One of the risks that comes with hiring employees is the risk of discrimination suits. Many groups can declare your management discriminatory, and there are so many actions that can give rise to a suit being filed against you, including: promotions, pay rises, handing out key projects and even firings.
This can make it challenging for managers to know how to manage employees, so they will sometimes take actions that are against the business’ best interests in order to avoid a discrimination suit. So, here are some effective ways to manage employees to reduce the risk of a discrimination suit.
Numerous ‘secret shopper’ tests from around the world have found that even the name can create a bias in the recruitment process and this has led to some discrimination claims against businesses.
A simple solution for this is to have HR, or another administrator, to re-identify CVs with an application number and remove the name. Then the hiring manager receives the skills and experience of the candidate to make a selection decision on.
Other details can also be taken out of the CV that might lead to discrimination claims.
One of the best ways to protect your business from discrimination suits is to keep detailed records. This should include productivity, sickness and other metrics that can be use to make any informed decisions.
Then, when decisions are made, you can provide a fact-based reason why you have made that decision. For instance, for a promotion you can say one employee has double the productivity over the other.
There are a lot of third party consultants that can help your business make employee decisions. These people are often not emotionally attached to employees so will make a fair judgment. The expense of outside help can be much more cost effective than defending your company from a discrimination suit.
In addition, third party consultations can offer you insights into your employees that you might have missed.
While insurance won’t stop discrimination suits made against your organization, they are useful at minimizing the risk to your business should one be made. Always speak to a broker about what is best for your business.
Conclusion
There are serious risks when it comes to the potential of discrimination claims made against your business. By being proactive, you can help to protect your business from the financial damage caused by such a suit.
If you would like to know more about protecting your business from a discrimination claim, or another claim, then contact us for more information.