W
While the overall number of charges filed
with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) has decreased in
recent years, those related to sex, age,
disability and retaliation have risen to
the top of the list of charges businesses
are facing today. According to the gov-
ernment agency’s statistics for 2018, re-
taliation made up the largest percentage
of claims at 51.6 percent of all charges
filed. Sex-related charges represented
32.3 percent of all charges, while 32.2
percent of charges included disability
claims, and 22.1 percent of charges were
age-related claims.
Discrimination charges can be extremely
costly for employers and devastating to
their reputations. During 2018, the EEOC
filed 117 individual discrimination suits,
45 suits involving multiple individuals
and 37 systemic discrimination cases,
which resulted in employees winning
$505 million.
To protect your company from future legal
issues with the EEOC, human resources
professionals recommend that you pro-
mote two-way communication techniques
within your organization, implement ha-
rassment training for all employees,
regularly address employment issues with
your team, and consider auditing your
current workplace policies and wage data
to ensure that your business is up-to-date
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and compliant with all employment laws
and regulations. Tips to help you focus
your anti-discrimination efforts include:
Improve Your
Communication Strategy
• Make it a point to review your current
policies and employee handbooks
annually.
• Ensure that all policy updates are
communicated with your employees.
• Require employees to document that
they’ve read and are aware of all policy
updates.
Promote A Culture Of Trust
& Openness
• Your company should have a well-
defined process for employees to
submit any concerns they may have,
particularly when concerns pertain to
discrimination issues, without hav-
ing to worry about retaliation. For ex-
ample, you might consider utilizing a
hotline to ensure that concerns can be
shared with a neutral party.
Train Your Team To Do
The Right Thing
• Harassment training should be provided
and completed by all company
employees annually. Additionally, doc-
umentation indicating that the trainings
were conducted should be completed.
• Supervisors and managers should be
provided additional training to ensure
that they are aware of issues related to:
• Protected employment classes.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act
and reasonable accommodation.
• Sexual harassment and
forms of harassment.
other
• Mental health issues as well as
how to identify signs of employee
addiction and abuse.
Facilitate Ongoing Engagement
With Your Employees
• Make an effort to stay connected with
your employees. Listen to their con-
cerns, provide them with access to
resources and employee assistance
programs to help deal with work-life
stressors.
• Be consistent in your communication
strategy, especially when it comes to
addressing employment issues.
Conducting a harassment audit can help
you determine whether you are on the
right path. This exercise will help you get
insight into the mindset of your workforce
while identifying and analyzing poten-
tial risk factors, including homogenous
teams, significant power disparities, iso-