The Anti-Discrimination Policy emphasizes creating a safe and inclusive workplace by preventing discrimination based on protected characteristics. It details the behaviors considered discriminatory and the actions taken against such behaviors, ensuring fairness and equality for all employees.
This anti-discrimination policy template is ready to be tailored to your company’s needs and can be a starting point for setting up your employment policies.
The anti-discrimination policy should include:
Our anti-discrimination policy explains how we prevent discrimination and protect our employees, customers and stakeholders from offensive and harmful behaviors. This policy supports our overall commitment to create a safe and happy workplace for everyone.
Our company complies with all anti-discrimination laws, including [Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA.)] We explicitly prohibit offensive behavior (e.g. derogatory comments towards colleagues of a specific gender or ethnicity.)
This policy applies to all employees, contractors, visitors, customers and stakeholders.
Discrimination is any negative action or attitude directed toward someone because of protected characteristics, like race and gender. Other protected characteristics are:
Our anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies go hand-in-hand. We will not tolerate any kind of discrimination that creates a hostile and unpleasant environment for employees, interns or volunteers.
This is not an exhaustive list, but here are some instances that we consider discrimination:
Employees who harass their colleagues will go through our disciplinary process and we may reprimand, demote or terminate them depending on the severity of their offence.
We recognize that sometimes discrimination is unintentional, as we may all have unconscious biases that could be difficult to identify and overcome. In case we conclude that an employee unconsciously discriminates, we will support them through training and counseling and implement processes that mitigate biases as we indicate in the next section. But, if this person shows unwillingness to change their behavior, we may demote or terminate them.
We will not be lenient in cases of assault, sexual harassment or workplace violence, whether physical or psychological. We will terminate employees who behave like this immediately.
To ensure that our conduct and processes are fair and lawful, we:
We will also consider additional measures to prevent discrimination, like:
If you are the victim of discriminatory behavior (or if you suspect that others are being discriminated against,) please talk to HR (or your manager) as soon as possible. HR is responsible for hearing your claim, investigating the issue and determining punishment.
Punishment for discriminatory behavior depends on the severity of the offence. For example, inadvertently offending someone might warrant a reprimand. Conversely, willfully bypassing employees for promotion because of a protected characteristic will result in termination.
If you decide to make a claim to a regulatory body (e.g. the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,) we are committed and bound by law not to retaliate against you.
HR is proactive and responsive about determining whether discrimination occurs. For example, we:
We will investigate all claims discreetly. We will never disclose who made a complaint to anyone or give out information that may help others identify that person (e.g. which department or role they work in.)
We should all strive to prevent and address discrimination. Be aware of your implicit biases and speak up whenever you or your colleagues are discriminated against. If you have any ideas on how we can ensure fairness and equality in our workplace, we are happy to hear them.
| Disclaimer: This policy template is meant to provide general guidelines and should be used as a reference. It may not take into account all relevant local, state or federal laws and is not a legal document. Neither the author nor Workable will assume any legal liability that may arise from the use of this policy. |
What is an example of an anti-discrimination policy? An anti-discrimination policy outlines guidelines to prevent workplace discrimination based on protected characteristics, ensuring a safe and inclusive environment for all. Why is an anti-discrimination policy important? It promotes fairness, equality, and a positive work culture, ensuring that all employees are treated with respect and dignity, irrespective of their background or identity. What should an anti-discrimination policy include? It should define discrimination, list protected characteristics, provide examples of discriminatory behaviors, and detail the reporting and investigation process. How does the policy handle unintentional discrimination? Unconscious biases may lead to unintentional discrimination. Such employees are supported through training and counseling, but repeated unwillingness to change may result in demotion or termination. What measures are taken to prevent discrimination? The policy may include bias-reducing hiring processes, diversity training, and structured interviews, among other proactive measures to ensure fairness.
