Dear Reader,

I received the following comments regarding a recent column about a job candidate for a university position whose wife and infant daughter were invited to accompany the candidate on his initial interview.  The verbatim comments are from a University of  Northern Iowa professor:

“ You (sic) reply on the job interview with the wife and child may be all wrong.  I have been on search committees at UNI for 30 years.  Largely due to Affirmative Action laws, we could not ask if they were married or single, had children, were gay or straight, political affiliation, etc.  The only thing that we could talk about was job qualifications.  The interview school may very well be breaking the law.  Also, it is part of the mutual woo-ing (sic) involved in such interviews.  You want to sell the applicant on the school and community.  Check the law about this guys (sic) interview.”

I appreciate the professor bringing up Affirmative Action laws, which gives me the opportunity to discuss them briefly.

Affirmative action regulations in business differs slightly from regulations in education and public accommodations.  While more detailed information is available from Affirmative Action lawyers, here are the basics of affirmative action in the workplace:

1. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that businesses that employ 15 or more people must adhere to Affirmative Action law, meaning the hiring, compensatory, employee promotion and firing practices of a business must be void of discrimination based on gender, race, color, religion, national origin, or physical capability.
2. Temporary, full-time and part-time employees are included in the total employee count.  So, if a business employs 10 permanent full time employees and 5 temporary employees, the business must adhere to Affirmative Action regs.
3. Quotas do not rule Affirmative Action regulations.  It was once a widespread belief that employers must reach a certain quota of women or minority employees, but this is not the case.

As amended in 1972, the Civil Rights act also applies to public and private educational institutions, applying both to employment and admission of students.

Federal law prohibits privately owned facilities that offer food, lodging, gas or entertainment to the public from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin.  The Americans with Disabilities Act also prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in a wide range of public accommodation, including the above named facilities, and sales or rental services, health care and other professional services, or recreation.  Public facilities such as courthouses, jails, hospitals, and parks owned by and operated by state and local government entities cannot discriminate in their services.

This is a brief overview of the Affirmative Action laws.  Consult an attorney for details.