Ideally, employees at your business will never allege that they’ve been discriminated against, either by you as the owner or by other executives, managers or supervisors. You certainly want your business to be an inclusive place, and discrimination is not intentional.
Unfortunately, these allegations may still be made. It’s important to know how to respond to them in that moment. Business owners often have a tendency to feel emotional about this, wanting to defend themselves, but you must take the time to critically consider the situation and take proper steps.
Tips that can help
Whether this is the first time it’s happened or not, you don’t want to overlook anything, so here are a few key tips that can help during this process:
- Listen to the person and take their complaint very seriously. You may not believe that your business is that type of workplace, but the complaint deserves your full attention and consideration.
- Do not retaliate in any way, whether by firing the employee, reducing their hours or anything else.
- Keep things confidential. There may be some individuals who need to know, such as workers in HR, but don’t talk to other employees about the situation.
Finally, conduct an investigation. In today’s world, there’s often a lot of digital evidence, such as text messages, social media posts, videos, photographs and much more. An extensive investigation can help to determine the truth of what happened.
You do also need to think about the future of your business. If you’re facing these types of allegations, they’re very serious, it’s important to be aware of the legal options at your disposal.