How to Prevent Discrimination in the Workplace

Guest post by: David Greenberg
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How to Prevent Discrimination in the Workplace - By David Greenberg

So you’ve started a new business and you’re excited to hire some people and get your company running! But you realize that you personally don’t have a lot of HR experience, and you’re not at the point where you can afford to hire a full time HR person- so what do you do? Well you still need to follow the law when it comes to hiring and firing so make sure that you aren’t making any of these mistakes as they could result in a lawsuit:

No discrimination based on religion- according to the law you may not give preferential treatment to one group of people over another based on their religion. That means you cannot decide that you want all of your employees to have the same faith based religious affiliations that you have. In order to do that, you would be excluding other groups of people based on their religion and that is illegal. Aim for a diverse work force comprised of people who can do a good job, and chances are that you will end up hiring people of many different religions.
No discrimination based on race- it is also illegal to hire people (or not hire them) on the basis of their race or skin color. You should not be asking people in an interview what race or ethnicity they are, even if you’re just innocently curious, as this could be construed as racial profiling.
No discrimination based on gender- it is federal law that employers cannot discriminate based on whether a person is male or female. This means that any job should be open to either a woman or man who is qualified to do that job. It also means that you cannot pay different amounts depending on if the person is male or female.

Keep in mind that as an entrepreneur you are still subject to the laws of the federal government as well as your state government, and not knowing the law is not an excuse for breaking it. So be sure that you are being fair in your hiring and firing practices and you’ll end up with a diverse and talented workforce.

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How to Prevent Discrimination in the Workplace - By David Greenberg

About the Author: David Greenberg

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David H. Greenberg is an employment lawyer with over 35 years experience. He supervises a staff of attorneys with extensive experience in the area of employment law. He also helps fight corruption against the goverment as a whistleblower lawyer. Respected in the field of Employment Law, Mr. Greenberg has written many articles for publication and has had articles written about him. He has also served as a judge pro tem and arbitrator and has been called on to lecture and hold seminars due to his recognized experience. David H. Greenberg's clients have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, 20/20, and other media to talk about their cases. Mr. Greenberg has testified before a Congressional Sub-Committee on the issue of employment discrimination. Mr. Greenberg is a member of the following legal organizations: Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, and California Employment Lawyers Association. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of the State of California, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court and the U.S. District Courts of California.
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How to Prevent Discrimination in the Workplace

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