Avoid Discrimination
Legislators have enacted a number of policies to reduce discrimination in the workplace and in social settings. However, racism, sexism, ageism and other forms of discrimination are still common. You can avoid discrimination socially by thinking about your words carefully and cultivating openness toward other people, especially those who differ from you; similarly, avoid discrimination at work by setting objective qualifications for positions and instituting policies against workplace harassment in all forms.
Contents
Steps
Avoiding Social Discrimination
- Think about the jokes you want to tell carefully before you say them. Humor can lighten the mood, but it is often taken at another’s expense. Many jokes degrade women, ethnicities and disabled people.
- Learn another language, or be open to accepting that most countries have citizens who speak dozens, if not hundreds of languages. Promoting language education, rather than fighting it, can decrease discrimination based on ethnicity.
- Fight gender stereotypes in the home. Thinking of things as “women’s work” or “man’s work” may lead to gender discrimination in the next generation. As more and more families become dual-income households, make sure both sexes are treated as partners.
- Socialize with people outside your comfort zone. Join a club, group or team where you have contact with people of different gender, sexuality or race. People often get into routines where they aren’t exposed to diversity in the community.
- Be open to learning about other religions. Although you might be devout, a little research can help you find the common ground between another faith and your own. The next time someone makes a religious slur, talk about the commonalities, rather than the differences.
- Request that clubs or groups that you join adopt a policy of “equal opportunity” to people of different genders, sexualities, races and physical health. Starting a conversation about creating an open group may avoid issues based on these topics in the future.
Avoiding Discrimination at Work
- Develop a set of qualifications and prerequisites before you start hiring for a job. Judge the candidates based on these professional parameters. If you fear a colleague is discriminating in their choices, ask for a third party to judge the candidates without seeing their names or faces.
- Set non-negotiable equal pay for new hires (based on their degrees). This stops discrimination regarding salary offers, and accounts for the fact that women are on average more hesitant to negotiate their salaries.
- Don’t ask for additional documents related to work history just because someone appears foreign or “ethnic.” Requiring a person who isn’t white to give you extra immigration or citizenship papers is discrimination, unless you ask for this paperwork as a matter of policy for all applicants.
- Look around at your work force. If you exist in a diverse population, but your employees are all from the same race, you may be inadvertently promoting hiring practices based on discrimination.
- Develop a clear harassment and discrimination policy at work. Post it in a common location and add it to your employee handbook. Place a human resources manager in charge of complaints.
- Some smaller companies can’t afford to hire human resource managers. However, someone at the business should be a “contact officer,” who is responsible for handling discrimination issues before the employee contacts a state agency or a lawyer.
- Take complaints very seriously. No one should be told to "stop being so sensitive" if they are being mistreated at the office.
- Provide yearly staff training on discrimination or harassment. Make it clear that there is a zero tolerance policy when it comes to discrimination. Announce how complaints and disciplinary action will be handled.
- Training should include topics of gender, race, LGBTQ status, size, disability, religion, and age.
- Explain that the company does not tolerate microaggressions, such as sexist jokes, the r-word, or derogatory racial terms.
- Keep a log of all discrimination claims and how they were handled. You can protect yourself and your employees by noting each interaction.
- Take steps to ensure that your locations and policies accommodate disabled people. Installing a ramp at a retail location, installing a sit/stand desk for an employee with a chronic back problem, or protecting an autistic person's ability to fidget at board meetings helps you avoid disability discrimination.
- Be flexible about medical needs, such as doctor visits or needing to work from home sometimes.
- Allow people with mood disorders and intellectual/developmental disabilities to act a little unusual. This means accepting behavior that looks a little odd to non-disabled people, such as stimming (rocking, fidgeting), nervousness, or pacing.
- Word job postings carefully. Include a statement at the end that says, “We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.” The following are common ways that people discriminate when they advertise jobs:
- Stressing that a job is or is not for a student or a “youthful,” “mature” or “retired” person is age discrimination.
- Saying that a job is or is not for a woman, man, dad or “stay at home mom” is gender discrimination.
- Requiring that a job is only for US citizens or green card holders is discrimination based on nationality. Anyone who is qualified to work in the country should be allowed to apply. Work permits or visas are reviewed during the last step of the hiring process.
- Stating that the person must be “clean-shaven” can lead to religious discrimination.
- Referencing any race or ethnicity can be racial discrimination.
- Writing that the person is “able-bodied,” “able to stand” or “slender” can be disability or weight discrimination.
Tips
- In general, seek to create a respectful and accommodating workplace atmosphere. This will help encourage employees to treat each other with dignity, and help any employees who are being mistreated feel that they can speak up and receive support.
