Best Practices for Equity in Employment Policies

Does your business want to promote #DEI legally? I've got 11 tips straight from EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas. Last year, on an episode of Cozen O'Connor's Employment Law Now podcast, hosted by Michael Schmidt, he asked Ms. Lucas about lawful actions employers can take to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion principles. Ms. Lucas responded with eleven of them. 1️⃣Audit Job Descriptions: Eliminate unnecessary job and degree requirements. 2️⃣Audit Job ads and interview questions: Ensure job ads and interview questions do not include race or sex preferences. The same applies to job descriptions. 3️⃣Standardize Interviews: Adopt uniform questions across similar roles to limit subjective biases. Eliminate questions about "fit," especially if code for a protected class. 4️⃣Formalize Promotions: Replace informal, subjective internal promotions such as "tap-on-the-shoulder" practices with transparent, standardized processes. Consider using opt-out methods to ensure all eligible employees are considered. 5️⃣Inclusive Mentorship and Sponsorship: Provide mentorship and sponsorship programs open to all, rather than creating exclusive groups based on race or sex. 6️⃣Universal Leadership Training: Offer leadership development training for all employees at a particular level without racial or sex restrictions. 7️⃣Support First-Generation Professionals: Instead of aiming to boost social mobility, consider programs directed towards first-generation professionals without regard to any protected class. These initiatives could include additional training, employee resource groups, mentoring programs, and internships. 8️⃣Individualized Training: Deliver training tailored to specific employee needs, avoiding racial or sex stereotypes. 9️⃣Conduct Privileged Audits: Identify and address existing workplace discrimination or harassment rather than targeting broader societal problems. 1️⃣0️⃣Broaden Recruitment Efforts: Expand applicant pools by diversifying recruitment channels, including various colleges and advertising forms and formats (print, radio, electronic). Companies can also remove or lower job requirements (e.g., GPA) across the board to widen the applicant pool. 1️⃣1️⃣Rethink Work Culture: Address excessive workloads to minimize barriers disproportionately impacting women and economically disadvantaged employees. Promote healthier work-life balance for improved retention and mobility. Ms. Lucas's podcast comments are not legally binding. Consult an #employmentlaw attorney for advice. However, they affirm that employers can pursue meaningful DEI efforts if they maintain clear, legally compliant frameworks. Emphasizing equal employment opportunities and making merit-based decisions will help organizations foster a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace environment while avoiding potential legal pitfalls. I'll link the podcast episode below (h/t Joshua L. Rogers) #TheEmployerHandbook #humanresources

Let’s talk about hiring and how we treat people in the process. There’s a lot going on in the world right now. For many, the job search only adds more stress and uncertainty. I’ve been thinking about how we can show up for our communities, and in my own work, that means prioritizing how we support candidates. In the progressive movement, we talk a lot about liberation, equity, and justice. But those values don’t always show up where they should (in our hiring practices). Whether we’re building campaigns, nonprofits, or foundations, *how* we hire is just as important as *who* we hire. The process is wicked important. It’s a window into how we operate, how we value people, and how seriously we take our commitments to equity. Here’s what it looks like to treat candidates well in the hiring process, especially in movement-aligned spaces: 1. Transparency & Respect ➡️ Post the salary every time. It’s not radical anymore, it’s baseline. ➡️ Share your timeline and stick to it. If things shift, update candidates about that shift. ➡️ Respond to everyone who applies or interviews. Even if it’s a no, it matters. ➡️ Share interview questions with your candidates ahead of time. This helps them prep and show up as their best selves to the call. 2. Remove Barriers ➡️ Ditch the cover letter and use clear application questions. Or, just ask for a resume and send a short written questionnaire as the first step in the process. ➡️ Again, be upfront about salary and benefits. It saves everyone time and builds trust. ➡️ Be mindful of time. Many strong candidates simply can’t afford to spend 10+ hours on interviews. Keep the process streamlined, focused, and as efficient as possible. ➡️ Compensate finalists for exercises. It shows you value people’s time and helps dismantle unpaid labor culture. 3. Consistent Process & Reduced Bias ➡️ Standardize your interviews. Same questions, same format = less bias, more fairness. ➡️ Use blind grading when appropriate. I like doing this especially for written exercises. A clear rubric helps us focus on key competencies.  ➡️ Make it collaborative. Final stages should include buy-in from both leadership and peers or direct reports the hire will work closely with. 4. The Candidate Experience Is Movement Work ➡️ Share your mission, values, and team vibe throughout the process. Candidates want to know what they’re stepping into. ➡️ For interviews, give candidates a heads-up on who they’ll meet and what to expect. When we treat candidates with dignity and transparency, we build stronger teams and stronger movements. We’re not perfect, and we don’t expect anyone else to be either, but we love partnering with clients who are willing to do the work to get better together. 🔍🔍 What would you add? What have you seen that works (or doesn’t) in progressive hiring? Drop your thoughts below. #EquityInHiring #NonprofitJobs #DEI #WorkplaceCulture #CandidateExperience #HiringEquity #PayTransparency 

10 Proven Steps to Ensure Equitable Hiring. I get asked about this a lot, especially after we won an ASTC Leading Edge Award for Business Practice based on this work at MOTF. I've developed these structural changes within three very different organizations over the last 10 years, in America and abroad. Now seems like a good time to share them. 1)     Eliminate unpaid internships and volunteer positions which are designed to replace professional staff. Pay all staff at a living wage with benefits. 2)     Make the pay and benefits transparent. Bonus points for organization-wide salary transparency. 3)     Provide flexibility in working locations, hours and schedules. 4)     Remove degree requirements for all positions unless legally required. 5)     Reduce requirements for experience to less than 6 and make sure they truly represent the skills which are essential and cannot be learned on the job. 6)     Reduce the core tasks of the role to less than 6. 7)     Use blind or masked hiring where the applicants’ demographic and geographic details are masked from the screener, hiring manager and interview committee. 8)     Train screeners to disregard attributes such as employment gaps, job hopping, and career changes. 9)     Train interviewers to focus on the skills and knowledge that the applicant brings to the role. They should be focusing on their aptitude to learn and grow rather than just on what the applicant knows right now. 10) Provide support services for staff and opportunities to learn and grow. Promote from within whenever possible. https://lnkd.in/dHH49imu

DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) isn’t just about race and gender. It’s about creating a workplace where everyone, regardless of ability, background, or life circumstances, has the opportunity to thrive. While many people associate DEI with representation, its impact goes far beyond that. Below are 25 real things DEI does to improve workplaces that you might not have considered: 1. Wheelchair ramps, elevators, and automatic doors for mobility access. 2. Adjustable desks and ergonomic setups for employees with disabilities. 3. Screen readers and Braille signage for visually impaired employees. 4. Neurodivergent-friendly workspaces (quiet rooms, noise control, flexible lighting). 5. Breastfeeding and lactation rooms for nursing mothers. 6. Paid parental leave for mothers, fathers, and adoptive parents. 7. On-site daycare or childcare assistance. 8. Flexible work schedules and remote work options for caregivers. 9. Prayer and meditation rooms for religious observances or mindfulness. 10. Halal, Kosher, and diverse meal options at work events and cafeterias. 11. Floating holidays for religious and cultural celebrations. 12. Dress code policies that respect religious attire (hijabs, turbans, etc.). 13. Pay transparency and salary audits to close gender and racial pay gaps. 14. Inclusive benefits like fertility treatments, adoption assistance, and mental health support. 15. Bias-free performance reviews to ensure fair evaluations. 16. Equitable promotions to ensure leadership diversity. 17. Anti-discrimination and unconscious bias training for employees. 18. Anonymous reporting hotlines for workplace discrimination or harassment. 19. Zero-tolerance policies for workplace bullying and harassment. 20. Sensitivity training to build awareness and reduce microaggressions. 21. Mentorship and sponsorship programs for underrepresented employees. 22. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for women, veterans, and people of color. 23. Diverse hiring panels to reduce bias in recruitment. 24. Internship and scholarship programs to develop inclusive talent pipelines. 25. Leadership development programs to support emerging diverse leaders. When companies invest in DEI, they’re not just making a social statement - they’re making workplaces more accessible, fair, and effective for everyone. It’s about people, performance, and progress. #FailForward #DEI #WorkplaceInclusion #DiversityAtWork

Have y’all read this story? Dwight Jackson filed a lawsuit against the Shinola Hotel in Detroit on July 3, alleging he was denied a job when he applied as “Dwight Jackson,” but later offered an interview when he changed his name to “John Jebrowski.” For me, Dwight’s lawsuit is not just a legal challenge but a call to action for all organizations to examine their role in perpetuating systemic discrimination. It’s a reminder that fostering an inclusive workplace requires more than just statements of commitment; it demands tangible, sustained efforts to dismantle the barriers that prevent true equity and inclusion. We should want confront and address implicit biases that disadvantage qualified candidates based on their names or backgrounds. Some simple steps to avoid this happening to your company include: 1. Implementing Blind Recruitment: Remove names and identifying information from resumes during the initial screening to ensure unbiased evaluation. 2. Conduct Unconscious Bias Training: Equip your hiring teams with the knowledge and tools to recognize and mitigate biases. 3. Establish Objective Evaluation Criteria: Develop clear, standardized criteria for assessing candidates to minimize subjective judgments. 4. Perform Regular Audits: Regularly review and analyze your hiring processes and outcomes to identify and address any disparities. Committing to these actions and creating a truly inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed is essential. Let’s lead by example and make meaningful changes that foster diversity, equity, and inclusion. We should not have to pretend to be “John Jebrowski” to be seen. https://lnkd.in/eS_jzSFW

Harsh hiring truth: If you’re not actively working to reduce bias, you’re reinforcing it. Practical ways to get it right: Standardize interview questions to evaluate candidates consistently. Include diverse voices in hiring decisions to broaden perspectives. Use structured evaluation criteria to minimize subjective judgments. STOP making assumptions based on resumes or appearances; they rarely tell the full story. Building an equitable hiring process isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s how you attract the best talent. ⭐

If you are hiring talent, take notes, folks! Yesterday I shared a disappointing story about an organization I felt was trying to take advantage of me and my work, but today I want to share another side of the coin with you. This is a best practice y'all! I was invited to interview for another part-time Facilitator role earlier this summer. Within days of applying, I received an invitation to apply with an outline of their organization's hiring process. 1st Interview - 45 minutes with interview questions given to me in ADVANCE!! A rubric would be used to score responses. I would know within 15 days if I would be moving to the next round. 2nd Interview - Facilitate a PAID workshop with the interviewer. One hour to facilitate/1 hour of prep. Yes, they were paying me before I was even hired for my time and pre-work. 3rd Interview - Two candidates will advance to a faculty conversation, that would lead to a final agreement about the best candidate for the role. For other reasons, I withdrew my candidacy but the transparency and ease this organization led with spoke volumes to me about their leadership but also about their commitment to equity. Here's a couple things to note: ✅ The whole process would likely be wrapped up in a month ✅ I knew what to expect in each phase of the interview process ✅ I was given a calendar of dates and workshop topics in advance ✅ The process ensured more equity and was consistent for all candidates ✅ They were paying candidates for delivering a workshop AKA No Free Work ❗ ✅ They provided contact information in case I wanted to talk through anything That's what I'm talking about! While I may not have ended up there, I am actually considering taking one of their programs in the near future because I was so impressed by their transparency. I'm not in a hiring position so I can't say this would work everywhere but what I do know is that as a candidate, this was the process that impressed me the most and won me over big time. What positive experiences have you had when it comes to the interview process? #interview #leadership #transparency #hiringprocess

Dwight Jackson, a Black man, claims that the Shinola Hotel denied him a job interview because of his race. He knows this, he says, because he reapplied for the same job at the same hotel with the same resume ... with one key difference. He changed his name to John Jebrowski. While the hotel didn't offer Jackson an interview, it did offer one to Jebrowski. That, Jackson says in his recently filed lawsuit, is race discrimination. Inherent bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that unconsciously affect our understanding, actions, and decisions. These biases can silently influence hiring decisions, leading to discrimination based on characteristics such as race. Name bias is one example of how inherent biases manifest themselves. What can an employer do to prevent these inherent biases from infecting hiring decisions? Here are 7 suggestions: 1. Implement blind hiring practices by removing identifying information from resumes and applications. 2. Develop a structured interview process with standardized questions for all candidates. 3. Use scorecards to evaluate responses consistently. 4. Train hiring managers on recognizing and mitigating inherent biases. 5. Form diverse interview panels to provide multiple perspectives on each candidate. 6. Analyze hiring data and practices to identify and address patterns of bias. 7. Define clear, job-related criteria for evaluating candidates. Eliminating inherent bias is critical to create fair and inclusive hiring practices, which in turn helps create diverse and inclusive workplaces. It also helps eliminate the risk of expensive and nasty discrimination lawsuits.

This commentary by Catt Small underscores a pervasive issue in hiring and promotion practices: the tendency to prioritize prior experience over potential. While this approach may seem logical, it inadvertently perpetuates inequities and stifles diversity, especially for marginalized groups. Here's what comes up for me when thinking about the harm that can occur: - Systemic Barriers to Opportunity- If hiring managers rely solely on a "proven track record," they reinforce these barriers by excluding talented individuals who were never given the chance to demonstrate their potential in the first place. - Gatekeeping Through Perception: This practice assumes that past roles fully reflect someone’s capabilities. However, biases may have previously limited access to roles where marginalized individuals could excel, creating a false narrative about their ability to "do the job." - Reframing Hiring and Promotion - Transferable experience and potential matter. Organizations should balance a "have you done it?" mindset to "can you grow into it?" Evaluate candidates based on transferable skills, problem-solving abilities, and leadership potential rather than rigid criteria tied to past roles. - Challenge the Status Quo: This commentary invites us to question what we define as "qualified." If the same systems that marginalize people also define qualifications, are we reinforcing inequity by adhering strictly to those standards? Implications for Marginalized Groups - Reinforcing the Confidence Gap: Many marginalized individuals already struggle with self-advocacy due to systemic barriers. By requiring prior experience as the main qualifier, we compound the confidence gap and further discourage them from pursuing opportunities. Share in the comments what's coming up for you. #ConfidenceGap #SelfAdvocacy #Workforce #Equity #Inclusion