The American workplace is changing. There are more women, minorities, immigrants, nonimmigrant contract workers, non-English-speaking or limited-English-speaking workers, and older workers in the workforce today. Those employees have different needs, expectations, and skills that present many challenges for management.
You must not ignore those differences. Ignoring them simply leads to confusion, conflicts, and eventually discrimination or harassment complaints. But how can you communicate with, coordinate, and manage such a diverse group? The following suggestions may help you get started on a workplace diversity program.
Base Employment Decisions on Job Requirements
You have a right to make business decisions based on legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons. The best way to do that is to (1) develop detailed, written job descriptions for each job classification and (2) base critical employment decisions (hiring, training, evaluation, compensation, promotion, demotion, discipline, and termination) on the individual’s ability to perform the duties and responsibilities listed in those descriptions. You should also try to develop training programs to teach employees to meet the performance standards and duties set forth in the job descriptions.
Develop Programs to Deal with Cultural Diversity Issues
If you have limited or non-English-speaking workers, policies and procedures designed to facilitate communication are critical. Care, however, must be exercised in establishing those policies and procedures. You may not adopt blanket policies prohibiting workers from speaking languages other than English at all times. You may, however, consider the following practices:
Identify the jobs that require a particular language comprehension. You must be able to show that the requirement is a bona fide occupational qualification, i.e., that:
(1) language ability is an essential part of the job;
(2) an incumbent cannot successfully perform the job without that ability;
(3) the requirement is incorporated into the job description; and
(4) it is consistently and uniformly enforced.
Determine if you need an English-only rule during working time. There must be a business justification for the policy. Document the justification. Also, limit the rule’s application to working time. Remember, working time excludes time before or after an employee’s work shift, during any unpaid meal period, or during breaks.
Identify key documents that should be translated for non-English speakers. Many labor and employment laws require proof that employees have been duly notified of their rights and the consequences of their actions if they violate established rules. It is difficult to show that a non-English-speaking employee has been duly notified if he or she cannot read the notices. Consequently, you should consider having key documents translated into an employee’s native language. Documents that should be considered for translation include:
(*) benefit enrollment forms;
(*) payroll deduction forms;
(*) work rules;
(*) discrimination and harassment policies;
(*) discipline and termination notices;
(*) written employment agreements; and
(*) releases and settlement agreements.
Create a list of available translators. Translators will be necessary to communicate orally with non-English-speaking or limited-English-speaking employees. Circumstances in which a translator may be necessary include discrimination and harassment investigations, depositions, administrative hearings, and settlement negotiations. Translators can be fellow employees or nonemployees. Check with courts, consulates, universities, or schools for a list of available translators.
Train, Sensitize Employees
Train new arrivals on U.S. standards of behavior. The biggest mistake you could make is to assume that a non-American will know how to behave in this country. Our laws, values, ethics, and standards of behavior are very different from other countries. Moreover, our country places the burden on you to ensure that your employees behave properly. Therefore, the most effective risk management technique is to train new arrivals on how to behave in a U.S. workplace.
Train all employees on acceptable workplace behavior. Newly arrived immigrants aren’t the only people who could benefit from training on acceptable workplace behavior. All new employees can benefit from the training — particularly those who are being placed in “nontraditional” work situations. Recommended training includes: work performance standards, grooming and hygiene, discrimination and sexual harassment, work rules, and procedures for asking questions and resolving problems.
Train existing employees on harassment and discrimination. People are often culturally and/or socially insensitive. While most employees are not intentionally offensive, they are frequently unaware of how their “jokes” affect others. All employees should be trained to refrain from engaging in conduct that could be construed as harassment and/or discrimination. You may also want to consider alerting employees to behaviors that other cultures (or the other sex) find offensive.
Establish Culturally Sensitive Procedures
Americans (as a cultural group) are often individualistic, assertive, and outspoken. Consequently, most of our labor and employment laws (as well as our personnel policies and procedures) are modeled on a system in which employees are responsible for asserting their rights by filing complaints and grievances. That approach, however, may be difficult for certain cultures to use.
Employees from other cultures may sit silently while they are confronted with problems they cannot handle until one day, they can’t take it any more. At that point, there may be a physical confrontation or a lawsuit. Either one is bad. As a result, you should consider developing alternate methods for answering questions and resolving problems that are more comfortable for certain cultural groups. Here are some more specific suggestions that may help:
Train supervisors and managers. As with all other labor and employment matters, your company’s ability to handle diversity issues will depend on the human resource skills of your supervisors and managers. Therefore, it is critical that they receive training on how to manage culturally diverse workforces effectively.
Training should include: the different groups (culture and sex) present in the workforce; the do’s and don’ts of each group; alternative strategies for handling diversity issues as well as supervising non-Americans; your policy and procedures on harassment and discrimination; and instructions on whom to go to if they don’t know what to do or can no longer handle the situation by themselves.
Develop a risk management program for EEO claims. The program should include:
(*) adoption and enforcement of a discrimination and harassment policy (distribute a copy to all employees and retain proof of distribution);
(*) selection and training of at least two management-level employees to be the company’s investigators for discrimination and harassment complaints (they should be empowered to promptly investigate internal complaints);
(*) consistent and uniform application of discipline in the event discrimination or harassment is confirmed;
(*) documentation of the entire investigation, including interview notes, copies of all records reviewed, and a summary of the investigative findings and remedial action taken, if any; and
(*) development of a records retention program (EEO investigation records should be kept indefinitely, and access to them should be limited to persons with a “need to know”).
Develop procedures for handling litigation. Try not to panic if an administrative complaint or lawsuit is filed. Just remember, the litigation is simply the “American way” of resolving disputes between employers and employees.
When you get the administrative complaint or lawsuit, consult with legal counsel experienced in the area. Do not throw any of your records or documents away; give them to your attorneys.
Work with your legal counsel to assess your case early and determine what options are available for resolving the dispute, then choose the option that best fits your situation.
Why the quote marks around “American”? It is still the American workplace. Unless you believe that the presence of “women, minorities, immigrants,” etc. makes it not so — i.e., that the only “real” Americans are white men who speak English.
Many of our antecedents didn’t speak English when they got here. For that matter, how many of our antecedents spoke Dine or Mohawk or Narraganset — the languages of the *original* inhabitants?
Thanks for pointing this out! After reviewing the article, we decided you are right, so we have removed the quotation marks.