HR Laws
Lakewood University
HRSM100: Human Resource Management
HR Laws
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and more specifically Title VII of the act is considered the most
significant single piece of legislation that specifically affects the legal context of Human
Resource Management. It was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 to ensure
that equal opportunities would be granted to all citizens. The purpose of Title VII was to make it
illegal for an employer to fail or refuse to hire, discharge, or to discriminate in any other way
against any individual as it relates to any aspect of the employment process or relationship base
on the individual’s race, color, religious beliefs, or national origin. The law is applicable to all
components of the employment relationship. It includes compensation, employment terms,
working conditions, and various other privileges of employment. It also applies to state and local
governments, employment agencies, and labor organizations. The Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was created by Title VII to enforce the many provisions of the
Civil Rights Act.
I believe the Civil Rights Acts was the most important piece of legislation of my generation.
Growing up in the 70’ in the deep south in rural Alabama you could still feel the lingering affects
of the Jim Crow era. It lasted from 1877 until 1964 and was only effectively ended by the Civil
Rights Act. I was raised by my grandmother, and I can still remember her stories about growing
up and living during this era. It was hard for me to reconcile sometimes her talking about
segregation and how it affected their lives during those times. I remember reading about it in
school and seeing pictures, but I really couldn’t believe that it was really a reality for them. I