Human Resource Blog

Being More Approachable for Racial Discrimination Complaints

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We would like to make our company more open for our employees to approach us with complaints about racial discrimination. Aside from telling them that we are available, what else can we do?

Very good question. When it comes to running a business, one of you major concerns should be, always, with your employee communication. It is excellent to see that you are interested in hearing what your employees have to say about their experiences at work. From the HR office, you will be in a position to not only improve their quality of work life, but you will also be able to implement policy changes that could address specific issues that concern them, if you believe that those issues are valid and need to be addressed.

 

One of the best things that you can do from the HR office to improve communication at work is to speak with your supervisors and other members of the leadership teams. Make sure that they are comfortable with the open lines of communication between the leadership and HR. Of course, a great time to speak with them is during training, which you should do regularly. During your training that specifically pertains to racial discrimination issues (again, which you should have once a year), make sure that you educate these leadership team mates.

 

Make sure that they are aware of the dangers and repercussions of racial discrimination. They need to know how important racial discrimination is not only so that they do not discriminate, but also so that they take the issues seriously with their subordinates. Help them understand that racial discrimination is prohibited according to Title VII and that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) takes prosecution of racial discrimination very seriously. As such, you should also take it seriously.

 

In addition, make sure that your company has an all-encompassing anti-harassment policy. This policy should be available in the company handbook, which all employees should have. Also, post notices around the workplace to let employees know that they are prohibited from making racially-motivated statements or slurs. If problems arise, your employees should be able to rely on you to take immediate action on the complaint. You also need to make sure that when you listen to a complaint, the complaining employee will not be the victim of retaliation; in other words, your complaints can sometimes be anonymous, but if not, the employee should have a level of protection.