The Black Lives Matter movement emerged in 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. The recent killings of George Floyd and others have resulted in the movement expanding beyond the issues of law enforcement and race—they’ve resulted in a national reckoning on racial disparities in several regards, including income, education, and healthcare.
Statues are coming down, names of forts, buildings, and highways are changing, and employers in all sectors have pledged financial support to confront the inequalities. Yet, the greatest responsibility for addressing the disparities will be for employers to assess their policies and practices.
Illegal discrimination is hard to prove. But, the absence of proven bias doesn’t necessarily mean the presence of equal opportunity.
4 Things You Should Examine
By no means do we claim to be social scientists with a blueprint to address the full scope of the inequalities. But here are some things you should consider:
Access to hiring, promotions. First, assess your recruitment practices. Do they reach people of color?
Rarely are factors employers consider for hiring and promotions found to be discriminatory, yet certain elements may be barriers to applicants and employees of color. For example, is a college degree truly necessary for all jobs that require it, particularly for promotions? If appropriate for the job, consider changing the qualifications to “college degree preferred” or “college degree or relevant experience required.”
Make those who recommend candidates for promotion justify their choices. Were minority candidates considered? If a promotion is based on who applies in response to a posting, were employees of color encouraged to apply? If the decision makers are white, the perception to employees of color may be that they won’t be seriously considered—even if that impression is wrong.
Access to work/study programs. Consider adopting community work/study programs, especially at schools primarily serving lower-income and/or students of color.
Wealthy and even middle-class children frequently benefit from having access to personal connections for job shadowing or (legally questionable) unpaid internships. Choose to formalize and expand your outreach to underserved communities and schools to extend the same access to others.
Access to paid family and medical leave. According to the National Partnership for Women and Families (NPWF), “racial disparities in access to wealth and wealth building are compounded by a lack of access to paid family and medical leave.”
The organization’s research concludes “people of color tend to receive lower quality health care services and experience worse health outcomes than white people, magnifying their need for paid family and medical leave.”
Furthermore, “women of color suffer most from the combination of these disparities and challenges,” according to the NPWF. In addition, “the vast majority of working people in the United States—85%—do not have paid family leave through their employers, and the consequences for people of color are especially severe.”
Access to job callbacks. If you’re making a workforce reduction or calling employees back to work after the COVID-19 shutdown, what factors do you consider, and how are employees of color affected? For example, if your system is seniority-based, it could result in a disproportionate adverse effect on race.
Instead of basing the callbacks on seniority, consider whether another objective standard or qualification would be reasonable. Also, remember that quotas or firm targets for representation—however well-intentioned—aren’t lawful.
Stamp Out Microagressions
Make a commitment to educate your employees on and then stamp out microaggressions and implicit bias. Microaggressions include coded language or references disproportionately applied to people of color:
- A common example is the term “thug,” which is disproportionately used against Black people.
- The microaggressions can involve small slights and increased questioning and skepticism about whether individuals of color or women “belong.” For example, a well-known Black author who travels extensively has reported that when she lines up to board a plane with her top-level medallion status, she is regularly questioned whether she heard the call correctly.
- Calling the lone minority in a work group the “token” is another example. Even if the targeted person laughs at or even initiates the joke, the language normalizes a mentality that the minority employee isn’t there because of his qualifications and also suggests other minorities “need not apply” because the quota has been filled.
Employers should (1) acknowledge that minorities and women experience the microaggressions repeatedly and cumulatively throughout their lifetimes and (2) seek to provide a workplace devoid of the constant needling.
Bottom Line
A leading plaintiff’s attorney has called employer equal employment/nondiscrimination statements “pretty policies.” That is, they look good, but what does the employer actually do to be sure there is equal opportunity for training, mentoring, and promotions?
The Black Lives Matter movement should be a wake-up call for you to review with company leaders (from shift leaders on up) your goals of diversity, outreach, and conduct, and truly provide equal access, especially for opportunities that aren’t subject to formal application or review, such as cross-training, mentorship, overtime, and flexible scheduling to pursue outside education.
Make everyone aware of and responsible for meeting the goals.
Richard I. Lehr is a founding member of Lehr Middlebrooks Vreeland & Thompson, P.C., in Birmingham, Alabama. You can reach him at rlehr@lehrmiddlebrooks.com.
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