Yesterday’s Advisor covered many of the issues around bathrooms and transgender employees. Today, some guidelines and tips, plus an introduction to the all-HR-solution-in-one website, HR.BLR.com.
Bloomington, Indiana’s Human Rights Commission issued guidelines regarding gender identity, restrooms, and dressing rooms. (See yesterday’s issue for details.) Here’s what they say:
- If you have single occupancy restrooms, designate them as unisex when possible.
- If you don’t have a single occupancy restroom, and you have an employee who is transitioning to the other sex, consider giving the employee an “in use” sign to post on the restroom door while she or he is inside.
- If people object to transgender individuals using “their” restrooms, provide educational opportunities to help explain why, for example, the male-to-female transgender person wants to use the women’s restroom and to help explain why women are objecting to this. An open discussion provides an opportunity to air– and we hope–to resolve, specific concerns.
- Consider, if you don’t have accessible restrooms, installing a restroom that is accessible to people with disabilities and designating it as a unisex/accessible restroom. The federal Americans with Disabilities Act requires places of accommodations to make their restrooms accessible if doing so is readily achievable or affordable. Such restrooms not only help people with disabilities and transgender people, but they also help families, such as a mother with a son who needs to use the restroom.
- In dressing rooms or locker rooms, take steps to create private areas by installing curtains or cubicles.
BLR editor Elaine Quayle contacted Barbara E. McKinney, director, Bloomington Human Rights Commission/assistant city attorney, for additional guidance.
McKinney says, remember, regardless of the approach you take to address this issue, you retain the right to resolve reasonable privacy and safety concerns. If an individual is presenting a privacy or safety concern, you have the right and the obligation to deal with those actions appropriately.
Bloomington believes that if everyone concerned approaches these issues with respect to all, the problems usually can be resolved.
HR budget cuts? Let us help. HR.BLR.com is your one-stop solution for all your HR compliance and training needs. Take a no-cost, no-obligation trial and get a complimentary copy of our special report Critical HR Recordkeeping—From Hiring to Termination. It’s yours—no matter what you decide.
Expert Recommendations on Policy and Practice Review
Attorneys with Seyfarth Shaw point to the following implications for employers:
- Critical HR Recordkeeping—From Hiring to Termination. It’s yours—no matter what you decide.
Expert Recommendations on Policy and Practice Review
Attorneys with Seyfarth Shaw point to the following implications for employers:
- Revisit all your nondiscrimination policies to ensure that the category of gender identity and sex stereotyping is added to the list of protected categories.
- Incorporate training on these issues into equal employment opportunity and harassment programs. Consider targeted training in this area when/if a transgender employee announces that he or she is transitioning to the other sex. Strive to instill not just tolerance but also respect, understanding, and sensitivity among your employees of the issues a transgendered person faces.
- Review your dress codes with the goal of making them gender-neutral. Avoid policies that specifically define what men and women can wear (e.g., short hair for men or nail polish for women but not for men). Many such codes are based on sexual stereotypes and gender expectations. If you have male and female uniforms, allow each employee to choose which one he or she prefers.
- Strive to use appropriate pronouns for all employees. If you’re not sure what an individual prefers, have a brief, confidential meeting with the person and ask what he or she chooses. Then reach agreement with the individual about a communication plan for other employees about the choice.
- Consider restroom access as well as access for locker rooms or other gender-specific facilities. Again, consider any individual’s gender presentation and identity when making decisions about access. You might use unisex facilities for an interim period.
- Provide guidelines for other workforce transition periods if an employee announces the intention to transition to the other gender. Maintain a continuing dialog with the person to set clear expectations for the transition, including notification to clients, co-workers, and others.
- Update personnel records to reflect an individual’s name and sexual identity, along with ID badges and business cards.
Critical HR Recordkeeping—From Hiring to Termination. It’s yours—no matter what you decide.
Expert Recommendations on Policy and Practice Review
Attorneys with Seyfarth Shaw point to the following implications for employers:
Managing bathrooms for transgender employees, just one more daily challenge—in HR, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. Like FMLA intermittent leave, overtime hassles, ADA accommodation, and then on top of that whatever the agencies and courts throw in your way.
Critical HR Recordkeeping—From Hiring to Termination. It’s yours—no matter what you decide.
Expert Recommendations on Policy and Practice Review
Attorneys with Seyfarth Shaw point to the following implications for employers:
- You need a go-to resource, and our editors recommend the “everything-HR-in-one website,” HR.BLR.com . As an example of what you will find, here are some policy recommendations concerning e-mail, excerpted from a sample policy on the website:
Privacy. The director of information services can override any individual password and thus has access to all e-mail messages in order to ensure compliance with company policy. This means that employees do not have an expectation of privacy in their company e-mail or any other information stored or accessed on company computers.
Find out what the buzz is all about. Take a no-cost look at HR.BLR.com, solve your top problem, and get a complimentary gift.
E-mail review. All e-mail is subject to review by management. Your use of the e-mail system grants consent to the review of any of the messages to or from you in the system in printed form or in any other medium.
Solicitation. In line with our general non-solicitation policy, e-mail must not be used to solicit for outside business ventures, personal parties, social meetings, charities, membership in any organization, political causes, religious causes, or other matters not connected to the company’s business.
We should point out that this is just one of hundreds of sample policies on the site. (You’ll also find analysis of laws and issues, job descriptions, and complete training materials for hundreds of HR topics.)
You can examine the entire HR.BLR.com program free of any cost or commitment. It’s quite remarkable—30 years of accumulated HR knowledge, tools, and skills gathered in one place and accessible at the click of a mouse.
What’s more, we’ll supply a free downloadable copy of our special report, Critical HR Recordkeeping—From Hiring to Termination, just for looking at HR.BLR.com. If you’d like to try it at absolutely no cost or obligation to continue (and get the special report, no matter what you decide), go here.
When employees begin a gender reassignment transition process it will provide some distinct challenges for supervisors and coworkers alike. Often the transitioning employee will allow the employer (HR) to speak directly with their counselor which can give considerable insight into the issues the employee will face and the requirements that they must satisfy before gender reassignment surgery will be done. Preparing the workplace will be a challenge and bathrooms are only part of the challenges. Not only will the transitioning employee be uncomfortable using their “birth” restroom, in some states they are required to live as the new gender before surgery. So they will dress the new gender, may undergo hormonal therapy changing their appearance, and may be required to designate their “new” gender on their driver’s license. They need to be recognized and treated as the “new” gender. I have assisted two employees through gender reassignment with varying levels of success and the challenges for each were vastly different. Best advice, work with the employee’s counselor or medical provider if they will allow you to talk with them.