Category: Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) is an important and ongoing strategy of any HR plan. Ensuring that your company supports hiring, engaging, and retaining diverse workers with varied backgrounds will set your company up for long-term success and an increased bottom line. This topic offers the latest strategies for talent management, key insights from diversity leaders, case studies on D&I in the workplace, and more.

bias

Taking the Buzz Word Out of Bias

Bias continues to be a big topic in diversity and inclusion, but there is more to culture change and changing mind-set than taking a test on bias. While understanding bias is one key to diversity and inclusion practices and behaviors, it can be used as a buzz word, “trend or flavor of the month,” or […]

Generational Warfare in the Workplace: Some Calling for a Ceasefire

One of the many topics currently crowding the radar screen of human resources thinkers concerns the multiple generations in today’s workforce. Millennials, Gen Xers, baby boomers, and even some well beyond age 70 are finding themselves working side by side. Figuring out how to engage individuals who have come of age in different eras and […]

Thoughts on Sexual Harassment—a Personal Perspective

I do a lot of antiharassment training. In the past, much of my training has followed a relatively standard format explaining that employers can be liable for harassment by supervisors even if employees don’t complain and that supervisors can “aid and abet” a hostile work environment by turning a blind eye to problematic situations. I […]

Digital Discrimination: Targeted Ads Don’t Reach All Potential Applicants

“Help Wanted” ads have evolved significantly since the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was first enacted in 1967—from classified ads in the local newspaper, to listings on company websites and online jobs sites like ZipRecruiter.com and Indeed.com. With the recent advent of advertising on social media platforms, the recruiting landscape has changed even further. […]

Diversity

How to Take Action: Strategies for Creating a More Diverse and Inclusive Workplace in 2018

The volatility of 2017 further surfaced a number of longstanding and important issues, like racial and gender equality and diversity of thought in the workplace. While these issues aren’t new, the political climate created an environment where we all proactively address diversity and inclusion more frequently, bringing it to the forefront of workplace conversations, values […]

EEOC

EEOC Training Programs Help Employers Fight Sexual Harassment

The recent high-profile sexual harassment accusations leading to public humiliation and terminations has highlighted the need for companies to properly train their supervisors and employees on what is and is not harassment. Just as these allegations are appearing on the front pages of newspapers, on October 4, 2017, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) launched […]

When Is a Discrimination Complaint against a Manager an Act of Harassment?

What if a manager accused of unlawful discrimination based on employees’ religion asserts that the complaint itself is an act of harassment? You owe duties all around, and you may not be able to perform one duty without risking a violation of the other. See how one employer successfully avoided that minefield.

Sleep deprivation: Know whether it’s a performance problem or a disability

Employers striving for a diverse workforce take care not to discriminate against employees with a disability, but hidden disabilities can be tricky. Supervisors might think they’re dealing with performance problems when they really should be considering whether an employee has a disability protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

Is There Harm In Asking? Questioning Employees About Their Plans to Retire

Retirement decisions cannot be divorced from a person’s age. When asking questions about retirement, employers should be cognizant of age discrimination laws and the implications of making such inquiries.  Applicable laws Age discrimination is governed by both federal law and the laws in most states. The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) applies to […]

Can They Do That? Firing Employees for Off-Duty Conduct

by T. Harold Pinkley Participating in last year’s Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia—an event that involved several groups usually identified as the “alt-right,” along with groups protesting the marchers—has proven to have unforeseen and unintended consequences, including job loss, for some of the people involved. This article examines how you can or should […]