Answers to Common Questions about Gender Protections in the Workplace – HR Affiliates Blog
Gender identity has changed a lot in the last 10 years and the shift leaves a lot of questions for employers and employees. In this blog post, we answer some common questions about how your company should approach gender identity-related concerns to help build an accommodating work culture.
How should you approach employees with non-traditional gender identities?
According to a recent Forbes article, GLAAD has reported that 20% of respondents to their third annual Accelerating Acceptance report identify as LGBTQ. It’s important that management in your company identifies structural business practices in your company like addressing employees with preferred pronouns and educating staff on anti-discriminatory behaviors in order to foster a thriving company culture. One of the most effective ways to include employees with transgender and non-binary gender identities is to educate your employees on appropriate language. In business discourse and in formal paperwork, provide your workers with the option to identify under a preferred pronoun including they/them, which are now solidly approved by the Associated Press handbook. Further, you can highlight these practices in your policy-handbook.
What’s the law regarding employees with non-binary gender identities?
Laws governing HR practices and employees with non-binary gender identities largely vary by state. Currently in Kentucky, no law exists that outright protects people with non-binary gender identities from workplace discrimination. However, there are nine cities/counties in Kentucky that prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity. Also, federal OSHA laws indirectly outline how you legally need to accommodate your employees who identify as non-binary.
Although gender identity in the workplace is an evolving area of HR, any organization can start by implementing basic amenities and courtesies that are both accommodating and welcoming.
HR can be confusing, especially when it comes to new and updated cultural norms. We’re here to demystify it for you. Give us a call at (502) 706-6731 or drop us a line at https://hraffiliates.com/contact/.