Small Business Owner’s Legal Responsibilities under U.S. Federal Employment Anti-Discrimination Laws

As part of our employment and labor law discussion, we discussed the federal employment anti-discrimination laws as they apply to small businesses in our last post. Today, we are discussing an overview of a small business owner’s legal responsibilities under the federal employment anti-discrimination laws.

At Least One Employee

If you are a small business owner who currently employs at least one employee, then the federal law that requires employers to provide equal pay for equal work to female and male employees applies to your business; under this law, you as a small business owner are required to provide equal pay to both female and male employees who perform the same work unless you can justify a pay difference under the law. Additional information on the details of a small business owner’s legal responsibilities under this law and how the government defines and interprets “equal pay” and “equal work” may be found online at eeoc.gov.

15 or More Employees

If you are a small business owner who currently employs 15 or more employees, then the equal pay equal work law we just discussed applies to your business as well as the federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on color, disability, genetic information, national origin, race, etc.; what this means is that you cannot discriminate or harass applicants to your small business, current employees of your small business, or former employees of your small business because of color, disability, genetic information, national origin, race, etc.

In addition, a small business owner who employs fifteen or more employees is prohibited from using employment practices or policies that have a negative effect on applicants to the small business or employees of the small business of a certain color, disability, genetic information, national origin, race, etc. The only exception to this rule is if such practices or policies of your small business are related to the job and are necessary for the operation of your small business.

Similarly, a small business owner who employs fifteen or more employees is prohibited from using employment practices or policies that have a negative effect on applicants to your small business or employees of your small business who are age forty (40) or older. The only exception to this rule is if such practices and policies are based on a reasonable factor other than the person’s age.

A small business owner who employs fifteen or more employees may also have to give reasonable accommodations if an applicant to your small business or employee of your small business has a disability or holds religious beliefs that would require changes to the way the job is normally performed.

Furthermore, a small business owner who employs fifteen or more employees is prohibited from requesting genetic or medical information from an applicant to your small business and may legally request such information from employees in certain limited circumstances, in which case you would be required to keep it confidential, subject to very limited exceptions, and in an isolated medical file.

Finally, a small business owner who employs fifteen or more employees is required to display a “EEO is the Law” poster at its business location. This poster describes the federal employment discrimination laws to employees and may be obtained online at eeoc.gov.

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The legal requirements we have discussed today are only an overview of legal requirements for small business owners to be aware of and are not a complete and exhaustive list of legal requirements to be aware of. For additional information about legal requirements under federal anti-discrimination laws for small business owners, you may visit eeoc.gov or consult with a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.

And, as we discussed yesterday, certain local or state employment anti-discrimination laws may apply to your business in addition to federal laws. Information about these local or state employment anti-discrimination laws may be found on local or state government websites.

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*This blog post should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general information purposes only.