United States — Hiring & Onboarding

Federal law requires every employer who hires an individual for employment in the United States to complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. This requirement, mandated by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, applies to all employees hired after November 6, 1986, including both U.S. citizens and noncitizens. The employee must complete and sign Section 1 of the form no later than the first day of employment. The employer must then examine original documents establishing the employee's identity and employment authorization, and complete Section 2 within three business days of the hire date. Employers must retain the completed I-9 for three years after the date of hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later.

Source: 8 U.S.C. § 1324a | USCIS I-9 Central

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer "to fail or refuse to hire … any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." This prohibition, found at 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1), applies directly to hiring decisions. The same section at subsection (a)(2) also bars employers from limiting, segregating, or classifying "applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee" based on these five protected characteristics.

Covered employers

Title VII's definition of "employer" at 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b) reaches any "person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year." The 15-employee threshold is calculated on a workday-count basis, not a simple headcount. The definition expressly excludes "the United States, a corporation wholly owned by the Government of the United States, an Indian tribe, or any department or agency of the District of Columbia subject by statute to procedures of the competitive service." State and local government employers, originally exempt, became covered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (Pub. L. 92-261), which removed the prior exemption for public employers. Employment agencies and labor organizations are separately defined and covered under § 2000e(c) and (d).

Protected bases

The statute names five protected characteristics: race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The definition of "religion" at § 2000e(j) includes "all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief," and obligates employers to reasonably accommodate an employee's or prospective employee's religious practice unless doing so would cause undue hardship. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-555) amended § 2000e(k) to specify that "the terms 'because of sex' or 'on the basis of sex' include, but are not limited to, because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions." The Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020), that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status constitutes discrimination "because of … sex" within the meaning of Title VII.

Specific unlawful practices in hiring

Section 2000e-2(a)(1) forbids an employer from failing or refusing to hire an individual because of a protected characteristic. Section 2000e-2(b) makes it unlawful for an employer "to print or publish or cause to be printed or published any notice or advertisement relating to employment … indicating any preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination, based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin," except where religion, sex, or national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). The BFOQ exception, found at § 2000e-2(e)(1), permits discrimination on the basis of religion, sex, or national origin (but never race or color) "in those certain instances where religion, sex, or national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business or enterprise." Courts and the EEOC have interpreted this defense narrowly; an employer relying on it must show that the protected characteristic relates to the essence of the business operation and that substantially all members of the excluded class would be unable to perform the job safely and efficiently.

Enforcement and remedies

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), created by Title VII under § 2000e-4, enforces the statute through investigation of charges, conciliation, and litigation. An individual alleging hiring discrimination must file a charge with the EEOC before filing suit in federal court. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 (Pub. L. 102-166) amended Title VII to authorize compensatory and punitive damages for intentional discrimination in addition to equitable relief such as hiring, back pay, and injunctive relief. Remedies are detailed at § 2000e-5(g) and (k).

Application to job applicants

The statute's reference to "applicants for employment" at § 2000e-2(a)(2) confirms that Title VII's protections extend to individuals seeking employment, not only current employees. The EEOC accepts charges from job applicants alleging refusal to hire, discriminatory job advertisements, or other hiring practices that violate Title VII.

Source: 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2) | 42 U.S.C. § 2000e) | EEOC: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964