Stopping discrimination in the workplace is the goal of many Americans. They have suffered the repercussions of discrimination and in some cases have lost their jobs due to the discrimination. This is unfortunate, but it is happening more often than people think. Unfortunately, there are still some discrimination issues to be found. Here are some things you can do to prevent this type of behavior in your workplace.
Look over your company’s employment handbook. You need to make sure that your company has specific policies against discrimination. In particular, the handbook should state that any employee, regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other factor, will be terminated for discriminatory behavior.
Talk to employees. Find out what they think about the company’s policies. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions. You need to know what your company is doing to prevent discrimination. In particular, you need to learn what you can do as a manager to stop it from becoming a problem.
Look at the contracts that you have for employees. What do they say about terminating someone? Do you have a provision stating that you cannot discriminate based on age, religion, disability, health, or any other protected category? These could be important provisions to have in a contract with your employees. You need to have these in place so that you don’t unintentionally discriminate.
Make sure that there are no policies regarding sexual orientation. This could be an issue for you. However, another aspect of discrimination that you should look into is making sure that your company is tolerant of others who may be differently-oriented than yourself. There should not be any sort of problem with your co-workers because of your orientation. As a result, you will not be discriminating.
Remember that stopping discrimination is very important. If you work in an office environment or manage people, you need to make sure that your policies are in place. This will ensure that your company is accepting of all people. Your company needs to be diverse, and have an inclusive attitude. If you do this, you will be helping your employees feel comfortable in their jobs.
In addition, you can tell your employees about the importance of not discriminating. Let them know what the ramifications of such behavior will be. Let them know that they will be publicly outed if they do not conform to the principles of the company.
The last thing that you can do in terms of stopping discrimination is to be proactive. Talk to other businesses in the area and find out what their policies are regarding discrimination. Learn as much as you can, and start to put it in place. This can help you gain the respect of your employees, as well as gain the respect of others.
Now that you know what steps to take, you need to focus on how you can help your employees feel more secure in their jobs. Give them tips on how to deal with other employees who may be discriminatory. If you are not comfortable talking to your employees on this topic, then make sure that you create a separate hotline. It doesn’t have to be a hotline number, but make sure that there is a dedicated hotline for this purpose. That way, you will be able to provide information and help to those employees who need it most.