DFEH OVERVIEW

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DFEH OVERVIEW

• State of California
• Department of Fair Employment and Housing
• EQUAL RIGHTS 101

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MISSION STATEMENT

• The Mission of the Department of Fair Employment
  and Housing is to protect Californians from
  employment, housing, public accommodation
  discrimination, and hate violence.

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ROLE OF THE DEPARTMENT

• To accept, investigate, and resolve complaints
  alleging discrimination in employment, housing,
  public accommodations and hate violence

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ENFORCEMENT DIVISIONEMPLOYMENT DISTRICT OFFICES

• Bakersfield
• Fresno
• Los Angeles (2 districts)
• Oakland
• Sacramento
• San Diego
• San Francisco (located in Oakland)
• San Jose
• Santa Ana

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LAWS ENFORCED BY DFEH

• DFEH ENFORCES
• California Fair Employment Housing Act
• Unruh Civil Rights Act
• Ralph Civil Rights Act

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JURISDICTION

• Employers covered by the law
• Private Public employers within California
• All State departments and local governments
• Employment agencies
• Labor organizations
• Training programs
• Employer includes
• Any person regularly employing five or more
• persons
• Only one person in harassment cases

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THE FAIR EMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING ACT

• For employment, prohibits discrimination based
  on
• Race
• Color
• Ancestry
• Religion
• Age (40 and over)
• Sex (including pregnancy )
• Sexual Orientation
• Marital Status
• National Origin (including language restrictions)

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THE FAIR EMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING ACT

• Also includes
• Medical Condition (cancer or genetic
  characteristics)
• Disability (mental or physical includes HIV and
  AIDS)
• Denial of Family Care Leave
• Retaliation for filing a complaint, participating
  in a DFEH investigation or for opposing unlawful
  discrimination
• Retaliation for reporting patient abuse by health
  facilities
• These categories are often referred to as
• protected basis

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HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE BEING DISCRIMINATED
AGAINST?

• Hiring Questions
• Grooming Standards
• Sexual Harassment
• Reasonable accommodation due to disability or
  religious beliefs
• Leave of absence under the Pregnancy Disability
  Leave (PDL) or California Family Rights Act Leave
  (CFRA)

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HIRING QUESTIONS

• It is against the law for an employer to
  advertise or ask questions relating to a
  protected basis.

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EXAMPLES OF ACCEPTABLE AND UNACCEPTABLE QUESTIONS
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HIRING QUESTIONS-SEX, MARITAL STATUS, FAMILY

• ACCEPTABLE
• Name and address of parent or guardian if
  applicant is minor
• Statement of company policy regarding work
  assignment of
• employees who are related
• UNACCEPTABLE
• Questions to indicate applicants sex, marital
  status,
• number/ages of children or dependents
• Questions regarding pregnancy, child birth, or
  birth control
• Name and address of relative, spouse, or children
  of an adult
• applicant

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HIRING QUESTIONS-RELIGION

• ACCEPTABLE
• Statement by employer of regular
• days, hours, or shifts to be worked
• UNACCEPTABLE
• Questions regarding applicants religion or
• religious days observed

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HIRING QUESTIONS-DISABILITY (APPLICANTS)

• ACCEPTABLE
• Employer may inquire if applicant can perform
• Essential functions of the job
• Statement that employment offer may be made
• contingent upon passing a job-related
  mental/physical examination
• UNACCEPTABLE
• Questions regarding the applicants general
  health,
• medical condition, or mental/physical disability

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YOURE HIRED!

• ONCE YOU START YOUR NEW JOB, CAN YOU DRESS ANY
  WAY YOU WANT ?

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GROOMING STANDARDS

• Employers can impose physical appearance,
  grooming or dress standards.
• Standards should be applied uniformly
• cannot burden the individual in his or her
  employment
• must be flexible enough to take into account
  religious practices and disability
  accommodations.

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GROOMING STANDARDS

• Employers may not refuse to allow an employee to
  wear pants on account of the sex of the employee.
  
• An employer may require an employee to wear a
  uniform or costume in particular occupations.

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GROOMING STANDARDS

• Employers may allow women to wear earrings but
  not allow men
• Employers may establish hair
• length standards

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GROOMING STANDARDS

• Special Considerations are given to
• Complaints regarding facial hair, hair length, or
  clothing related to a religious belief or
  racial/cultural identity
• Complaints where a skin condition disability
  precludes shaving

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• WORK ENVIRONMENT

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RIGHT TO A DISCRIMINATION/HARASSMENT-FREE WORK
ENVIORNMENT

• Harassment
• behavior that threatens, intimidates,
  humiliates, embarrasses, and
• interferes with your work
• Illegal Harassment
• Harassment is linked to a protected basis like
  racial harassment, religious harassment, and
  sexual harassment

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RIGHT TO A DISCRIMINATION/HARASSMENT FREE-WORK
ENVIRONMENT

• Sexual harassment is the most prevalent type of
  harassment in the workplace
• Recent studies estimate that
• over 200,000 teenagers are sexually assaulted at
  work
• hundreds of thousands more are subjected to some
  form of sexual harassment

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SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• What is sexual harassment?
• Unwelcome and unwanted verbal, physical, or
  visual behavior of a sexual nature

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VERBAL SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• Sexual advances
• Sexual propositions
• Derogatory sexual comments or slurs
• Sexual jokes
• Graphic verbal commentaries about an individuals
  body
• Suggestive/obscene language.

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PHYSICAL SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• Touching
• Assaulting
• Rape
• Impeding and/or blocking movement

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VISUAL SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• Leering
• Sexual gestures
• Displaying sexually suggestive object(s),
  picture(s), or cartoons
• Displaying pornographic material on computer or
  otherwise

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QUID PRO QUO

• Conditional sexual harassment
• conduct that makes an employment benefit
  contingent upon succumbing to sexual advances
• Promising employment benefits in exchange for
  sexual favors

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ACCOMMODATION AND LEAVE RIGHTS
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ACCOMMODATION

• What happens if you become disabled?
• What if you are a person with a disability?

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ACCOMMODATION

• You have the right to request a reasonable
  accommodation from your employer
• If you have a disability and it is medically
  necessary
• If you are pregnant

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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

• Reasonable accommodation
• ensures equal opportunity in the job application
  process
• enables an individual to perform the essential
  job functions
• ensures equal enjoyment of the terms, conditions,
  and privileges of employment

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EXAMPLES OF REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

• Making existing facilities accessible
• and usable
• Job restructuring
• Reassignment to a vacant position
• Part-time or modified work schedules
• Buying or modifying equipment
• Leave of absence

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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

• Employer may be excused from having to provide
  a reasonable accommodation if they can show
• undue hardship

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INTERACTIVE PROCESS

• In response to a request for reasonable
  accommodation, employer is required to engage in
  a timely, good faith interactive process to
  determine effective reasonable accommodations if
  any
• Separate violation of the FEHA

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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION RELIGION

• What happens if you need time off for a religious
  observance?

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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

• You can request accommodation for your religion
  if your religious beliefs or observance conflict
  with your job
• Stuff like time off or wearing clothing as part
  of a religious observance

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LEAVE RIGHTS
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PREGNANCY DISABILITY LEAVE

• PDL allows up to 4 months leave if you are
  pregnant and unable to work due to your
  pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical
  condition
• Employer must return you to your same job
• Also covers time off needed for prenatal care.

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CALIFORNIA FAMILY RIGHTS ACT (CFRA)

• CFRA allows up to 12 weeks of leave per year
  for eligible employees for
• the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of
  your child
• your own serious health condition or that of
  your child, parent, or spouse
• Employer must return you to your same or a
  similar job

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OTHERS KINDS OF DISCRIMINATION
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TERMINATION

• Termination accounts for about one-third of
  complaints filed with DFEH.
• Generally, most employment in CA is at will.
  This means that the employee or employer can
  terminate the employment at anytime, with or
  without cause.
• HOWEVER, IT IS ILLEGAL TO
• TERMINATE AN EMPLOYEE DUE TO A
• PROTECTED BASIS.

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FILING A COMPLAINT

• What do you do if you believe you have been a
  victim of discrimination and/or harassment?

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COMPLAINT PROCESS

• Communication Center
• Interview
• Investigation
• Determination
• Public Hearing/Civil Litigation

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COMPLAINT PROCESS

• STAGE ONE
• COMMUNICATION CENTER
• You may schedule an appointment through the
  Communication Center or online by visiting our
  Web site
• A Pre-Complaint Questionnaire is mailed with a
  letter with the scheduled date and time of the
  appointment

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COMPLAINT PROCESS

• STAGE TWO
• INTERVIEW
• You will be interviewed to determine if there is
  a basis and sufficient information to accept the
  complaint for investigation.

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COMPLAINT PROCESS

• STAGE THREE
• INVESTIGATION
• Once the complaint is accepted for investigation,
  the Department has 365 days from the filing date
  to complete an investigation into the complaint
• At any point during this process, a complaint may
  be resolved by way of a No Fault Settlement.

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COMPLAINT PROCESS

• STAGE FOUR
• DETERMINATION
• At the completion of the investigation, the
  Department will determine if there is sufficient
  evidence to forward the complaint to the Legal
  Division for further processing.
• If there is insufficient evidence, the complaint
  will be closed.

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COMPLAINT PROCESS

• STAGE FIVE
• PUBLIC HEARING/CIVIL LITIGATION
• Once the Department determines that there has
  been a violation of the law, a public hearing or
  trial is scheduled
• If a decision is made that a violation of the
  law occurred, a remedy is awarded.

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REMEDIES

• Reinstatement to job
• Back pay
• Out-of-pocket losses
• Policy development
• Training
• Emotional distress damages
• Administrative fines

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HELPFUL LINKS

• There are many other employment issues that are
  not covered under the laws enforced by DFEH such
  as those relating to
• Work Permits
• Work Injury
• Unpaid Wages
• Unemployment Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• Paid Family Leave

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QUESTIONS
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DFEH CONTACT INFORMATION

• Communication Center
• 1-800-884-1684
• Web site www.dfeh.ca.gov

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