National origin bias: heed new EEOC rules, increased enforcement.

• Date: 01 August 2016

In June, the EEOC proposed new regulations concerning Title VII's national origin provisions.

THE LAW

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bars employers from discriminating against employees based on their national origin or ethnicity. Employers may not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, promotion, work assignments, segregation and classification, transfer, wages and benefits, leave, discipline, layoff and termination or any other terms and conditions of employment.

National origin discrimination complaints comprise about 11% of the charges the EEOC receives each year.

WHAT'S NEW

The new proposed EEOC regulations target job segregation, human trafficking and intersectional discrimination.

Job segregation occurs when employers segregate workers into specific physical or geographic areas, or into specific job titles based on their national origin or ethnicity.

Human trafficking for economic purposes often results in national origin discrimination because the trafficking victims are often targeted because they come from poor countries or oppressed minorities overseas.

Intersectional discrimination is described as situations in which employers...