The Tribune

Discrimination has become a real issue in many corporate areas. We define business discrimination as prejudicial treatment in the workplace, which may affect hiring, firing, promotions, salary, job assignments, training, benefits and/or lay-offs based on a person’s age, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, national origins or disabilities.

There are essentially two types of discrimination: Direct liability and vicarious liability. Discrimination is often confused with bullying and harassment, but occurs when the offending behaviour shuts out an entire grouping as opposed to being directed at a single person. Harassment occurs when an individual employee endures offensive, intimidating, threatening or humiliating actions or comments because of their association in a grouping.

Here are some of the dimensions of discrimination that require the attention and action of senior leaders and human resource professionals:

Age – Both young and older employees suffer by virtue of their age in certain workplace cultures. Government and public office environments have recently become quite aged with a growing older population. Similarly, many private firms seem to shut out more seasoned employees, instead going after youth and vitality.

Sex – Gender has long been a line of discrimination for some employers who favour contracting men over women or vice versa. The last two generations of employees have made it clear that gender-specific roles have vanished.

Race and Ethnicity - The civil rights movement, and subsequent legislation around the globe, has begun to address the serious issue of race discrimination. Much more work must be done at both the national and corporate level to eradicate viewing people differently because of their skin colour.

National origin - Many countries have begun to address the widely-disputed notion of open borders and the free movement of workers across country lines. The Bahamas is no exception. While we entertain the dialogue, we cannot deny that many living here from other countries suffer cruelly because of their nationality.

Religion – Following the September 11 terror attacks, religious factions came under great scrutiny and those belonging to certain sects have been stereotyped. The Bahamas is no exception, and many who do not fall into mainstream religious thought are ostracised.

Disability – We are like many other countries, still updating our policies relating to the treatment of persons with disabilities. The movement to increase accessibility, and provide a higher degree of accommodation for these persons, has improved significantly but must continue to do so.

Pregnancy – The act of procreation must always be viewed as a blessing. Companies must honour this by refusing to discriminate against women who are pregnant, have been pregnant or may become pregnant. They must never be disadvantaged in any way because of circumstances or conditions arising from their pregnancy.

How to avoid workplace discrimination issues

While completely preventing discrimination can be a challenge, there are several steps your company can take to help minimise this risk in the workplace.

1. Create an Employee Handbook that outlines the agreed policies regarding discrimination and its consequences.

2. Engage in consistent employee training. From the orientation experience to annual staff development seminars, team members must get a consistent reminder of how to work in peace and harmony.

3. Contract the services of an attorney. A consistent relationship with legal counsel helps a company stay on the straight and narrow.

• NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at iferguson@bahamas.com.