According to one recent report, three out of five U.S. employees have experienced or witnessed discrimination at work. These instances included discrimination based on age, race, gender, and LGBTQ identity.

As a business leader, it’s important to know what discrimination looks like, and how you can avoid it at your office. Treating every employee with respect and professionalism is key to maintaining a safe and effective workplace environment.

Today, we’re sharing a guide on how to manage and mitigate discrimination at work. With these practices in place, you can boost team morale, improve your company’s reputation, and establish a framework for long-term success.

What Is Workplace Discrimination?

Before we cover how to avoid it, let’s quickly define what workplace discrimination entails. In short, this is the practice of treating a person or group unfavorably due to their personal circumstances or characteristics.

Sometimes, discrimination is intentional and direct. For instance, a hiring manager may refuse to interview someone whose religion they don’t support. Other times, it’s more vague and indirect.

For example, a hiring manager may not explicitly exclude females from applying for a certain position. Yet, they can add details in the job description that are obviously geared toward males. Both forms of discrimination are morally and legally wrong.

Legal Anti-Discrimination Requirements for Business Owners

The federal government has enacted many anti-discrimination rules and policies. Most of these fall under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and are designed to protect traditionally vulnerable groups from unfair workplace practices.

If you’re at the helm of a small business, then it’s critical to know your responsibilities. These vary based on the number of employees on your payroll. For instance, if have at least one employee, then you’re only required to make sure that male and female employees are paid the same rate for doing the same job.

From there, the requirements scale upward. Business owners with at least 15 employees are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of gender, as well as other factors, including:

  • Race
  • Color
  • Religion
  • Sex
  • Disability
  • Genetics
  • Sexual orientation
  • National origin
  • Gender identity

Moreover, age-based discrimination is prohibited for any employer with 20 or more employees. As you might imagine, managing discrimination at work can get a little challenging. Let’s review a few steps to follow to help you organize your efforts.

Educate Yourself 

How much do you know about the EEOC? Are there any niche-specific discrimination rules that apply to your industry? What about the most recent policy-related updates and news stories?

You can’t effectively apply anti-discrimination measures if you don’t completely understand the issue in the first place. Take the time to learn as much as possible about this subject. Research laws that cover discrimination and harassment at work, so you know what your expectations and responsibilities include.

Not only can this step make you a more attentive and valuable manager, but it can also help you avoid a legal snafu down the road. The more you learn, the more steps you can take to safeguard yourself, your company, and your most valuable asset: your employees.

Put a Policy in Writing

When it comes to dealing with discrimination at work, many executives and HR leaders wrongly believe that the issue won’t permeate their office walls. Especially if they don’t hold any personal discriminations, they may not entertain the idea of others doing so.

However, the unfortunate truth is that these instances exist in almost every workplace across the country. Even if your current workforce doesn’t exhibit any discriminatory behaviors, there’s a chance that a new hire could break the mold. This is why it’s critical to create an anti-discrimination policy at your work.

This doesn’t need to be a tome-length document, but it should clearly state the steps you will take to prevent discrimination, as well as the corrective measures you will enact following a documented instance. It should also mention less obvious (but equally important) details, such as the type of tone to use in communications, and the language used in issue resolution.

Include this policy in your employee handbook and make sure everyone has a copy. Conduct periodic refresher training to make sure everyone is up to speed on the latest requirements.

Set Parameters for Issue Resolution

Often, internal discrimination only affects individual employees. For instance, it may occur between team members within the same department. When this is the case, your business isn’t immediately impacted.

However, if these unsettled issues are left to linger, then it won’t be long before they begin to affect employee performance. As morale dips, you may find that absences increase accordingly. This can negatively impact your company’s performance, which could threaten relationships with partners, customers, and suppliers.

This is why we recommend setting clear parameters that define how your company will handle any type of discrimination that occurs. It’s critical to resolve issues as quickly as possible, but you don’t want to rush these steps. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of approach that will work for every business, be clear and consistent on yours.

As you determine this process, involve your HR manager, C-suite, and other department leads. Request their insights on how to manage this type of conflict, and ensure that the approach aligns with your organization’s size and structure.

Make the Complaint Process Simple

Your employees should know exactly where to go when they need to file a complaint about discrimination. They shouldn’t have to jump through hoops and follow an extensive chain of command just to have their voice heard.

In your written policy, thoroughly explain how this process should occur. At most companies, employees will first reach out to their team manager or the HR manager. Once the complaint is filed, an official investigation can occur, which may follow through to final disciplinary action.

Follow Protocols Consistently

It’s important for employees to see that their managers and executives are taking anti-discrimination measures seriously. One way to relay this message is to consistently follow all of the steps outlined in your policy.

This means requiring every employee to follow the steps outlined for complaints and follow-up actions, regardless of their status or rank at the company. No one is above the law, and everyone should be held equally accountable for their actions.

Not only is this practice important for company morale, but it can also offer enhanced legal protection. In the event that a discrimination case goes to court, employment lawyers will look closely at any instances of perceived favoritism.

Invest in Employee Training

As mentioned, some discriminations are intentional while others are not. For example, an employee might not realize that a joke they find funny is actually offensive to someone with a  varying view or lifestyle.

Thus, it’s important to invest in employee training that can open everyone’s eyes to the potential biases they hold. While adding a written policy to your handbook is a great first step, those guides often wind up stashed in the back of an office drawer after one read.

You can conduct these sessions online or in person, but the key is to keep scheduling consistent. Aim to hold refresher training every few months, and adjust the material as necessary each time. After each session, employees should be completely up-to-date on the following topics, among others:

  • How to identify discrimination
  • How to report discrimination
  • How to avoid discrimination

While supervisory employees are welcome to attend standard employee training, we suggest amplifying your approach for these leaders. Anyone in a managerial role should attend a separate, enhanced training session. These are the leaders who will deal most closely with discrimination reporting protocols, and they should know exactly what to do.

Regularly Review and Update Policies

Anti-discrimination policies are not evergreen. Rather, these are living documents that you should review and update on a regular basis.

Take the time to read back over your current policy and make sure it’s in line with the current social landscape. Have there been any new discriminations or biases mentioned in the media that you need to add? Has the language used to describe vulnerable groups changed recently?

In addition to making those edits, be sure to keep thorough notes that detail when you provided training, who attended, and the topics that you discussed. If you have an issue in the future, then you’ll be glad you keep such meticulous records.

Avoid Discrimination at Work

With this guide to discrimination at work, you can create a workplace environment that your employees love to call their home away from home. No one should be required to work in an area that makes them feel inferior for any reason.

As you work with your team members to create a policy, implement procedures, and train on protocols, you’ll naturally improve morale from the inside out.

Along the way, we’re here to deliver the business and tech news you need. Check back often for more advice on how to navigate the corporate world.