Discrimination

Employment discrimination based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, religious creed, sex, age, marital status, mental and physical disability, medical condition, and sexual orientation is prohibited by law. Each state department has an obligation to actively prevent discrimination, and to take swift and effective action to eliminate it when it is discovered. This includes having non-discrimination policies and procedures in place, and informing employees about them so that they may file a discrimination complaint if appropriate.

State employees may file discrimination complaints with any one or all of the following agencies:

• State Personnel Board, Appeals Division
• California Department of Fair Employment and Housing
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

Legal Requirements

• State Law
  • State Civil Service Act - Government Code §§19700-19706
  • Fair Employment and Housing Act (G.C. §§12900-12996)

• SPB Rules

  You may access current SPB Rules via the Office of Administrative Law website under the California Code of Regulations, "Title 2. Administration", "Division 1. Administrative Personnel", "Chapter 1. State Personnel Board". Browse the link for the following rules:

  • Sec. 54. Discrimination Complaint Process
  • Sec. 54.2. Discrimination Complaint Standards for Appointing Powers
  • Sec. 547. Discrimination Prohibition and Sec. 547.1 Procedure for Resolving Discrimination Complaints

Department EEO Officers

Each state department has an equal employment opportunity officer that can assist its department's employees with civil rights issues, including discrimination complaints and reasonable accommodation. To locate the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of an EEO Officer, click on the contact list below.

• EEO Officer Contact List 

EEO Policy Memoranda

• Alcohol and Drug Abuse
  • Alcohol Abuse in State Service (11/14/90)
• Disability
  • Accessibility for People with Disabilities at Social Functions ( 12/ 2/ 88)
  • AIDS (9/23/88)
  • Concerns of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired (7/18/91)
  • Impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on State Employment (5/6/92)
• Equal Employment Opportunity
  • Enactment of Assembly Bill 124 (12/20/05 Memo) 
  • Role of a Department Equal Employment Opportunity Officer (12/22/05 Memo) 
• Mediation
  • Memo (4/12/02) 
  • Memo (1/10/02) 
  • Memo (12/21/01) 
• Medical Clearance
  • Medical Clearance Form, STD 910 (9/10/02)
  • Pre-Employment Medical Evaluation - Subject to Proper Placement (7/9/93)
• Pregnancy
  • Reasonable Accommodation for Pregnancy Related Disabilities (3/19/90 Memo)
• Recruitment
  • Recruitment and Outreach (8/26/03)
• Religion
  • Religious Discrimination and Accommodation (12/10/85 Memo)
• Sexual Harassment
  • Sexual Harassment Policy Memo (10/20/88)

EEO Training

• SPB's EEO Investigator Course
• SPB's EEO Counselor Course
• SPB's Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Course
• SPB's Reasonable Accommodation and the Law Training Course

EEO Reports

• SPB Annual Report to the Legislature - 2006 Formal Discrimination Complaint Activity in the State Civil Service 
• SPB Annual Report to the Legislature - 2004 Formal Discrimination Complaint Activity in the State Civil Service  
• SPB Annual Report to the Legislature - 2003 Formal Discrimination Complaint Activity in the State Civil Service  
• Status of State's Discrimination Complaint Process - February 2002 

Discrimination Complaint Reporting System

By law, the SPB is required to annually report to the State Legislature on discrimination complaints from state employees. In order to comply with this requirement, state departments are asked to submit information to the SPB on at least a quarterly basis. To facilitate this, the SPB has developed an Internet-based reporting system. The system is for SPB and state department use only. Access may be gained by clicking the link below.

• Discrimination Complaint Reporting System (DCS). (For SPB and Department Use Only!)

Laws Affecting Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action

• Governor Schwarzenegger's Executive Order S-6-04 On Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Equal Employment Opportunity - Government Code §18500(c)(5) 
• Hiring of Persons with Disabilities - Government Code §§19230-19237 
• The State Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Program - Government Code §§19790-19799 
• Fair Employment and Housing Act - Government Code §§12900-12996 
• California Constitution, Article 1(See Section 31 added by Proposition 209 in 1996)
• U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Title VII
• PERMISSIBLE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION - A PowerPoint Presentation