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Caregivers at Work
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is continuing to draw attention to caregiver discrimination, an issue that experts say has only grown more pervasive with the recession. In a technical assistance document , the EEOC says that adopting more flexible workplace policies can help employees achieve a work/life balance and enhance productivity, reduce absenteeism, lower costs and decrease discrimination claims. However, the EEOC's Republican members were dubious about the timing and impact of releasing best practices on caregiver bias. After all, they say, the EEOC has work to do on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the ADA Amendment Act and the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. "Caregiver is not a protected class," Commissioner Constance Barker says. "Their protections arise from the Family Medical Leave Act. We don't have the authority to enforce that. It comes from the Department of Labor." While caregiver isn't a protected base, bias toward caregivers could result in violations of Title VII or the Americans with Disabilities Act, the commissioners say. Best practices include: * Define "caregiver" and "caregiver responsibilities" in your company policies. Also, provide an inclusive definition of "family" that extends beyond children and spouses, and covers any individual for whom the applicant or employee has primary-caretaking responsibilities. * Describe stereotypes and biases that could result in unlawful conduct, including the assumptions that: * Female workers' caretaking responsibilities will interfere with their ability to succeed at work or that women who work part-time or take advantage of flexible-work arrangements are less committed to their jobs than full-time employees; and * Male workers do not or should not have significant caregiving responsibilities. The document provides several examples of prohibited conduct, including: * Asking female applicants and employees, but not male applicants and employees, about their child-care responsibilities. * Making stereotypical comments about pregnant workers or caregivers. * Treating female workers without caregiving responsibilities more favorably than female caregivers. * Steering women with caregiving responsibilities to less prestigious or lower-paid positions. * Treating women of color who have caregiving responsibilities differently than other workers with caregiving responsibilities due to gender, race, and/or national origin-based stereotypes. * Treating male workers with caregiving responsibilities more -- or less -- favorably than female workers with caregiving responsibilities. * Denying male workers -- but not female workers -- requests for leave related to caregiving responsibilities. * Providing reasonable accommodations for temporary medical conditions, but not for pregnancy. Additional best practices include: * Prohibit retaliation against employees who report discrimination or harassment based on caregiving responsibilities, or who provide information related to such complaints. * Identify an office or person that staff may contact if they have questions or need to file a complaint. * Ensure that managers are aware of and are complying with the organization's work/life policies. * Provide incentives for managers to ensure their employees are aware of work/life balance programs and to support employees who choose to take advantage of them. * Assess supervisors' willingness to assist employees who have caregiving responsibilities on supervisors' performance evaluations. * Do not ask questions about applicants' or employees' children, plans to start a family, pregnancy, or other caregiving issues during interviews or performance reviews. * Review employment policies related to hiring, promotion, pay, benefits, attendance and leave to determine whether they disadvantage workers with caregiver responsibilities. * Ensure that job openings, acting positions and promotions are communicated to all eligible employees regardless of caregiving responsibilities. * Monitor compensation practices and performance-appraisal systems for patterns of potential discrimination against caregivers. * Work with employees to create flexible-work arrangements that meet the needs of everyone. * Reassign job duties that employees are unable to perform because of pregnancy or other caregiving responsibilities. May 4, 2009 Copyright 2009© LRP Publications |
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© Copyright 2010 LRP Publications. All rights reserved.
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