Everyday good hard working employees are making a decision to either leave the company they are working for, filing a law suit, or many times both because they are facing discrimination of some kind. Regardless of leadership's personal beliefs they have a legal mandate and a duty to protect their staff from any disparate treatment due to someone's national origin, age, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, being pregnant, or religion. In the event we are unable to protect them from discrimination we may end up costing our business a large sum of money.
Most of us think of discrimination as being some harsh blatant action taken by a supervisor against someone in one of the protected classes listed above. The fact is that most of time it is subtle and goes unnoticed by everyone except the victim. As an example someone may tell a "Blonde" joke during a staff meeting that the supervisor allows without any challenge. Or perhaps the supervisor allows a birthday cake to be presented that has a reference to someone's age and that maybe they should retire. All these seem harmless and most will laugh, but in the end they can begin to eventually cause harm.
In order to protect and discourage disparate treatment of anyone in your workplace that falls into one of the protected classes it is import to implement a training program. Your training program should begin with providing ample information to new employees on their first day of employment. The training should include your company's position on this type of behavior and the consequences of violating the policy. In addition, annual training should be conducted and documented to further stress the importance of your policy.
Preparing and issuing an employee handbook that covers in detail your discrimination policy on anyone within any protected class is a very good starting point to insure your staff is informed. In fact, all of your employment policies should become a part of your employee handbook and not just one on discrimination. Make sure that every new and existing employee has a copy and signs for your handbook.
When you have someone in a protected class that feels that they are being treated wrongly, it is at this time that they are most likely to file a claim. As an example of this, if you had an older person passed over for a promotion, while at the same time you were hiring only younger people, there is a good chance you will have a problem. If you do need to make these types of choices it is wise to make sure you document all your reasons why.
In most cases employers are trying to do the right thing because in the end they are most interested in operating a successful business. The problem can still be a big one since a business owner or supervisor is responsible for things they know, or should have known. This means that as a business owner or supervisor you must continually be aware of what is happening in the workplace. Don't plant yourself in your office and assume everything is fine. If and when you see something that doesn't seem right investigate and determine if action is necessary. Your business is counting on you to do so!
Most of us think of discrimination as being some harsh blatant action taken by a supervisor against someone in one of the protected classes listed above. The fact is that most of time it is subtle and goes unnoticed by everyone except the victim. As an example someone may tell a "Blonde" joke during a staff meeting that the supervisor allows without any challenge. Or perhaps the supervisor allows a birthday cake to be presented that has a reference to someone's age and that maybe they should retire. All these seem harmless and most will laugh, but in the end they can begin to eventually cause harm.
In order to protect and discourage disparate treatment of anyone in your workplace that falls into one of the protected classes it is import to implement a training program. Your training program should begin with providing ample information to new employees on their first day of employment. The training should include your company's position on this type of behavior and the consequences of violating the policy. In addition, annual training should be conducted and documented to further stress the importance of your policy.
Preparing and issuing an employee handbook that covers in detail your discrimination policy on anyone within any protected class is a very good starting point to insure your staff is informed. In fact, all of your employment policies should become a part of your employee handbook and not just one on discrimination. Make sure that every new and existing employee has a copy and signs for your handbook.
When you have someone in a protected class that feels that they are being treated wrongly, it is at this time that they are most likely to file a claim. As an example of this, if you had an older person passed over for a promotion, while at the same time you were hiring only younger people, there is a good chance you will have a problem. If you do need to make these types of choices it is wise to make sure you document all your reasons why.
In most cases employers are trying to do the right thing because in the end they are most interested in operating a successful business. The problem can still be a big one since a business owner or supervisor is responsible for things they know, or should have known. This means that as a business owner or supervisor you must continually be aware of what is happening in the workplace. Don't plant yourself in your office and assume everything is fine. If and when you see something that doesn't seem right investigate and determine if action is necessary. Your business is counting on you to do so!
About the Author:
Greg offers several more articles on discrimination law on his website. So, no matter what type of discrimination you need information on you will find it there.
via oneofthebest
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