

DFEH adheres to the provisions under the Fair Employmentand Housing Act or FEHA. Under this Act, it is illegal to discriminate against workers with respect to California labor laws. Under FEHA, the following are the protected classes:

·         Age (40 and over)

·         Ancestry

·         Color

·         Religious Creed

·         Denial of Family and Medical Care Leave

·         Disability (mental and physical) including HIV and AIDS

·         Marital Status

·         Medical Condition (cancer and genetic characteristics)

·         National Origin

·         Race

·         Religion

·         Sex

·         Sexual Orientation

Here are some of the provisions under the California labor laws as implemented by the DFEH

1.    Create a progressive environment for workers and strictly prohibiting harassments in the workplace.

2.    Leave benefits that enable employees to take care of a seriously sick relative or to nurse a newly born infant.

3.    Retaliation is strictly unlawful and employers who resort to this method should be duly reported to government agencies.

4.    Hiring an employee should not be based on discrimination and the admission of the employee for work should be based on their qualifications.

Employers are prompted by the law to provide the needs of workers. This is seen through the implementation of the reasonable accommodation policies implemented for the disabled employees. One of the particular and readily visible representations of these is through the comfort rooms for people with disabilities.