Equal Opportunity and the Law in the United States - Research Paper Example

There are numerous research papers, books, journal articles and many other web sources which provide a detailed account of history of law making related to equal opportunity in United States and its prevailing practices along with application. In order to examine the general treatment of equal employment opportunity, it is important to evaluate the prevailing law in United States. According to details provided by department of labor (2012), no discrimination in the pursuit of providing and employment and financial assistance, must be exercised on the basis of age, disability, gender, immigrants and veterans.

However, as far as veterans are concerned, it is important for the employers to ensure the validity of the working permits and residential visas. Where the details given on this website are reflective of United States’ policy about equal opportunity, its reliability an authenticity is evident by the source itself. The website is owned and managed by US department of labor (DOL) and only reflects the policy of US federal government towards employment laws. The relevant clauses referred on this website are related to Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA), The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Executive Order 11246.

Instead of stating complete acts and bills, the website only refers to the related areas entailing anti-discriminatory policy related to implement and education. Another source which provides details of equal opportunity laws is the website of Equal Opportunity Commission appointed by United States government. The commission is responsible to ensure that there are necessary legal procedures in place in order to enforce equal opportunity as a legal requirement. The commission has presented guidelines which cover financial assistance, employment and education (EEOC, 2009).

Through these guidelines, the US government has provided a clear structure to private employers, state and local governments, educational institutions, employment agencies and labor unions which provide details of relevant acts and bills, refraining from any kind of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, race, religion, disability, marital status and gender (EEOC, 2009). Another important addition in EEOC guidelines is Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 prohibits employers from requiring any kind of genetic information from the applicants, employees and their relatives.

This clause is to ensure that personal independence and privacy of any individual is not exploited. The content mentioned in this web source is reliable as it is extracted from the website of Equal Opportunity Commission which is a body representing government. Also, the content is elaborated with the help of prevailing legislation, therefore its authenticity cannot b doubted. In order to understand how equal opportunity became part of US law and an integral component of human resource management, the book written by Frank Dobbin (2011), named as ‘Inventing Equal Opportunity’ is one of the most preferred books.

The book provides details as to how the equal opportunity regime was developed, adopted and accepted. According to Dobbin (2011), Equal opportunity law is an offshoot of Civil Rights 1964. Dobbin further asserts that it is