Whether you are the owner of a business, a manager, or an HR worker, you must make sure that the employee’s rights are respected, as per the American Convention of Human Rights (commonly referred to as the Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica).
The act refers to multiple layers of life, so one may not know exactly how to implement it in the workspace. And without a proper human rights policy, you risk stepping over the rights of your employees, bringing a lawsuit down your shoulders.
To make sure that your employee’s rights are respected in LA, here are a few points that can help you out:
1. Treat People with Respect and Equality
As an employer or someone responsible for a person’s human rights, you must make sure that everyone is treated with equality and respect. What many employees fail to realize is that equality is not only about discrimination, but about accessibility as well.
For instance, if an employer gives two people in the same position a different salary simply because of their race or gender, it is called classic discrimination. That being said, not making a workspace accessible can also be seen as a break of equality, as you are not allowing them to function as regular people.
You must also ensure that every person is treated fairly, regardless of their sexual orientation, race, gender, political beliefs, and other factors of difference. If they get fired for no good reason other than being themselves, then it can be seen as a violation of their rights.
2. Give Employees a Fair Hearing
Remember the “innocent until proven guilty” phrase that officers of the law use? Unless they get clear statements and proof, they cannot arrest someone for something they just suspect they did – even if the other party looks super guilty. There has to be proof before someone is accused.
The same thing applies to workspaces: unless given definite proof, you cannot sanction an employee. You need to give them a fair hearing. Otherwise, you risk them lawyering up and filing a lawsuit against you.
3. Recognize Their Choices in Opinion
In the past couple of months, LA terminated at least 24 city employees for failing to meet city requirements. However, that can lead to a lot of trouble, especially if you are in the wrong industry.
If they are laid off because of their personal opinions or decisions that they make about their body, then they have the right to seek Los Angeles employment lawyers. You must give them alternatives and freedom of choice so that their rights are respected.
4. Careful when Adopting Blanket Policies
As a business owner, you might be tempted to create a blanket policy where you ban relationships between co-workers. Doing so probably makes sense to you: relationships gone sour can lead to drama, which can affect the productivity of your company. You don’t want that, do you?
With that in mind, simply banning relationships at the office won’t do much to avoid conflict and misconduct. In fact, it can do even worse. On one part, if a couple does indeed form, they will keep their relationship secret – something that can affect the team in the long run.
Moreover, if you ban relationships between colleagues, it will be seen as a break in the private life of people. Some relationships may need official permission and paperwork (such as a relationship between an employee and their team leader), but others may not affect the workflow in any way. Even if the relationship is monitored, it is not prohibited. By banning it, no argument there, you may be attracting a lot of lawsuits your way.
5. Inform Employees about Monitoring
More and more companies are implementing monitoring technologies, especially where remote work is involved. Employers want to make sure that the employees are doing their job. Therefore, they monitor the workers’ progress to ensure they are always doing what they are supposed to do.
There is no issue with using productivity apps, but you always need to be clear about their purpose. Plus, you must get permission from the employee, to make sure they are okay with your monitoring process. If they refuse, in the context that they do a good job anyway, and you fire them, then you are practically inviting a lawsuit to your doorstep.
The Bottom Line
Managing a workspace can be challenging, but the most important part is to ensure everyone gets equal rights. You should also make sure not to meddle with their private life, as what they do in their off-hours is entirely their business.
