As a California employer, inclusion is no doubt a top priority in your company. This may be especially true in light of Governor Gavin Newsom’s increased push for diversity in the workforce. Whether you are a CEO, board director or other company executive, these issues are relevant to you.
If you have been tasked with implementing a plan to put the governor’s guidelines into action, avoiding potential complaints should a big part of your strategy. Here are some tips as you strive to increase diversity while avoiding litigation.
Leading diversity from the top down
The following list includes various measures of precaution your company might take to increase diversity and prevent employment law issues in the workplace:
- As a company leader, you can set a tone that welcomes diversity and frowns upon exclusivity in the workplace so that employees will follow your example.
- If someone brings a specific issue to your attention, you will want to handle it in a way that is fair and enables workers to believe that you have their well-being in mind.
- Initiating written policies in a pamphlet for employees provides clarity on what your company expects as far as increasing diversity in the workplace is concerned.
- You might consider hosting periodic company meetings to discuss diversity issues.
The best way to avoid litigation about harassment or discrimination involving a protected class of workers is to take every concern seriously and thoroughly investigate any concerns or complaints that are brought to your office.
Governor Newsom’s executive order is available for review
As an executive in a California company, it behooves you to stay updated on any policy or instruction that comes out of the governor’s office regarding increased diversity in the workplace. For instance, you can direct your entire team to carefully review, and, perhaps, discuss the governor’s recent executive order that is relevant to this topic.
It pays to conduct periodic assessments of your company to gauge how things are going and whether there have been any adverse incidents regarding discrimination, wage discrepancies or other issues pertaining to lack of diversity. It is also a good idea to have a support network in place, with advisors who can advocate on your behalf, if needed, if diversity issues spark legal problems in your company.
