Category: employees

HR COMPLIANCE 2024

Posted on by

Human Resources (HR) compliance refers to the adherence to laws, regulations, and policies related to the management of employees within an organization. Ensuring HR compliance is crucial for organizations to avoid legal issues, maintain a positive workplace environment, and uphold ethical standards. Here are key aspects of HR compliance:

  1. Employment Laws:
    • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): Ensures fair treatment of employees regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information.
    • Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Governs issues like minimum wage, overtime pay eligibility, and child labor.
    • Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Provides eligible employees with job-protected leave for specific family or medical reasons.
  2. Workplace Safety:
    • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): Establishes and enforces standards for workplace safety and health.
  3. Compensation and Benefits:
    • Employee Benefits Compliance: Ensures compliance with laws governing employee benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and other perks.
  4. Privacy and Security:
    • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): Protects the privacy and security of health information.
    • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Applies to organizations handling the personal data of individuals in the European Union.
  5. Employee Relations:
    • National Labor Relations Act (NLRA): Protects employees’ rights to engage in concerted activity for mutual aid and protection.
  6. Recordkeeping and Documentation:
    • Retention of Employment Records: Ensures proper storage and disposal of employee records in compliance with legal requirements.
  7. Recruitment and Hiring Practices:
    • Anti-discrimination Laws: Ensures fair and non-discriminatory hiring practices.
  8. Training and Development:
    • Anti-Harassment Training: Helps prevent workplace harassment and ensures a respectful workplace culture.
  9. Termination and Separation:
    • At-will Employment: Understanding and complying with laws related to terminating employees in at-will employment states.
  10. HR Policies and Procedures:
    • Employee Handbook: Clearly communicates organizational policies and procedures to employees.
  11. Global HR Compliance:
    • International Employment Laws: Ensures compliance with employment laws in different countries if the organization operates globally.
  12. Monitoring and Auditing:
    • Regular audits and monitoring to ensure ongoing compliance with HR laws and regulations.

Staying informed about changes in employment laws and regularly updating HR policies and procedures is essential for maintaining compliance. Many organizations also invest in HR compliance training for their staff to ensure everyone is aware of and adheres to applicable regulations. Additionally, seeking legal counsel when needed can provide guidance on complex compliance issues.

Navigating Compliance, Employment Law, Ethics, and Legal Frameworks in the Workplace

Posted on by

In today’s complex business landscape, organizations must prioritize compliance with employment law, ethics, and legal frameworks to ensure a fair and ethical working environment. Compliance encompasses adhering to the laws and regulations that govern various aspects of employment, such as hiring, wages, discrimination, and workplace safety. Moreover, ethical considerations play a critical role in fostering a positive workplace culture and maintaining the trust of employees, customers, and stakeholders. This article explores the importance of compliance, employment law, ethics, and legal frameworks in the workplace and provides insights into how organizations can navigate these areas effectively.

employment opportunity laws & ethics
I. Compliance in the Workplace
Compliance refers to the adherence to laws, regulations, and internal policies that govern employment practices. It ensures that organizations meet their legal obligations and maintain fair and ethical treatment of employees. Compliance covers a wide range of areas, including:
1. Hiring practices: Organizations must comply with equal employment opportunity laws, which prohibit discrimination based on race, gender, age, religion, disability, or other protected characteristics during the hiring process. They must also follow proper procedures to verify employment eligibility and avoid illegal practices such as hiring undocumented workers.
2. Wage and hour laws: Compliance with wage and hour laws is crucial to prevent wage theft and ensure fair compensation for employees. This includes adhering to minimum wage requirements, overtime regulations, and accurately recording hours worked.
3. Workplace safety: Organizations must comply with occupational health and safety regulations to provide a safe working environment for employees. This includes identifying and mitigating hazards, providing necessary safety training, and maintaining records of incidents and injuries.
II. Employment Law and its Significance
Employment law encompasses the legal framework that governs the relationship between employers and employees. It protects the rights and interests of both parties and ensures a fair and equitable work environment. Key areas covered by employment law include:
1. Anti-discrimination laws: Employment laws prohibit discrimination based on various factors, such as race, gender, age, religion, disability, and sexual orientation. It ensures that employees are treated fairly and have equal opportunities for advancement.
2. Labor rights and protections: Employment law protects employees’ rights to fair wages, benefits, and working conditions. It covers areas such as working hours, leave entitlements, and protection against unfair dismissal.
3. Collective bargaining and union rights: Employment law also governs the rights of employees to form unions, engage in collective bargaining, and participate in strikes or other industrial actions to protect their interests.
III. Ethics in the Workplace
Ethics form the foundation of a positive workplace culture and are integral to building trust and maintaining a good reputation. Ethical considerations in the workplace include:
1. Integrity and honesty: Organizations should promote a culture of integrity and honesty, fostering trust among employees and stakeholders. Ethical behavior includes transparency in financial matters, accurate reporting, and avoidance of conflicts of interest.
2. Respect and fairness: Treating employees with respect, fairness, and dignity is essential for a healthy work environment. This involves providing equal opportunities, valuing diversity, and maintaining a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment or discrimination.
3. Social responsibility: Ethical organizations consider the impact of their actions on broader society. They engage in sustainable practices, support community initiatives, and adhere to ethical sourcing and manufacturing standards.

The Importance of Harassment Training for Employees: 10 Compelling Reasons

Posted on by

sexual harassment training

Introduction:
Harassment in the workplace is a significant issue that can have detrimental effects on employees, productivity, and a company’s reputation. To foster a safe and inclusive work environment, it is essential for companies to provide harassment training to their employees. In this article, we will outline ten compelling reasons why companies should prioritize harassment training.

1. Compliance with Legal Obligations:
One of the primary reasons for providing harassment training is to ensure compliance with legal obligations. Laws and regulations regarding workplace harassment vary across jurisdictions. By providing training, companies can educate their employees about the legal standards, thereby reducing the risk of legal liabilities and penalties.

2. Creating Awareness:
Harassment training programs raise awareness about different forms of harassment, including sexual, racial, and verbal abuse. Employees gain a comprehensive understanding of what constitutes harassment, helping them recognize and report inappropriate behavior. This awareness empowers employees to take action against harassment.

3. Promoting a Positive Work Environment:
Harassment-free workplaces foster a positive work environment where employees feel respected, valued, and safe. By implementing harassment training, companies send a clear message that they prioritize employee well-being and are committed to maintaining a respectful workplace culture.

Harassment Training in the workplace

4. Preventing Costly Lawsuits:
Workplace harassment incidents can result in expensive lawsuits, negatively impacting a company’s finances and reputation. By providing training, companies can demonstrate that they took reasonable steps to prevent harassment, which can serve as a defense in potential legal proceedings.

5. Enhancing Employee Morale and Retention:
Employees who feel safe and supported in their workplace are more likely to have higher morale and job satisfaction. Harassment training fosters a positive company culture, promoting employee engagement and loyalty. Consequently, companies that invest in harassment training are more likely to retain talented employees.

6. Mitigating Productivity Loss:
Harassment incidents create a hostile work environment, leading to decreased productivity and increased absenteeism. By addressing harassment through training, companies can minimize these negative consequences, fostering a more productive workforce.

7. Encouraging Reporting and Addressing Issues:
Many harassment incidents go unreported due to fear of retaliation or lack of knowledge about reporting procedures. Harassment training educates employees about reporting mechanisms, instilling confidence and encouraging them to report incidents promptly. This facilitates early intervention and allows companies to address issues before they escalate.

8. Protecting Company Reputation:
A company’s reputation is closely tied to its treatment of employees. Failure to address harassment can lead to negative publicity, damaging a company’s brand image and customer trust. By providing harassment training, companies demonstrate their commitment to maintaining a respectful and inclusive workplace, safeguarding their reputation.

9. Supporting Diversity and Inclusion:
Harassment training promotes diversity and inclusion by fostering an environment where all employees feel valued and respected, regardless of their gender, race, religion, or other protected characteristics. It helps create a culture that embraces diversity, leading to increased creativity, innovation, and collaboration.

10. Legal Protection for Supervisors and Managers:
Supervisors and managers who receive harassment training are better equipped to prevent, recognize, and address harassment incidents. This training provides them with the knowledge and skills necessary to handle complaints appropriately, reducing the risk of personal liability.

Conclusion:
Harassment training is crucial for companies seeking to establish a safe, inclusive, and productive work environment. By investing in comprehensive training programs, companies can promote awareness, Harassment Training courses Just $1 per employee per month, CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

When Not to Worry About Turnover

Posted on by AllMyHR

Most HR professionals would agree that turnover is a source of stress. Losing an employee can feel like losing an investment, and replacing that person has its own costs—advertising, onboarding, training, and coverage to name a few. But we also know that turnover is a manageable cost of doing business, and sometimes even welcome. In short, turnover is a metric to take seriously, but also realistically.

Let’s examine a few potentially stressful situations related to turnover and explore whether they’re really something you should be worried about.

Potential Stressor: Your Turnover Rate Seems High

Whether a given turnover rate is high or low depends on many factors—both in and out of your control. If ineffective or toxic managers are scaring away talent, you should prioritize fixing that. If a bunch of employees resign about the same time, definitely pause and seek to understand why.

But if most of your workforce consists of students who typically leave after graduation or entry level workers who usually put in only a year or two before moving on, it’s prudent to prepare for those departures, but the effect of these departures on your turnover rate needn’t keep you up at night. Don’t stress too much about a number—it’s information that can be helpful, but also a distraction from what’s really important.

Potential Stressor: New Hire Quits

It never feels good when a new hire leaves within the first few months of their tenure with you, but unless it happens repeatedly, it’s probably not a red flag.

That said, digging into your recruitment and onboarding processes may help you tighten any loose ends. Look for disconnects between what is advertised and what the job actually entails. Conduct exit interviews if the departing employee is willing and ask open-ended questions about their experience. If you feel like you’re getting only “safe” answers, be more pointed in trying to determine if the role was as they imagined based on how it was advertised, and whether there were any processes or people that contributed to their decision to leave.

Building a process that creates a true job preview for candidates should prevent them from feeling like they’ve been “had.” New employees who come in with a clear picture of what to expect and then have an experience that matches those expectations are more likely to stick around.

Potential Stressor: One Team Has Much Higher Turnover

As you track turnover, you may notice spikes within one or more teams rather than throughout the whole company. Higher than average turnover rates among certain teams may point to bad management practices or unusually stressful working situations, but they also may be a sign of normal and good things happening. Approach the situation with curiosity.

You may find that teams with higher turnover operate with more entry-level or transitional positions that employees don’t typically spend a lot of time in. Perhaps you have a manager who’s regularly helping their reports move up in the organization or setting higher (but still reasonable) performance standards than their predecessor. You may also find that the work that team does is more stressful, grueling, or monotonous than work elsewhere in the organization. You’d expect higher turnover in these situations. It’s not necessarily a problem you need to solve, but it’s definitely something to account for.

Parting Thought

If you work in HR, you may have some sleepless nights. It’s the nature of the job. You’re constantly putting out fires, addressing emotionally challenging situations, and taking steps to make every hire a good investment for the company. When people leave, it can feel like you’ve failed.

But be kind to yourself. Turnover is always important—but it isn’t always a problem. Turnover is normal and expected. Some turnover is good! Approach employee departures with curiosity and patience. They may indicate that something needs to be fixed or tweaked, but they may also be a sign that everything is working as it should.

Take 10 minutes and find out how you can build a more cohesive team.

Strong Managers, Strong Businesses

Posted on by AllMyHR

Ever notice that great managers always seem to have great people working under them? Dedicated, happy, more productive and their goals tend to parallel the organizational goals. Strong managers enable companies to prosper during difficult times.

Does your company have a system that facilitates the development of new talent from within? At AllMyHR, we feel effective professional development of your team shouldn’t be complicated, difficult to administer and it shouldn’t break the bank. Our Learning Management System is inexpensive, easy to administer, and the materials are both pertinent and compelling. We even provide you time with a training consultant who will help design a program that best fits your company’s needs.

To find out how AllMyHR can make growing your own talent a manageable process, click here and schedule a brief call/or demonstration and start developing your management from within. You cannot afford to have your managers get their degrees from the “School of Hard Knocks”.

What a Good Enough Hiring Process Looks Like

Posted on by AllMyHR

Being the best is rarely necessary. Thinking in terms of good enough helps you set realistic goals that are grounded in the real needs of your organization. With a good enough approach to recruiting, you can focus on what you actually need to accomplish.

The last few years have proved challenging for employers trying to fill positions. Low unemployment, among other factors, made the job market much more friendly to jobseekers than to employers keen to hire them. In this highly competitive environment, some organizations upgraded their compensation packages or experimented with other attractive perks, hoping to stand out as the best. Others re-examined their recruitment and hiring processes or sought help from consultants or vendors. Struggling employers may have been tempted to look for a “magic bullet,” that one thing sure to get them more candidates.

Both the desire to offer a great recruiting experience and the eagerness to find a magic bullet are understandable given the state of the labor market. But both have their disadvantages when it comes to recruitment.

Recruitment is not just one thing—it involves a lot of moving parts and relies on multiple people within the organization. A single-minded focus on being the best can lead to unrealistic goals and misaligned expectations. It can also zero in on one part of the process at the expense of others. Using the best technology won’t by itself solve discriminatory hiring practices. First-rate recruiters can’t by themselves elevate subpar hiring managers. Software that lets people apply for jobs via a text message may sound super cool, but it’s not going to be suitable for every kind of industry or brand.

The good news is that an effective recruitment process doesn’t need to be the best or magical or otherwise super flashy. It just needs to be good enough to fill your open positions.

As a standard, good enough can get a bad rap both in the business world and in American culture generally. Many of us want to be the best. Striving to be “the best” is ingrained in our everyday lives, after all. Theme songs from The Karate Kid to Pokémon evoke that feeling. You probably saw more than a few “Best of 2022” lists last month. When we talk about behaviors and procedures we recommend, we call them “best practices.”

Let’s examine what good enough looks like in the four basic parts of any recruitment process: the Need, the Search, the Selection, and the Onboarding. What’s good enough for your organization will depend somewhat on the particulars of your situation, but the principles and practices below should help get you started.

The Need

You have an open position—maybe it’s new, maybe it’s a replacement. Regardless, you need to bring someone into your organization. Being good enough at this stage means that those involved in the hiring process (e.g., the recruiters and the hiring manager) can effectively discuss the need prior to beginning the search for candidates. For that, they’ll need a job description, information about what kind of person they’re looking for, and a salary range. Determine who should be bringing what information to the table. After discussing the need, create a job posting. This job posting serves as the source of truth so you can find the right candidates.

The Search

Now begins the actual search. Finding your candidates can feel like one of the hardest parts of recruitment. Good enough at this stage involves sharing the job posting and training interviewers how to compare the incoming candidates to the need, of course, but it also means finding and implementing ways to make the search easier and smoother for everyone. Software can help a lot here, but more important are good practices. Consider what extra work you may be giving to yourself and your prospective applicants. Are applicants required to submit a resume and then manually enter the information on their resume into the system? Are they required to draft and submit cover letters when those letters aren’t necessary or even part of the decision-making process?

The Selection

Chances are you’re not going to be able to pick the best of all possible employees. You might not even have a candidate who checks every box. But you don’t need the perfect candidate; you need someone who can do the job well enough and can grow in the position.

A good selection process starts with training hiring managers on how to review applications, conduct interviews, and evaluate the candidates in a fair, equitable, and compliant manner. It involves providing regular and reasonable updates to your candidates and following up with them when you say you will. It includes extending an offer and providing the selected candidate with a reasonable amount of time to consider it. The process concludes when a candidate accepts your offer.  

The Onboarding

The onboarding experience finalizes a new hire’s first impression of the company. A bad experience can cause the new employee to regret accepting the offer and may prompt them to quit at the first opportunity. A great experience, however, can set the stage for a long-lasting relationship.

Fortunately, onboarding doesn’t need to be perfect to be great. The first few weeks on the job are going to feel overwhelming. The new hire isn’t going to remember everything they learned.

Good enough onboarding keeps the process simple, straightforward, and consistent. Set up time for the new hire to complete the necessary paperwork, meet coworkers, read the employee handbook, and complete any training. Time between onboarding meetings and tasks—allowing them to process the information and experiences—should also be built in.

Conclusion

Good enough isn’t about doing the minimum or having the latest shiny new tech; it’s about doing what’s necessary to get the results you want. It means understanding the various pieces of the recruitment and hiring process, setting realistic expectations for yourself and your applicants, and keeping things in perspective as you move from step to step.

For job applicants, candidates, and employees, a consistently good recruitment and hiring process from start to finish is a much better experience than one that is the “best” in one or two areas, but mediocre or subpar in others.

The DOL’s Plan to Hire 100 New Investigators – What This Means for Employers

Posted on by AllMyHR

Avoiding FMLA Violations

FMLA Violations have become far too frequent in the workplace. Employees became much more aware of their rights under FMLA during the COVID Lockdowns and many employers are finding it a challenge to fully grasp and to stay compliant with these regulations. Here are just a few of the recent violations that have occurred:

From Todays FMLA Violation Trends

LAKE CITY, FL—A DOL investigation found that an assisted living facility illegally terminated an employee after the employee exercised their federally protected medical leave rights. The employer was forced to pay the employee $1,894 in back wages.

What went wrong:

• The employer denied an employee medical leave under the FMLA despite the fact the employee met all eligibility and qualifying requirements for leave.

• The employer illegally terminated the employee after the employer failed to grant the employee protected leave for a medical condition covered by the FMLA.

ATLANTA GA – A DOL investigation discovered that the Georgia Department of Public Health wrongly disciplined and terminated an employee for absences protected under the FMLA. The department was ordered to pay $77,314 in back wages and reinstate the employee.

What went wrong:

• The department denied the employee’s request for leave for an FMLA-qualified condition.

• The employee’s denial of FMLA benefits resulted in wrongful discipline and subsequent termination. Employment Case Studies:

LOS ANGELES CA –A DOL investigation uncovered that a slaughterhouse and packing company illegally terminated an employee after the employee took FMLA-protected leave. The employee received $11,209 in back wages.

What went wrong:

• The employer failed to provide the employee with FMLA-related information prior to their medical leave.

• The employer did not inform the employee of their FMLA rights and protections. • The employer illegally terminated the employee after the employee took FMLA leave.

• The DOL determined that the employer violated the FMLA’s policy review and recordkeeping provisions.

LITTLE ROCK, AR—A DOL investigation found that a large waste management company illegally terminated an employee who used qualified FMLA leave to address a serious health condition. The employer was ordered to pay the employee $36,007 in back wages, which included wages the employee would have earned while they were unemployed and a 3% company-matched 401(k) contribution

What went wrong:

• The employer violated the FMLA when they terminated an employee for taking FMLA leave after the employee notified their supervisor of the need for medical leave. The employee’s leave request was approved by the employer’s third-party FMLA administrator.

• The employer recorded the employee absent on the first day of their FMLA leave and then promptly terminated the employee

●The employer failed to rehire the employee after learning that the employee’s FMLA had been     approved.

FMLA Violations can be costly and detrimental to a company’s “culture”. It is practically a full-time job to fully understand and stay compliant with these complex regulations. AllMyHR is a practical cost-effective tool to strengthen and streamline your HR department’s compliance and many other HR responsibilities. For less that $.50 an hour, AllMyHR provides you the peace of mind knowing your HR Department is functioning at its peak so you can focus on what you do best! For a 10-minute walk through of our services, go to AllMyHR.com and schedule a 10-minute discussion.

The Real Value of Great HR

Posted on by AllMyHR

At AllMyHR, we know HR is key to the success of a business because it is our business. Recent findings from our State of HR survey reinforce this in new ways. It paints the picture of HR’s contribution to growth and productivity, as well as the challenges of burnout and lack of resources.  

Enterprise businesses already know this. They have robust HR functions leading their organizations and the business intelligence infrastructure to measure the impact. But small and mid-size businesses – the ones AllMyHR exists to serve – stand to benefit just as much from great HR yet lack the resources to do so. 

At AllMyHR, we are on a mission to close that gap, and we are excited to deliver a new level of expertise to the market to help our clients do just that. 

The Value of Great HR 

Let’s start with what we’ve learned. Earlier this year, our research partners surveyed nearly 2,700 senior business and HR leaders. In the last two-and-a-half years, these business and HR leaders have navigated business closures, the transition to remote work, regulatory changes, labor shortages, and most recently the prospect of an economic recession. From their feedback, we learned why during this period some companies not only survived but thrived, and why others didn’t.  

The takeaway? Today, HR is more important to a successful business than ever before.  

Business leaders recognize this. Before the pandemic, 50 percent of respondents described HR as very or extremely important. Now 66 percent of business and HR leaders see HR this way. 

This shift explains a lot of the trends the HR industry is seeing. Fifty-four percent of our respondents reported increasing their HR budgets during the pandemic. Nearly the same number, 53 percent, expect to raise it even more in the next 12 months.   

Healthy HR 

AllMyHR is the only company dedicated to addressing the HR and compliance needs of small and mid-sized businesses nationwide. Our system has guided small businesses through more than 1.3 million issues to date, and the breadth and depth of our expertise is not only HR, but the unique environment of small and mid-size businesses is unmatched.  

As our clients grow, their HR and compliance needs become more complex. The pace quickens, the variables expand, the importance of planning increases, and there are rarely black and white answers. It takes experience and expertise to know how to navigate these issues and transform actions into a strategy.  

Our report revealed four key building blocks for Healthy HR and better business outcomes: 

  • Good Work-Life Balance 
  • Potential for Career Growth 
  • Thoughtful Compensation 
  • Appropriate Workload 

The question for many small and medium-sized businesses is how to achieve these four building blocks – on top of managing day-to-day compliance – given their limited resources.  

Compliance is Just the Beginning 

This is where AllMyHR can make a big difference for small businesses. Our Guided HR Compliance (GHRC) program puts a dedicated team of HR experts, powered by our software and content, in your back pocket. With GHRC, your experts get to know you and your business, and can make sure your HR program is designed to meet your business objectives. 

The foundation starts with compliance, including fundamentals like onboarding a new employee through the I-9 process, updating an employee handbook, implementing state-mandated training, building job descriptions, or reviewing exempt and non-exempt employee classifications. 

Once the foundation is in place, your HR Advisor will help you implement leading practices to take your organization to the next level. This includes creating career ladders, establishing a pay and benefits scale, updating key processes like onboarding, or supporting investigations. 

HR and Compliance Made Simple 

If any of that stuff was easy, it would just be a checklist. But this level of customization and engagement requires a detailed understanding of each situation, each business, and each challenge. GHRC helps you build on your HR practices, pairing our expertise with your passion and creativity. Whether your goal is to sleep better at night, address some or all of the Healthy HR building blocks, or to meet your own objectives, GHRC can help you get there. 

We see the difference HR expertise makes in our clients’ businesses every day, and our recent survey data shows just what a big impact it can make. I can’t imagine a stronger business case for investing in HR. To learn more about Healthy HR and how GHRC can help you, schedule a brief conversation to discuss Healthy HR

What Is Discrimination?

Posted on by AllMyHR

Discrimination is often harmful, jeopardizing people’s jobs and careers, adding to their stress, and putting their health at risk. Employers who engage in or tolerate unlawful discrimination can face devastating lawsuits.

A hiring manager, eager to fill an exciting new role in the company, reacquaints himself with a candidate’s resume as that candidate takes a seat across from him. Looking up, the hiring manager jolts involuntarily, surprised to see a gray-haired man likely in his late 50s—a much older person than he had envisioned for this cutting-edge job. While the interview goes well, the hiring manager feels that the candidate’s age makes him a bad fit.

Elsewhere, a vice president ponders which project manager would be the best person to assign responsibility for the development of a new feature on the company’s signature app. Contingencies aside, the choice is clear: Mikalah has had far and away the most success of anyone on the team and is eager to jump into this new assignment. But Mikalah announced last week that she’s pregnant, and while she hasn’t yet requested leave, the VP assumes Mikalah won’t be able to do as good a job this time around. After a moment’s consideration, the VP opts to assign the project to Doug.

After receiving complaints about unequal pay, an HR director conducts a pay audit of their workplace, discovering that the complaints have merit. By and large, men in the company are paid more than women, and in many cases, the disparities seem to be based only on gender. Merit, seniority, and productivity didn’t seem to enter the equation.

Each of these scenarios illustrates what discrimination can look like in the workplace. Discrimination occurs when people are treated differently or less favorably; it becomes illegal in the employment setting when it’s because a person belongs to a protected group.

Discrimination is often harmful, jeopardizing people’s jobs and careers, adding to their stress, and putting their health at risk. Employers who engage in or tolerate unlawful discrimination can face devastating lawsuits.

Antidiscrimination Law

Under federal law, it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against an applicant or employee based on age (40 or older), disability, genetic information, national origin, race or color, religion, and sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation). These are called protected classes. Federal law also prohibits discrimination against an individual who complains about discrimination, files a charge of discrimination, or participates in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.

Federal antidiscrimination laws include, but aren’t limited to, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Equal Pay Act, Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act). You can learn about the requirements of these laws, what exactly they prohibit, and the employee counts at which they apply on the platform.

State laws may offer additional protections to employees as well. For example, a number of states have amended their employment discrimination laws to specifically define race as including traits associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles. Information about these laws is also available on the platform.

It’s worth noting that discrimination doesn’t have to be deliberate to be unlawful. Discriminatory outcomes, intentional or not, can put your organization in a world of hurt.

Types of Unlawful Discrimination

Unlawful discrimination will generally fall into one of the following categories:

  • Unfair treatment, which occurs when an employee or applicant is treated differently than others who are similarly situated because of a protected class or protected conduct.
  • Disparate impact, which can happen when a neutral employment policy or practice disproportionately impacts persons within a protected class.
  • Failing to undertake certain actions prohibited or required by law. For example, failing to reasonably accommodate a known disability of an employee or applicant.
  • Harassment, which is unwelcome conduct that is based on a protected class. This includes sexual harassment. Harassment becomes unlawful when either enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment or the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.
  • Retaliation, which is punishing an employee (or treating them unfavorably) for complaining about job discrimination or assisting with a job discrimination proceeding, like an investigation or lawsuit.

The best way to avoid discrimination is to base employment decisions only on factors that are job related.

Responding to a Complaint

If you receive a complaint that an employee has violated your discrimination policy, conduct a complete and well-documented investigation into the allegations. Assume neither guilt nor innocence and make no promise of a particular outcome. Speak with the employee who made the complaint, the accused employee, and any witnesses they name. Ask open-ended, non-accusatory questions.

Once the investigation is complete, document your conclusions and actions taken. If you determine the accused employee did in fact violate the company’s discrimination or other workplace policy, take the appropriate disciplinary measures, which, depending on the severity of behavior, may include termination of employment. A memo summarizing the findings should be placed in the accused employee’s file.

It is then important to inform both the accused employee and the accuser about the conclusions of the investigation and any disciplinary measures taken. The complaining employee doesn’t need to know the specific disciplinary action, just that appropriate corrective action was taken. In some situations, it may be advisable to separate employees to limit the potential for future incidents, but care should be taken so this step doesn’t have a negative impact on the employee who raised the complaint.

Companies that do not make changes substantial enough to eliminate discrimination once they become aware of it face greater liability in the event of future issues. You can help reduce risk related to discrimination complaints by conducting a quick, thorough, fair, and well-documented investigation, followed by steps to minimize the risk of such actions happening in the future.

I’d like to learn more about implementing our own LMS System
AllMyHR

Schedule A Demo

The simplest, most cost-effective way to streamline HR, reduce compliance risks, and focus on growing your business.

Contact Us Today

©2025 AllMyHr Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms & Conditions. Website By Commonwealth Creative