Non-discriminatory work environment policies and practices

¶ … Non-Discriminatory Workplace Environment

To effectively deal with the problems of discrimination in the workforce, a workplace environment must strive to prevent discriminatory behavior from occurring between employees, must ensure that when discriminatory behavior does occur the participants involved in the conflict have a venue in which to express their differences and grievances, and finally, leaders in the workplace must make an effort to ensure that it doesn't occur in the future. In other words, preventing discrimination requires an efficacious three-pronged attack for both public and private enterprises.

First and foremost, during the hiring process, the human resource personnel must ensure that candidates are selected at all levels of the corporate hierarchy that share the company's nondiscriminatory values. It needs to be communicated, in strong and in no uncertain terms, that discrimination in the workforce and sexual harassment of any kind will not be tolerated, whether it be wielded against employees, or by employees against one another. This is important not simply for members of the immediate company staff, but in today's global environment, in dealing with other cultural environments, customers, and business partners.

A commitment to hiring a diverse selection of employees from a variety of regional, racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, as well as opening the workplace's arms to women and sexual minorities, creates an atmosphere of inclusiveness that is conducive to creating a non-discriminatory workplace environment as well, whether it is part of a strict affirmative action program and policy, or a more general 'push' or attempt to hire a diversity of workers who are both competent and a cultural addition to the workforce, simultaneously. Affirmative action, even when deployed, is not enough, as employers must work to discourage age-related discrimination, even if older workers or younger workers are seldom specifically recruited as such, to add to the diversity component of the workforce. Still, age discrimination is prohibited against federal law, when age has no bearing upon the work being performed, and the individual is still capable of completing his or her tasks to a competent standard.

When individuals work in a diverse workforce, and see others who are different than they are, excel, they are more apt to become tolerant of clients and customers as well as fellow employees on a subordinate and superior level whom are of diverse backgrounds. But even in the best workplace environments, conflicts will occur. Thus, it is important for employees to know they have someone to talk to, and somewhere to go, to address their grievances in a timely manner, before the conflict becomes dangerous to productivity. Trained, in-house counselors versed in discriminatory laws are necessary on the part of the firm, for issues of legal liability, to keep company staff abreast of potential illegalities. Trained HR staff must be aware of the firm's internal policies regarding non-discrimination.

Finally, between two aggrieved parties, where there are some conflicts that are apparently negotiable, or simply unclear, trained facilitators can be on staff, to facilitate dialogue in the presence of others, where records can be kept and documented of what was said between the two parties. 'He said/she said' becomes especially difficult when it transpires between individuals of different levels, whether it be regarding quid pro quo allegations of jobs for favors, or simply the creation of a hostile environment that is not conducive to a healthy workplace for women or minorities. Having a new ear to hear out such grievances, and forestalling potential and harmful litigation is advantageous to all of the parties -- the legal process is onerous and uncomfortable for both the aggrieved individual as well as the firm or employee whom is the subject of the litigation.

Prejudice and flaunting the law and company policy is often caused by ignorance. Thus, when incidents occur, it is important to conduct internal reviews to target how such abuses occurred, and to remedy them. Company workshops facilitated by professionals, to glean employee's attitudes and work to change them and facilitate teamwork between individuals of different backgrounds can be fun and important. However, simply increasing awareness is often not enough -- company policies not directly relating to discrimination must often be altered to create a truly viable workplace.

To create a truly non-discriminatory workplace, companies must have a realistic eye upon societal attitudes and demands. For instance, in today's world there are persisting gender disparities, particularly in juggling the work-family balance that women find especially onerous. Although not directly distriminatory, when women do not have adequate support networks to address this social problem, freuqently conflicts can arise because women must demand more personal hours to deal with stresses and home. "An issue brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that over half of working mothers (versus only 30% of fathers) do not work when a child becomes sick." Poor women are especially affected, as "of that group, another half do not get paid for the missed work, and the percentage rises to 66% among low-income women (earning less than double the poverty level) and 75% among very poor women -- those below the federal poverty line. Study author Dr. Alina Salganicoff said 'Low-income women are really disproportionately affected by this,' primarily because many hold part-time or low-wage, hourly positions without benefits." (Feminist Daily Newswire, May 12, 2003)