Handling Discrimination in the Workplace

Welcome to Mind Tools' Video Learning Series.

Tackling workplace discrimination is everyone's responsibility. It's about reducing the likelihood of it occurring, recognizing it when it happens, and knowing the right way to respond. It's the ethical and humane way to behave. It's also good for your organization's culture, reputation, and overall success.

Defeating discrimination involves creating an environment of mutual respect, where the benefits of diversity are recognized, and where there's zero tolerance for bullying or bad behavior of any kind. Everyone feels safe to raise a concern, knowing that any issues will be addressed sensitively and thoroughly.

So how can you help build a workplace culture that actively guards against discrimination?

First, be alert to it. Never assume that discrimination can't or won't happen where you work. If you are a manager, don't be afraid to deal with concerns or complaints if they arise.

Next, understand the laws that apply to you. While the core principles of fairness are easy enough to guess, the details of legislation can be complex and varied depending on where you live. So familiarize yourself with the relevant legal rights for employers and employees.

Use policies and procedures to combat discrimination. It's a good idea to have an overall policy for your organization. This might be a "non-discrimination;" "equality diversity and inclusion;" or "dignity at work" policy. Use this to say why equal treatment is necessary, and how you are achieving it, and check that potential discrimination is covered in all other relevant policies too, such as those for recruitment, pay and conditions, and entitlement to take leave.

Finally, empower everyone to stand up against discrimination. Promote open and honest conversations. Make it difficult for discrimination to go unchallenged by empowering everyone to call it out when they see it without fear of reprisal.

If a discrimination issue does arise, and it's your job to address it, check first whether it can be resolved informally.

If this isn't sufficient, and someone wants to raise a formal complaint, follow these three steps. First, set up a detailed record of the complaint, showing who's managing it, and what they're doing to resolve it.

Remember to protect the confidentiality of everyone involved throughout. Then whoever's handling the complaint will need to start gathering as much information as they can. They'll need to record the facts, as well as the feelings of the people affected, and collect some evidence about what's gone on.

Once the complaint's been fully investigated, you'll need to decide to what extent, if any, discrimination has taken place, and what you'll do to remedy it. It's vital to assess the impact of what's happened here. If someone has been very badly hurt by a colleague's actions, this must be taken into consideration, regardless of the other party's intent.

If discrimination has occurred, and it's been as a result of the policies or processes, you'll need to change them. However, if a person has been the cause of proven discrimination, consult your disciplinary policy. It's vital to follow this process to the letter to ensure fairness on all sides.

If it's not possible to achieve a resolution using internal procedures, the claimant may want to involve an external investigator. If so, seek professional advice to protect everyone involved, including your organization and yourself.

To learn more about dealing with discrimination, read the article that accompanies this video.