Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act cover employers with 15 or more employees, while the Age Discrimination in Employment Act covers employers with 20 or more employees.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act It defines an “employer” as a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce with 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. Those 20 weeks do not need to be consecutive.
Simply put, Title VII does not apply to every employer. In fact, as a general rule, it typically only covers private and public sector employers with 15 or more employees. These employees may include: Part-time employees.
FOR ACTS THAT OCCURRED ON OR AFTER 2/15/2024, you must file your complaint within three years of the most recent act of alleged discrimination. If you were terminated, you must file within three years of the date you were first informed you would be terminated.
Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including part-time and temporary workers. Even an employer with less than 15 employees at the time a lawsuit is filed may meet the criteria if the employer had 15 or more employees for twenty weeks in the preceding calendar year.
The three basic exceptions to Title VII are bona fide occupational qualifications, seniority systems, and work-related requirements. Educational preferences are not one of the exceptions.
In fact, the title defines an employee as simply "an individual employed by an employer." Therefore, assuming they work — or are applying to work — for a covered employer as outlined above, Title VII provides discrimination protection for all employees, former employees, and those applying to be employees.
"Sexual orientation" is not a protected characteristic by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act does not cover federal employees or independent contractors. However, federal employees are protected against discrimination by other federal anti-discrimination laws.