Equal employment opportunity means that all individuals must be treated equally in the hiring process, in training, and in promotion. Each person has the right to be evaluated as an individual on his or her qualifications without discrimination based on sterotypic conceptions of what members of minority groups or any other protected class are like. Classifications protected under federal and state equal employment opportunity laws are those of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, and disability.
Affirmative action goes further than equal employment opportunity.
It affirms that organizations and individuals in organizations will seek to overcome the effects of past discrimination against groups such as women and minorities, disabled persons, and veterans by making a positive and continuous effort in their recruitment, employment, retention, and promotion. Affirmative action also means that organizations must actively seek to remove any barriers that artificially limit the professional and personal development of individuals who are members of protected classes. Affirmative steps should be taken to attract those qualified women and minorities in the field. These efforts include recruiting, employing, and advancing qualified women, minorities and people with disabilities who have been or who are excluded from jobs. One way to increase the number of women and minorities in the workplace is through advertising job openings in journals and publications aimed at women and minority audiences.