Avoiding claims of prejudice or racist decisions

It seems like every time you watch the news there is a racist claim or a person accused of being prejudice. The workplace in particular is vulnerable to racist claims. How do you avoid claims of prejudice or decisions about racism? Racism and prejudice claims are a tough topic for many people. Many businesses in particular do not know how to handle these topics. Let's explore some options that can help your business avoid claims of prejudice or racist decisions.

Racism and prejudice claims are a result of intolerance. People treat others differently because of the color of their skin. A few bad members of race can tag line a bad reputation for all the others who are decent people. Many establishments do not recognize racist acts. They are often difficult to "catch in the act". Each member in the workplace should be treated equally. Ignorance is a poor excuse for losinga good employee. As a company you need to set the right example on racism. It needs to be clearly explained that racism or claims of prejudice will not be allowed and any employee who engages in such activities will be immediately terminated. Your staff should not they should not site back and watch acts of racism happen. They should speak up to a manger if they observe such behavior.

An article in Business Week reported that over the past 10 years millions of dollars have been paid out for racist claims. This report shows that these numbers have doubled since the early 1990's. So how can a company stop racism and prejudice claims in the workplace? It is no easy task since racism can take many forms. Here are a few examples:

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• Recruitment staff unconsciously restricts a job candidate because of race.


• - Assumptions are made about racial groups in the office.


• - Promotions are withheld because of race.


• - Prejudice comments are made to minority staff members.


• - A worker is dismissed for not talking English with their colleagues on breaks.

Now that you know what to look for, put some tools in place to avoid racism in the workplace. Meet with trade unions on local issues dealing with racism and prejudice claims. Set up a communication network and have speakers of different ethnicities come to discuss issues. Send out a monthly newsletter to your staff with a column on racism and how it is not tolerated.

A company can take positive action to encourage workers from an ethnic group to apply for higher positions to widen the recruitment procedures. Having a member of an ethic group on the committee to stop racism in the workplace is a great way to gain insight from their perspective.

Your company needs to have a good legal team in place too if a racist or prejudice claim it taken to the courts. Having a policy in place that shows racism is not tolerated and any employee seen engaging in this behavior will be terminated is essential. You need to protect your company as well as your employees. A good HR department should be able to handle racist claims before they get to the legal level.

Every company wants to have their company environment be as comfortable as possible for everyone. In a society as advanced as ours, racism and prejudice claims should not happen. Unfortunately, it is still a problem. Take proper procedures to ensure your company has a strong stance on this issue. Hire people who treat everyone as equals and respect them. Their attitudes will help set the way for all other employees. In the end, no one deserves to be treated unfairly for any reason.