Discrimination & Harassment in the Workplace

Workplace discrimination and harassment are unlawful activities, and employees are protected by federal and state laws that prohibit unfair treatment.

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A number of federal, state and municipal laws prohibit workplace discrimination. In some instances, employers and employees are unaware of these rules. There are also instances where employers and employees are aware that discrimination is unlawful activity; however, workplace discrimination may be controlled and eventually eliminated when it is recognized and addressed by human resources leadership.

Discrimination occurs when one person or a group of people are subjected to unfair treatment based on factors, such as race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity or veteran status. Several federal laws address each type of discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one of the most comprehensive laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces Title VII, as well as other laws that address discriminatory treatment. State human rights commissions that address statutes at the state level prohibit unfair employment practices.

Given the number of complaints, lawsuits and mediation pertaining to workplace discrimination, there are endless examples to illustrate how discrimination occurs on the job. Assume there are eight engineers employed by a company; there are six male engineers and two female engineers. All have identical qualifications and credentials. The six men are paid $50,000 per year and eligible for a 5 percent raise each year if their performance appraisal indicates satisfactory performance. The two women are paid $48,000 per year and are eligible for a 3 percent raise if their performance rating indicates superior performance. Granted, this is an egregious example of workplace discrimination but it helps paint a picture of discrimination and how it is perpetuated in business. In this case, the female engineers are clearly being treated differently, based on sex. This example violates several federal laws: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, The Equal Pay Act of 1963 and The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

When the discriminatory behavior exceeds that of engaging in unfair employment practices, and escalates to behavior that is verbally and physically abusive, it is considered harassment. Many cases of employment discrimination also contain complaints of a “hostile work environment.” A hostile work environment is created when the victim of discrimination is treated in a manner that makes it difficult or impossible to perform her job duties.

Section 21.051 of the Texas Labor Code states, “An employer commits an unlawful employment practice if because of race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, or age the employer: (1) fails or refuses to hire an individual, discharges an individual, or discriminates in any other manner against an individual in connection with compensation or the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment; or (2) limits, segregates, or classifies an employee or applicant for employment in a manner that would deprive or tend to deprive an individual of any employment opportunity or adversely affect in any other manner the status of an employee.” The Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division enforces the state’s laws and investigates complaints filed by employees who believe they have been subjected to discrimination.

There never will be a cure for discrimination; however, employers can educate employees on the illegality of discriminatory treatment. An understanding of differences in race, culture, sex, national origin and other factors that are separate from job qualifications will help prevent some instances of discrimination. An employer’s responsibility is to provide a safe workplace, free from harassment and discrimination.

Ruth Mayhew began writing in 1985. Her work appears in "The Multi-Generational Workforce in the Health Care Industry" and "Human Resources Managers Appraisal Schemes." Mayhew earned senior professional human resources certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute and holds a Master of Arts in sociology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Guidelines to Manage Workplace Diversity

The best managers are ones who promote diversity and accept all types of people.

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Diversity in the workplace is an increasingly relevant issue and refers to the differences between coworkers--whether ethnicity, sex, religion, age, background or position. According to an article from ZeroMillion.com, an online business resource, in the 1960s, more than 60 percent of American workers were white males. Now, with a variety of people in the workforce, the best managers are ones who can effectively manage and promote workplace diversity.

Even the best of managers cannot create diversity and cultural awareness out of thin air. During the interviewing process, look for people who can contribute to a diverse staff or people who are on board with your vision for workplace diversity. Add diversity to the list of requirements--or at least an awareness--for prospective employees. Hiring a diverse and culturally aware staff will increase the number of perspectives in the office, open lines of communication with more groups and, in turn, increase productivity, according to a 2004 diversity article at DiversityWorking.com.

An office retreat, whether a day trip to a park or a weekend in the mountains, can be a great time for your employees to get to know each other. Maybe you've recently added some diverse individuals to your team and you want them to have a seamless transition. A retreat allows your employees to get to know each other out of the office and see each other in a recreational setting. Set up board games, sporting events and team-building activities for the day or weekend. Be open about the fact that it's a diversity and team-building retreat. According to a University of Nebraska article by John Leonard Harris about how to plan a diversity retreat, an essential component is to appoint a facilitator to guide the weekend. This person must have a working knowledge of current and relevant issues, people skills and be well-respected in the workplace. The facilitator will lead discussions about a variety of diversity topics and inspire conversation between employees.

Despite how much diversity training you provide your staff, issues will arise. People will feel unfairly treated, people will treat others unfairly and diversity will not always be on employees' minds. But a way to combat the slip-ups that will occur from time to time is to keep an open door policy. Inform your employees that you are available to chat about diversity and workplace issues, productivity concerns and relevant issues. Allowing employees to express their concerns when they need to will result in happier, more productive individuals while giving you an idea of how to improve diversity in your workplace, according to a diversity article by Lenora Billings-Harris, a nationally renowned performance improvement consultant, on SideRoad.com.

Mitchell Holt has a bachelor's degree in print journalism from Abilene Christian University and has been freelancing since 2009 with work published in various newspapers and magazines like "BostonNOW" and "The Abilene Reporter-News." Holt also writes sales copy for small businesses. His clients include The Kyle David Group, ITNewton, 18 Vodka, RoboQuote and more.

Employee Morale Issues

Morale is affected by several factors and costs companies millions each year.

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Good workplace morale is the state of mind of employees displayed through hard work, cordiality, confidence and discipline, according to a 2007 organizational leadership article by Roberts Wesleyan College graduate student Nicole Fink. Employees with low morale cost the American workforce about $350 billion each year through health-related issues, missing work and general unhappiness at work, according to Fink's article. Several consistent issues cause low employee morale.

According to Entrepreneur and a 2006 study from Rasmussen Reports--a company that collects and distributes public polling information--92 percent of managers claim to be doing an "excellent" job supervising employees, but only 67 percent of employees agree. Not only are managers one of the main causes of low morale, they don't know that they are. Poor leadership often comes in the form of lack of communication, micromanagement and discrimination. According to eWeek, positive leadership and poor leadership are what determine the tone of an office, directly improving or deteriorating employee morale.

Employees with limited chance of advancement are more likely to have low morale than those who can grow with the company, according to Fink's morale article. Lack of advancement makes employees feel like they are in a dead-end job, promoting lack of motivation and, in turn, low morale.

One or two employees can negatively affect and entire staff of employees, according to IT Managers Inbox. Problems that arise in the workplace--whether workplace bullying, disrespect, discrimination or general disagreements--negatively affect morale and decrease productivity. To a certain extent managers must keep an eye out for workplace dissent, but much of the responsibility lies with employees, who should stick up for unfairly treated coworkers and keep an eye out for morale issues. In addition, according to a human resources statistics page from Entrepreneur, about 63 percent of employees who feel mistreated at work leave within two years, putting employers right back where they started, training a new set of employees.

Many employees bring personal issues to work--often concerns regarding family and finances--and this often negatively affects performance and morale. According to "Entrepreneur", about 40 percent of employees in the U.S. let personal finances and other issues affect their performance in the workplace. Employees dealing with personal issues usually seem distant, out of touch with coworkers and don't contribute to communication in the office--email threads, comments in business meetings and phone calls.

Mitchell Holt has a bachelor's degree in print journalism from Abilene Christian University and has been freelancing since 2009 with work published in various newspapers and magazines like "BostonNOW" and "The Abilene Reporter-News." Holt also writes sales copy for small businesses. His clients include The Kyle David Group, ITNewton, 18 Vodka, RoboQuote and more.

Tax Deduction Ideas

Know what counts as a small business tax deduction.

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The Internal Revenue Service defines a business expense as any cost associated with the act of doing business, according to the Business Expense" page of the IRS website. The IRS allows small businesses to deduct certain expenses from the company income tax return. To maximize the allowable deductions, it is necessary to develop tax deduction ideas.

If you use a portion of your home exclusively to conduct business, then you can write off a portion of your home expenses on your business taxes, according to the article titled "Small Business Expenses and Tax Deductions" on the Business.gov website. Some of the home office expenses that can be deducted are the mortgage, utilities, home repairs and homeowners insurance. You do not need to own your home for it to be a business deduction. If you live in an apartment and have a portion of that apartment set aside for business use, then expenses such as rent and utilities are deductible. Consult an accountant to find out how much of your home expenses can be deducted for your business.

Office supplies used in the course of doing business are tax deductible, according to the article "A Dozen Deductions for Your Small Business" on the Bankrate.com website. Keep all of your office supply purchase receipts, and keep them organized in a file folder for easier categorization. Office supplies that are deductible include copy paper, printer ink, pens, pencils, pads of paper, paper clips, highlighters and staples.

Your employees offer a source of small business tax deductions, according to the "Business Expenses" page on the IRS website. Employee compensation and certain employee retirement plans, such as a 401k, offer tax deductions for the small business as well.

Office furniture offers another chance for small business tax deductions, according to Bankrate.com. The small business owner can choose to write off the entire cost of office furniture purchased in a year, or the cost can be spread out over the span of seven years as depreciation. Depreciation is not done in seven even segments spread out over seven years. The IRS releases a depreciation schedule each year that explains how to depreciate equipment and write it off on your small business taxes.

Arnold Anderson began writing professionally in 1985. His publishing credits include a weekly column in the "Lockport Union Sun and Journal" along with the "Spectrum," the "Niagara Falls Gazette," "Tonawanda News," "Watertown Daily News" and the "Buffalo News." Anderson has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York, Buffalo.

Learning Accounting Online

Online education is a good option for many busy people, who can choose to take an accounting course online.

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The Internet revolutionized the way people live and its impact in education is clearly felt in education, where you can go to school online, get degrees, learn a new language or a new skill. You can learn accounting online too. It is challenging, but it is doable. Before taking an accounting class online, get as much information about it as possible, such as time and work required along with any specific software or internet connection needed.

You must be very organized to learn accounting online, with all the deadlines and work required. Use an agenda, paper or online, to keep track of your tests and assignments. It is easy to forget to do things when you don't go physically to a classroom and accounting is no exception. Separate blocks of time--at least three hours each--a couple of days a week to take care of reading, homework, group assignments and tests. Learning accounting requires work, online or live, therefore organize your time accordingly.

Participation in online accounting classes usually refers to postings in discussion areas and in chats. The instructor wants to see that you're learning and you can make connections between concepts. When participating in online classes, avoid a one-word or one-sentence response. Write at least three sentences about a topic per post in discussion or chat. Give examples of what you're discussing. Find online resources and talk about it, not just how clear the explanation is on that site, but how that relates to something else. For instance: "that site showed how accrual and cash basis of accounting differs. Clearly the more accounts receivable and payable a business have, the more the accrual method makes more sense. The cash basis ignore these items and bills to be paid, money to be received are too important to be ignored."

Going to school online can be very convenient because you can do it without driving and looking for a classroom. Learning accounting online can give you time to think and to digest concepts without being put on the spot, as can happen in regular courses, where you can be called in to answer questions during class or do homework on the board. An online accounting course gives you the opportunity of re-reading lectures, allowing you to focus on new concepts as long as you need. You can still ask the instructor and other student questions and get answers, but the online medium slows down a bit the intensity of an accounting course, which can reduce stress, helping you learn accounting on your terms.

Consider getting a second book to help you learn accounting. Many times concepts are understood better when explained in a different way. Get a book with lots of accounting exercises and answers with explanations. That's the best way of learning accounting: by doing, not by reading theory over and over. Many free online resources are available to learn accounting--make full use of them. If you are not understanding something, don't give up on it. Look it up online and try to do online exercises about it, until you get the idea. There are no shortcuts in learning accounting, online or otherwise.

Free or very cheap accounting courses are available online and they may work for some people, but usually you don't learn accounting by yourself. It's not an easy topic to grasp and "get it" without an instructor. Another warning about learning accounting online is that it is a lonely experience. You don't have colleagues sitting next to you to chat or to exchange information. Without a classroom, it is easy to lose motivation and to give up on the course. To prevent this, try to connect with other students "offline." You could also form your own informal study group with other students in the same boat.

Sheila Shanker is a certified public accountant based in California. She writes online courses for professionals seeking CPE hours and has also published the book "Guide to Non-profits: From the Trenches." Her articles have been published in national magazines such as the "Journal of Accountancy," "Architecture Business and Economics" and "Veterinary Economics." Shanker holds a Master of Business Administration.