The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has updated its poster that employers are required to display in their workplaces. Here is the EEOC’s web site on its poster. Here is an internet (HTML) copy of the poster. Here is the PDF of the printable poster for wall display. The name of the poster is “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal”.

The poster does a good job of educating employees and employers on essential aspects of the federal anti-discrimination laws. It covers what employees are protected, what employers are covered, the protected characteristics about which the laws prohibit discrimination, the decisions and conduct of the employers that are prohibited, and how an employee can file a charge with the EEOC. In light of newer technology, the poster has a QR code so an employee can user a phone to jump straight to the EEOC’s web site for filing a charge.

Perhaps the most important updating is that, after the decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020), discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited gender discrimination. Here is the list from the poster of the protected characteristics under the federal anti-discrimination laws:

  1. Race
  2. Color
  3. Religion
  4. National origin
  5. Sex (including pregnancy and related conditions, sexual orientation, or gender identity)
  6. Age (40 and older)
  7. Disability
  8. Genetic information (including employer requests for, or purchase, use, or disclosure of genetic tests, genetic services, or family medical history)

Here is the list of protected actions, for which retaliation is prohibited:

  1. Filing a charge,
  2. Reasonably opposing discrimination, or
  3. Participating in a discrimination lawsuit, investigation, or proceeding.

Also helpful is the broad list of employment practices that may be “challenged as discriminatory”:

  • Discharge, firing, or lay-off
  • Harassment (including unwelcome verbal or physical conduct)
  • Hiring or promotion
  • Assignment
  • Pay (unequal wages or compensation)
  • Failure to provide reasonable accommodation for a disability or a sincerely-held religious belief, observance or practice
  • Benefits
  • Job training
  • Classification
  • Referral
  • Obtaining or disclosing genetic information of employees
  • Requesting or disclosing medical information of employees
  • Conduct that might reasonably discourage someone from opposing discrimination, filing a charge, or participating in an investigation or proceeding.

Under limited circumstances, an employer can get by with posting a copy online. But under most circumstances a physical copy of the poster must be placed on a wall in a conspicuous spot where employees will see it.