The Wild, Wild Workplace

Society for Human Resource Management
2008 Employment Law and Legislative Conference
Washington, DC
March 10-11, 2008
www.shrm.org

Points of interest:

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues:

* Yes, “he-she,” the f-word and the d-word are derogatory, are still uttered in the workplace, and should not be. “You need to make sure this kind of talk is not tolerated.”

* Knowledge before empathy: If someone is transgendering, or in another situation in which sexual orientation becomes an office issue, address it. Sensitivity training can get creative: one employee’s therapist spoke with the coworkers about what’s going on. Prejudice and bad behavior often is born of simply not knowing.

* One big question that HR managers hear is “what about the restroom?” Which to use depends on the gender the person is now living as.

* Some conversations are inappropriate at work regardless of anyone’s sexual orientation.

* Example of an ill-advised question: “You look pregnant – are you?”

Not All Reform is Good:

* Proposed Federal ADA legislation could expand the definition of “disability” to include getting the flu ... sporting a tattoo ... or buying reading glasses at the drug store. Potential problems: misuse of benefits ... higher health/benefit costs ... and fewer resources for people with true disabilities.

CSI: Workplace Investigations:

* Yes, employers can access employee emails and videotape at-work, but informing employees will discourage undesired behavior to begin with. A plus unless one views work as a game of “gotcha!”

* Avoid perceived bias. Don’t put recruit investigations or key witnesses from the alleged wrongdoer’s sphere of influence. That might discourage reporting naughty boss behavior.

* Ask open-ended questions: “What exactly did you see happen in the parking lot?” vs. “So, how many times did you see him grope her?”

* Privacy rights: Employers can legally access employee emails. But they typically can’t listen in on phone calls or intercept emails before they arrive on company servers without employees’ consent. Or implied consent – meaning, such monitoring is noted in company policy and employees are made aware of the policy.

* Punishing offenders is not enough. Employers are obligated to prevent bad behavior from occurring again.

Startling Statistics:

* Underuse, overuse and misuse of chronic disease-related resources contributes to 100,000 preventable deaths a year and $100 billion extra in health care costs in the U.S. Smarter use could reduce per person health care costs by 30 to 40%.