As discrimination in the workplace becomes more prevalent in the national eye, business owners must educate themselves on what that constitutes. In part one we detailed the obscure practices one may not associate with discriminatory hiring that could land your business in hot water, and that is barely the tip of the iceberg, as we will detail in part 2.
- Pregnancy
A very touchy subject around much of the country are hiring practices when it comes to women who are pregnant. In much the same way your business can run into litigious problems by refusing to serve alcohol to pregnant women due to it being considered discriminatory, you will run into similar problems if you don’t hire women on the basis of pregnancy or imminent childbirth.
You have to treat women who are pregnant in the same way and employer treats other applicants or employees with temporary injuries or conditions that might affect their job performance. This means that you must modify their tasks or have them do other assignments around the workplace, or if it gets really bad, let them take disability leave until they are able to work again
- Age
This is a major factor in hiring and employment that most business owners wouldn’t even consider. If older prospective employees apply or contact you about a position in your company, you are by law not allowed to reject them based on their age. An age limit may only be proposed in extremely rare circumstances where it’s been proven to be a necessary occupational qualification. In addition to this, you can’t deny any benefits any other employee might receive (I.E. health insurance) based on the prospective employee’s age.
Consider all of the positions in your business where older employees may be able to not only function but flourish, and don’t immediately discount a more elderly candidate. If you do, and this can be proven by governmental investigators, you may be on the hook for a large amount of money and further litigation.
