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Yesterday, we looked at some of the considerations and definitions involved in managing a workforce that encompasses transgender employees. Today, some tips for promoting tolerance and respect, as well as how to deal with the practical issue of restrooms and dressing rooms. |
Promoting Tolerance and Respect
As with most unusual “new” encounters, employees are likely to have varied reactions to a transgender co-worker, depending on their personal experiences, upbringing, religious beliefs, and cultural orientation. Accepting a transgender co-worker can be very difficult for some employees. But, it’s critical for an employer to maintain an environment that strictly prohibits discrimination and harassment. If you don’t, you can be on the hook for your employees’ intolerance.
Fostering tolerance and respect for transgender employees begins with an employer’s clear and consistent statement that all employees are welcome, and that management supports all employees regardless of gender identity.
Free webinar on transgender employees in California — exclusively for CEA Online subscribers!
This can be accomplished through clear policy statements in handbooks and manuals as well as during employee orientations and management trainings. Managers should be reminded that they are responsible for implementing company policies and maintaining a harassment-free workplace.
If an employee does not disclose his or her status as transgender, makes no complaints about experiencing harassment or bias, and managers are keeping a watchful eye for improper behavior from co-workers, you may need to do little more. But, some transgender employees will be very open about their gender identity, which can cause other employees discomfort. If workplace friction crops up, employers should act quickly to remind employees of company policies and provide mandatory tolerance training.
Restrooms and Dressing Rooms
Often, the most difficult workplace issues that arise for transgender employees relate to which bathroom or dressing room the employee is permitted to use. To date, no California court has ruled regarding how the use of bathrooms or dressing rooms by transgender employees relates to bias or harassment laws.
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Wherever possible, single-stall or single-occupant bathrooms should be made available to transgender employees if they choose. Otherwise, to be legally conservative, employers should permit transgender employees to use the facilities of their chosen gender — even if that makes other employees uncomfortable. An uneasy employee cannot sue for being made to share a bathroom with a transgender co-worker. In contrast, if you force transgender employees to use facilities that correspond to their birth gender instead of their chosen gender, you may risk a bias lawsuit.
Transgender Employees in California: Best Practices for Eliminating Bias and Ensuring Respect in the Workplace
David, who is awaiting gender-reassignment surgery, insists on being called Darlene. Darlene starts using the women’s bathroom, and coworkers are outraged. They tell Darlene to knock it off or else. They continue to harass and ridicule Darlene for weeks until she gets so fed up she quits.
After healing from surgery, Darlene files a claim with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, alleging that she was subjected to a hostile work environment and constructively discharged. Does Darlene have a valid claim? Maybe.
The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects employees who are or are perceived to be transgendered, or as not conforming to their gender, from unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
Are you prepared to field employee questions (and possible complaints) about which bathroom a pre-operative transgender employee should be using? Is your dress code sufficiently inclusive? Do you know how and when to update employment records for a formerly female employee who’s now a male, or vice versa?
Join us for an in-depth webinar on April 20 for the answers to these questions and more. You’ll learn:
- The definitions of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity – and how some employers misinterpret their meanings
- The protections FEHA affords to transgendered individuals
- Common issues that often arise, including rest-room access, dress codes, recordkeeping and personnel documents, and health and other benefits
- Confidentiality and privacy-based considerations you must take into account before sharing information about an employee’s gender reassignment with others in the workplace
- How to explain name and gender transitions to coworkers, and what managers can do to help those workers adjust to the new status quo
- Best practices for ensuring that your workplace is bias-free and that transgendered workers are treated with respect
This webinar is exclusively available to our CEA Online subscribers. If you’re already a CEA Online subscriber, and would like to attend this webinar free of charge, please please click here to register.
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