What Colleges & Universities Should Know About Title IX

While many people believe that Title IX solely pertains to students, the law makes no mention of students at all. The Act states that "no individual in the United States will be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial aid on the grounds of sex." Title IX protects and obligates professors, teachers, and other educational program personnel not to engage in conduct that involve sex-based discrimination or harassment. Title IX, as previously stated prohibits school staff from gender-based harassment or discrimination. The existing federal regulations implementing Title IX state unequivocally that sex discrimination in employment is prohibited, stating that "a recipient shall make all employment choices in any education program or activity managed by such recipient in a nondiscriminatory manner."

How Title IX is beneficial for employee and labor relations

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 makes it illegal to treat people differently because of their sex. The Title IX regulations must be followed by everyone who gets money from the federal government. The educational agency's hiring activities and decisions must not limit, separate, or categorize applicants in a way that could hurt the chances of any applicant or employee because of their gender. Even though an educational agency's Human Resources staff must be careful to only implement policies and procedures that meet Title IX requirements, it is the official Title IX coordinator's job to keep an eye on agency Human Resources activities to make sure that the federal law is being followed.

These include, but are not limited to, recruitment, advertising, application processes, hiring, upgrading or promoting, consideration for tenure, demotion, transfer, layoff, termination, the application of policy, right of return from layoff, and rehiring after layoff. The rules of collective bargaining, as well as the rates of salary or other forms of compensation, changes in compensation, work assignments, classifications, positions, seniority, and the availability of fringe benefits, including pension plans, are all subject to the requirements of Title IX. It is imperative that the policies of the organization on leaves of absence, maternity leave, paternity leave, and time off to care for dependents or children be the same for all employees, regardless of gender.

All employees have the right to work in a harassment-free, nondiscriminatory environment. Not only are employees protected by Title IX, but they must also be aware of the prohibited conduct. While employees cannot be sued directly under Title IX, their acts may expose their institutions to litigation and result in disciplinary action from their employers.

Any participant in an educational program that gets federal support, regardless of whether they are a student, faculty member, staff member, applicant, etc., is protected from discrimination based on sex or gender-related characteristics.

For institutions to avoid losing funding for Title IX violations, compliance must be strictly maintained. A person may file a lawsuit against an institution for failing to comply with Title IX. In addition to monetary losses, such lawsuits can have a negative impact on the entire community to which the institution or program that is noncompliant belongs.

The Consequences of Title IX violations

In addition to losing funding and causing harm to your community, Title IX violations can have severe repercussions. An organization is out of compliance if it investigates cases of gender-specific violence, such as sexual assault, stalking, harassment, and discrimination, insufficiently. In addition to the loss of federal funds, the following penalties can result from Title IX violations or noncompliance:

• Expensive court cases
• Payments of restitution for harm caused to the victim (s)
• Expensive program modifications required by court decisions
• Lawyer's fees
• Negative reputational effects

LaborSoft is the number one partner for colleges and universities when it comes to managing Title IX investigations and case management. Our innovative technology is one of many integral solutions that keep your school, in business. Our employee relations analytics, case management workflows, and our central repository of documentation streamlines case management to mitigate risk of operational bottlenecks, costly lawsuits, and legal ramifications stemming from HR issues and complaints. This sensitive data requires that maximum security protocols are in place and that your information is protected at all times. Contact us for a customized demonstration and learn how LaborSoft can help you prevent harassment and discrimination across your campus, improve communications, build a more collaborative, safe, and supportive community, campus, and workplace.