Prohibit retaliation.
All of the federal laws (and most state laws) prohibit employers from retaliating against applicants or employees who asserts their rights.

Cover the entire employment relationship.
The federal laws prohibit discrimination in all terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, including hiring, firing, compensation, benefits, job assignments, shift assignments, promotions, and discipline.

Prohibit harassment.
In addition to preventing discrimination on the basis of listed characteristics, all of the laws prohibit harassment based on those characteristics.

Civil Rights
The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating in the hiring, firing, and other job processes based on race, color, religion, national origin, and sex. The act applies only to employers with 15 or more employees, including state governments and their political subdivisions and agencies, federal government,employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor-management committees and other training programs.

The Immigration and Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) prohibits employers with 4 or more employees from discriminating against applicants or employees on the basis of their citizenship or national origin. The act makes it illegal for employers to knowingly hire or employ people who are not legally authorized to work in the United States.

The Equal Pay Act requires employers to give men and women equal pay for equal work.

People with Disabilities
The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activies. The act prohibits discrimination against a person with a qualified disability. The act also provides that if an individual with a disability can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, that person cannot be discriminated against based on the basis of their disability.

Older Workers
The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) protects people 40 and over and makes it unlawful for private employers with 20 or more employeees to use age as a basis for discrimination in benefits and retirement. The act applies to the federal government and unions. An early retirement plan is legal only if it gives the employee a choice between two options: keeping things as they are or choosing to retire under a plan that makes the employee better off. In addition, if either choice makes the employee worse off, the offer violates the act.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prevents employers from giving preferential treatment to younger workers to the detriment of older workers in all phases of the employer/employee relationship except benefits and early retirement which are covered by theOWBPA. The act only applies to workers 40 years of age and older, and to workplaces with 20 or more employees. Not only does the ADEA prohibit an employer from discriminating against an older worker in favor of workers who are younger than 40, it also prohibits discrimination among older workers.

Family and Medical Leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)requires that employers (with at least 50 full-time employees) must allow employees to take up to a 12-week leave of absence for qualified medical purposes. The act stipulates that to qualify for the leave, the employee must have worked for the employer for 12 months and for 1,250 hours in the 12 months.

Job Safety
The Federal Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) requires that private sector employers furnish work that is safe and free from recognized hazards that may cause death or serious physical harm. You have a right not to be retaliated against for using your OSHA rights.

Under OSHA you have a right:

• to a job that is safe and free from dangers.
• to talk to your supervisor about safety hazards and suggest ways to make your job safer.
• to refuse work that is unsafe. to report safety hazards to the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA and have your workplace inspected.