More than any other nation, America has a mission to stop discrimination in the workplace. State and federal laws protect many groups against discrimination, and this has led to thousands of lawsuits against employers every year. Here are tips on how employers can avoid job discrimination claims, and what to do in the event a discrimination claim is made.
How To Avoid Discrimination Claims
There are several steps employers can take to significantly reduce the chance that a job applicant or current employee will make a discrimination claim. They include:
• Know the protected classes. Federal laws outlaw job discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, disability and age (being 40 or older). These factors cannot be used against someone in making a decision about hiring, firing, salary, training, advancement or any other job-related actions. Most federal anti-discrimination laws apply to employers with 15 or more employees (the age discrimination law applies to employers with 20 or more employees). Many states have laws that apply to employers with less than 15 employees and protect more groups, like marital status and sexual orientation.
• Don’t ask discriminatory questions. Employment application or job interview questions about a protected class are an indication this is considered in hiring. So avoid questions about an applicant’s race, religion, birth date or place, height, weight, graduation date, religious holidays he or she can’t work, illnesses or disability, or marital status. One exception is if the information directly relates to the job.
These are not the only taboo subjects. Avoid questions that are designed to tell if a candidate is in a protected group. Questions should focus on a person’s ability to do the job, like his or her education, experience, qualifications and prior employment.
• Adopt guidelines for proper job interview questions and have employment application and other job-related forms reviewed by an attorney to help prevent them from being a source of discrimination claims. This can help assure that the same non-discriminatory questions are asked of all applicants, and help reduce the possibility of people being treated differently.
• Pre-employment testing. To select qualified candidates, many firms use tests. All tests should be constructed and scored to avoid being harder on people from a protected group.
• Have written policies against discrimination. Employers should have policies strictly forbidding any unlawful discrimination. The policy should be in writing and be prepared or reviewed by a lawyer. It should be given to new employees and to all existing employees at least once per year, and be posted in common areas.
• Avoid discriminating after hiring. Commitment to equality must continue after hiring. Decisions on salary, transfers, promotions, working hours, benefits and all other parts of the job must be made without reference or impact on any protected class of employees. Today this also means avoiding derogatory comments, jokes and anything else that sends a discriminatory message to workers.
If A Discrimination Claim Is Made
Despite an employer's best efforts to prevent discrimination in the workplace, some claims of discrimination are bound to occur. To help prevent these claims from turning into expensive and time-consuming legal problems:
• Take all complaints seriously. An employer who learns of a complaint about any kind of discrimination should take it seriously. Many employers don't accept that discrimination is happening in their workplace, so they ignore a person's complaint or take it lightly. This is a good way to invite a lawsuit.
• Investigate the complaint thoroughly. The matter should be fully investigated to determine if there is a valid complaint. A proper investigation includes interviewing all parties involved, including the target of the alleged discrimination, the person accused of the discrimination and all witnesses (finding out what was said or done, when it happened, and where it happened). The investigation should also include obtaining all written materials that may shed light on the situation. Many businesses hire a law firm or other outside entity to assure the investigation will be thorough and independent.
• Follow procedures. If your business has an employee manual that has effective procedures for handling discrimination complaints, follow them. If you ignore existing company procedures for these types of situations, the victim or person accused of the discrimination may be able to make a successful legal claim.
• Take the correct action against the wrongdoer. The investigation should reveal if the alleged act of discrimination occurred. If discrimination did take place, you must then decide on the proper course of action. This can range from a warning (perhaps in the case of a minor misunderstanding between the parties) all the way to firing the wrongdoer. Take the proper corrective action immediately, and keep a written record of what was directed to be done.
Discrimination can have not only a tremendous negative effect on employee morale and the workplace, but discrimination claims can also lead to government investigations and time-consuming and expensive lawsuits. Following these tips will help your company reduce and even avoid discrimination claims.
Contact an attorney at Triscaro & Associates today. Please call us for all your legal needs. We offer a full range of legal services to individuals, families and businesses, including personal injury, estate planning, real estate, family law and business matters. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality legal services at a reasonable cost.