Iowa Civil Rights Commission

1. Iowa Civil Rights Commission A state administrative agency which enforces the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1965, also known as Chapter 216 the Iowa Code

2. Our Vision A state free of discrimination OurMission To enforce civil rights through Compliance, Mediation, Advocacy and Education.

3. Areas • Employment • Housing • Credit • Public Accommodations • Education

4. Race Color Creed National Origin Religion Sex/Pregnancy Sexual Orientation Gender Identity Physical Disability Mental Disability (not in Credit) Age (in Employment and Credit only) Familial Status (in Housing and Credit only) Marital Status (in Credit only) Retaliation Protected Personal Characteristics

5. What is Discrimination? • Different treatment, adverse treatment, because of protected personal characteristic or basis (i.e. age or race) • Harassing conduct because of protected personal characteristic • Adverse impact: facially neutral policy that impacts a protected class group

6. Employment Situations... • Pre-employment: eliminating barriers for protected class persons in job descriptions, recruitment, advertising, application process, interviewing, selection decision • Terms and conditions of employment: equal treatment in wages, working conditions, discipline, benefits, and prevention of harassment

7. Employment Situations... • Terminations: equal treatment in termination decisions, layoff and recall, providing of references • Prohibition against retaliation for filing a complaint, participating in an investigation, or opposing a discriminatory practice

8. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION • Enforces federal statutes prohibiting employment discrimination,including: • Title VII, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; • Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended (ADEA), which prohibits employment discrimination against individuals 40 years of age and older; • Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in compensation for substantially similar work under similar conditions;

9. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION • Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of disability in both the public and private sector, excluding the federal government; • Civil Rights Act of 1991, which includes provisions for monetary damages in cases of intentional discrimination and clarifies provisions regarding disparate impact actions; and, • Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, which prohibits employment discrimination against federal employees with disabilities.

10. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) • Area: employment • Basis: age 40 or older (no upper limit) • Covers employers with 20+ employees • Bars mandatory retirement, refusal to hire because of age, as well as different treatment because of age

11. Facts related to Older Workers • Life expectancy and financial need will keep people in the workforce longer • Over 1/2 of all employed Americans want to work past 65 • Earnings now account for 24% of the money income of the elderly • Older workers prefer part-time employment • The job-seeking skills of older workers are often outdated • Older workers remain unemployed longer than others

12. Older Worker Qualities: • Superior attendance record • Low accident record (although they stay out longer after an injury) • Higher job satisfaction • Eagerness to learn new skills • Ability to learn into old age

13. Reasons Older Workers Continue to Work: • To make needed additions to retirement income • To add meaning and purpose to life • To keep busy • To make social contacts • To preserve identity tied to work • To use their special skills and education

14. Advantages to Employers of Older Workers: • Reliable work habits • Loyalty to the job and the firm • Experience • Stability of older workers with less turnover • Less concern about advancement • Equal or better productivity rates • Standard fringe benefits not necessarily needed • Willingness to work on a part-time, and/or temporary, and/or seasonal basis

15. Employment Pool The Urban Institute projects the number of people in the labor force over age 45 in 2005 will be nearly 33 percent higher than in 1995.

16. Road Blocks to Age Appreciation • Stereotypes • Prejudice • Discrimination

17. Stereotype A misconception about an individual or group, based on the belief that all people in a certain group will act the same way. Example: “All…………are lazy.”

18. Prejudice • An irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion • Making up your mind about what a person or group is like before you get to know them.

19. What is discrimination? The act of giving unequal treatment to an individual or group of people because they are members of a certain culture or race, or because of their age or other differences. Persons are denied equal opportunities because of their differences.

20. What you can do to fight age discrimination • Know yourself and your own culture. • Examine your own attitudes towards people who are different from you. • Try to identify the origin of your negative reaction toward differences.

21. What you can do to fight age discrimination • Decide if your biases are getting in the way. • Be willing to talk, listen and learn. • Speak out against insensitive remarks and discriminatory behavior.

22. What you can do to fight age discrimination • Take action when appropriate and address discriminatory behavior. • Continue to respect, accept and appreciate differences. • Promote diversity appreciation in your community.

23. What you can do to fight age discrimination • Be aware of the subtleties of discrimination. • Be aware of how discrimination hurts and who it hurts. • Act as a role model.

24. Iowa Civil Rights Commission Grimes State Office Building 400 E. 14th Street Des Moines, Iowa 50319 515-281-4121 800-457-4416 (toll free) fax: 515-242-5840 www.state.ia.us/government/crc