Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination

Federal Equal Employment Laws

* Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;

* the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;

* the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older;

* Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibits employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments;

* Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government; and

* the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.

Figure 1. Source: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, www.EEOC.gov/facts

abuses, as well as the perceptions of mental illness held by mental health professionals and the public.

While stigma and discrimination affect the lives of all people with disabilities, people with psychiatric disabilities suffer from some of the harshest manifestations. Fortunately, attitudes have changed significantly during the last decade, particularly towards those with less severe forms of mental illness such as the depressive disorders.

Common knowledge: Individuals' access to basic information

The 1990s have seen a substantial increase in awareness, attention, and targeted action regarding mental illness and, specifically, depression. Many employers have increased their awareness of the significant presence in the workplace of valued employees who experience mental disorders, of the treatability of many of these disorders when properly identified, and of the impact these disorders have on the workplace and the employee. This has, in turn, led to the introduction of innovative approaches to managing mental health problems in the workplace There has been particular emphasis on improving the management of depression, the most common mental disorder in the workplace.³

 

The national increase in attention and access to information is due in large part to specific organizations and campaigns. Although their goals and activities vary, they all assert the importance for people with psychiatric disabilities of employment or some meaningful activity. The following is a list of the most prominent organizations promoting awareness of depression and workplace integration. A description of these organizations and their activities is in the text of this document.

* The Campaign on Clinical Depression

* National Mental Health Association

* DEPRESSION/Awareness, Recognition and

* Treatment Program (D/ART)

* The National Institute of Mental Health

* National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association

* National Alliance for the Mentally Ill

* National Mental Illness Screening Project

A recent survey conducted by the National Mental Health Association (NMHA), one of the U.S.'s leading mental health advocacy organizations,