In June of 2020, the US Supreme Court handed down a ruling that barred employers from discriminating against queer and transgender employees. This was the latest of many fights happening worldwide to introduce or strengthen legislation to protect the LGBTQ+ community in the workplace.
While this landmark ruling is a great step forward, the LGBTQ+ community – and the trans and gender-diverse community in particular – still frequently face discrimination in workplaces around the world.
Alex Hattingh, CPO at HR Software platform Employment Hero, shares how you can look out for the signs that employers are creating inclusive environments for everyone.
Trans and gender-diverse employees are almost twice as likely to hear sexist jokes about people of their gender, or to hear demeaning comments about people like themselves. From this, they are three times more likely to feel like they can’t talk about themselves or their life outside work. This is likely part of the reason why trans people frequently think about leaving their company. So if you hear something transphobic or offensive, call it out and make sure there are disciplinary measures in place.
Fostering diverse and inclusive workplaces opens your business up to invaluable diverse thinking. Diverse and inclusive workplaces can also make a significant impact beyond the office door, creating better professional lives for people from minority groups and driving change in society-wide inequalities.
When your employees were onboarding, did you offer them a chance to select their gender identity when they’re filling out their onboarding documents? In addition to ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ tick boxes, companies should include ‘Non-binary’ or ‘Prefer not to say’, so you can understand their gender identity before they start the job. For example, Employment Hero has gender selection options of ‘female’, ‘male’, ‘non-binary’ and ‘would prefer not to say’ as a standard inclusion on the paperless onboarding system.
Personal pronouns are the words we use to describe ourselves or others – ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’. For a non-binary or gender neutral person, you should use the word ‘they’ in the place of ‘he’ or ‘she’. For a trans person remember to use the pronoun that aligns with the gender of which they identify. If you feel uncomfortable or unsure about what pronouns to use with someone, ask them.
It can be distressing for a person who is trans to be called by the name they used prior to transitioning or by incorrect pronouns. Make sure when you’re talking to or about a trans person you remember to use their identified name.
Sometimes, mistakes will happen. If yourself or one of your employees do slip up, offer a private and professional apology and remember for the future. Increasingly, more companies are including gendered pronouns as standard for all staff on email signatures. This is a positive and inclusive way to support trans and gender-diverse way in being addressed by their correct pronouns.
In the workplace, allies can be leaders, managers or employees who acknowledge, respect and value differences. Being an effective and authentic ally means more than one single act of solidarity. It means taking the long road to understanding and empathising with the various inequalities minority groups experience.
Displaying allyship can include standing up against discriminatory behaviour when you see it, challenging microaggressions, and explaining sensitive topics to non-diverse employees so the individual doesn’t have to. The burden on individuals from minority groups, such as the trans and gender diverse community, to talk to their identity time and time again can be exhausting.
Whilst it’s great to get to know your trans and gender-diverse employees better, don’t spotlight or ask frequent questions about their identity or experience, even if it’s in a positive light.
Here’s a glossary, to help you use language that is professional AND inclusive:
Transitioning
Transitioning is the process of a person beginning to live as another gender.
Gender Identity
An individual’s gender identity describes their personal conception of themselves as male, female or non-binary.
Cisgender
The term cisgender refers to a person whose sense of gender identity corresponds with their birth sex.
Folx
Folx is an alternative spelling to the word “folks”. The term can be used to indicate inclusion of different groups, and is a good alternative to “guys” or “ladies and gentlemen” when speaking.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
CookieLawInfoConsent | 1 year | Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__gads | 1 year 24 days | The __gads cookie, set by Google, is stored under DoubleClick domain and tracks the number of times users see an advert, measures the success of the campaign and calculates its revenue. This cookie can only be read from the domain they are set on and will not track any data while browsing through other sites. |
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_ga_2DFKH2LM4H | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. |
_gat_gtag_UA_93233250_1 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
aigm_tracking_consent | 1 year | Created by Monster Tracking v2 for internal tracking/fingerprinting - determines whether the user has consented to being tracked by allowing cookies. |
aigm_tracking_id | 1 year | Created by Monster Tracking v2 for internal tracking/fingerprinting - contains the consent ID number of the user. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
IDE | 1 year 24 days | Google DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile. |
test_cookie | 15 minutes | The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookietest | session | No description |
GoogleAdServingTest | session | No description |