Employee Handbook Addressing the Issue of Workplace

¶ … employee handbook addressing the issue of workplace equity and nondiscrimination in a health care organization. The essay includes various issues related to the non-discrimination laws and the benefits of implementation of anti-discrimination laws.

An employee handbook is a manual for employees and works as a staff handbook which is drafted by the employer. Employee handbook contains policies and procedures for the employees. It has all the terms and conditions of employment. The main purpose of an employee handbook is to communicate to the employees the fair and just policies of an organization. An employee handbook of different organizations will have different details because of the varying nature of the business carried out by the organization however the main purpose of the handbook will remain the same. An employee handbook for a health care organization will have their own set of policies and procedures.

An employee handbook for a health care organization must include a provision for non-discrimination which shows the employer's commitment towards the implementation of federal and state laws related to anti-discrimination. The anti-discrimination provisions state that it is mandatory for an employer to provide its employees an "equal opportunity" and cannot discriminate on the basis of sex, race, age, religion, origin, nationality, disability and in some cases height, marital status and weight are also a part of anti-discrimination provisions. In the employee handbook there should be a policy which prohibits the harassment of employees on the basis of their protected status. The procedure of making a complaint must also be mentioned clearly in the handbook. The harassment policies must not be only limited to sexual harassment instead it should take care of all kinds of harassments including racial harassment.

In health care organization there was a serious problem of discrimination in the mid 1960s where there were several cases of denying staff privileges to physicians and dentists of a certain race, there was a restriction on the number of minority patients and they were not provided with adequate support of medical staff. Elderly patients are often treated badly and unfairly by the medical staff. They consider such senior citizens to be a burden on them and therefore neglect them which is entirely a wrong approach. Gender discrimination has been an issue for a number of years now although there have been progress in this field but still a lot of work needs to be done.

A non-discrimination policy and its inclusion in the employee handbook are only effective if it is implemented properly, the same goes for anti-harassment policies. Therefore a widespread communication and proper training of personnel is significant. Policies need to be included in the employee handbook and posted on intranet so that every employee is familiar with such policies. If any such non-discrimination case is reported then it must be dealt with care and immediate action must be taken. All the actions must be in line with the rules and regulations of the organization and must be coherent with the state and federal laws.

The non-discrimination policies are meant to deal with the discrimination issues in the workplace. The main purpose is to promote the equal opportunity in the workplace by doing so limiting the liability for discrimination and harassment litigation. An organization can limit the liability in a lawsuit if they are able to prove that they have anti-discrimination policies and are communicated in the employee handbook to the employees and they have not been negligent in discrimination issues and they are complying to state policies as they address any reports or complaints with regard to discrimination on an immediate basis.

A non-discrimination policy can enhance the overall employee morale. The employees are always concerned about unfair practices in their organizations which create a lot of job dissatisfaction and job switching. If the employees are assured that they would be treated fairly and no sort of discrimination will take place they would feel secured and will put their focus on work. If an employee in any organization is harassed or discriminated; it creates a negative environment all around. So in order to make sure that the employees are committed to their jobs then they must be provided a secure environment where they are not being harassed or discriminated and implementation of the anti-discrimination policies is a must for that. The relationship between the employees and the employer is a contractual relation. The employees must agree to what the terms and conditions of the organization are. Every employee is given the handbook at the time of employment and if there is any change or modification in the policies then they are communicated to the employees and their conformance is granted.

All the communication skills that are mandatory must be utilized for the employee handbook. The handbook should include all the guidelines and links which discuss the laws and regulations of the company rules and regulations. The policies includes the anti-discrimination policies, code of conduct, safety regulations, employee benefits and compensations. All the employees must be properly communicated with the discrimination laws of the state and they must be provided with all the materials and links to the state policies so that they are able to know their rights and know the consequences of discrimination and harassment.