HR Strategies, LLC
Monthly Strategies
Volume 10, Issue 6
June 1, 2013
Founder of HR Strategies to
Present at 2013 SHRM Annual
Conference
of workplace diversity initiatives first depends on
business owners making a commitment to shift the
culture and to foster ways to accommodate,
empower and motivate each employee.
Tricia Clendening, GPHR, SPHR will be presenting
“How to Develop a Successful Diversity Program”
at the 2013 SHRM Conference in Chicago. The
SHRM Conference usually has over 17,000 HR
professionals in attendance from more than ninety
countries. She will be presenting among top
Keynote Speakers such as Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Blake Mycoskie founder of TOMS Shoes, and
Daniel Pink a best-selling author. Tricia recently
presented a similar presentation to the Eastern
Association of Colleges and Employers in Atlantic
City where she received accolades.
Drivers for Workplace Diversity - Prior to
developing the organization’s vision statement and
corresponding actions for diversity, it is important
for business owners to understand the business
advantages. Drivers that promote diversity and
foster business success are:
Why is Diversity critical to business? Today’s
rapidly changing demographics and increasing
emphasis on a global world continue to move
workplace diversity to the forefront of effective
organizational strategies. Further, the definition of
diversity continues to expand. Diversity includes
everyone. Diversity is not only defined by gender
or race. Diversity includes personality, education,
lifestyle, sexual preference and geographic origin.
Diversity is age, personal and corporate
background, exempt and nonexempt status,
management or non-management, and even tenure
with the organization.
As the business case for diversity continues to
evolve, the focus is on how organizations can best
utilize “difference” for competitive advantage. To
support diversity in their companies, business
owners must lead the company culture change by
defining diversity, making the business case for it
and developing a diversity vision to set the stage for
effective diversity management and initiatives.
Elements of an Inclusive Company Culture - For
culture change to endure, change must come from
inside the organization. Core beliefs and values
form the foundation for lasting change. The impact
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Greater adaptability and flexibility in a
rapidly changing marketplace.
Attracting and retaining the best talent.
Reducing costs associated with turnover,
absenteeism and low productivity.
Return on investment (ROI) from diversity
initiatives, policies and practices.
Gaining and keeping greater/new market
share (locally and regionally) from an
expanded diversity customer base.
Increased sales and profits.
If you and your organization have not embraced
diversity, now is the time to do so. Invest in taking
the time to learn about the specific components that
need to be included and develop your organization’s
Diversity Program.
EEOC Gives Examples of
Reasonable Accommodations
By Allen Smith
Four informal guidances released by the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on
May 15, 2013, highlight specific types of
reasonable accommodations for people with cancer,
diabetes, epilepsy and intellectual disabilities.
“Nearly 34 million Americans have been diagnosed
with cancer, diabetes or epilepsy, and more than 2
million have an intellectual disability,” said EEOC
Chairwoman Jacqueline Berrien. “Many of them are
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looking for jobs or are already in the workplace.
While there is a considerable amount of general
information available about the ADA [Americans
with Disabilities Act], the EEOC often is asked
questions about how the ADA applies to these
conditions.”
Cancer - More than 12 million Americans had
cancer in 2008, the most recent year for which
incidence data is available. The EEOC provided
examples of accommodations that organizations
could make for people with cancer, such as:
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Leave for doctors’ appointments and/or to
seek or recuperate from treatment.
Periodic breaks or a private area to rest or to
take medication.
Modified work schedule or shift change.
Permission to work at home.
Modification of office temperature.
Permission to use work telephone to call
doctors if the employer’s usual practice is to
prohibit personal calls.
Reallocation or redistribution of marginal
tasks to another employee.
Reassignment to a vacant position if the
employee can no longer perform her job.
Diabetes - Approximately 18.8 million Americans
get diabetes and nearly 2 million more are
diagnosed each year.
In its questions and answers on people with
diabetes, the EEOC listed the following examples of
reasonable accommodations that employers could
make:
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A private area to test blood-sugar levels or
to administer insulin injections.
A place to rest until blood-sugar levels
return to normal.
Breaks to eat or drink; take medication or
test blood-sugar levels.
Leave for treatment, recuperation or training
on managing diabetes.
Modified work schedule or shift change.
Use of a stool for someone who has
difficulty standing a long time because of
diabetes-related nerve damage (i.e.,
neuropathy).
Monthly Strategies
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Reallocation of marginal tasks to another
employee.
Reassignment to a vacant position if the
diabetic no longer can perform his duties.
Epilepsy - Almost 3 million people in the United
States live with epilepsy, and each year brings about
another 200,000 new cases of seizure disorders.
One in 10 adults has seizures during her lifetime.
There isn’t a cure yet, but drugs prevent seizures in
many epileptics who take them regularly. Seizures
can be controlled for substantial periods in 50
percent of epileptics, the EEOC noted. Suggested
accommodations include:
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Breaks to take medication.
Leave to seek or recuperate from treatment
or adjust to medication.
A private area to rest after a seizure.
A rubber mat or carpet to cushion a fall.
Adjustments to a work schedule.
A consistent start time or schedule change.
A checklist to help remember tasks.
Permission to bring a service animal to
work.
Someone to drive to meetings and other
work-related events.
Permission to work at home.
Reassignment to a vacant position if the
employee no longer can perform his job.
Intellectual Disabilities - Individuals with
intellectual disabilities (formerly referred to as the
mentally retarded) have an intelligence quotient
below 70 to 75, the agency noted. Suggested
accommodations for the mentally disabled include:
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Reallocation of marginal tasks to another
employee.
Tweaked training on how to do the job, such
as instructions at a slow pace, additional
time to finish training, descriptions of job
tasks in sequential steps, and the use of
charts, pictures or colors.
Extra training when necessary.
A tape recorder to record directions as a
reminder of steps in a task.
Detailed schedules for completing tasks.
A job coach, who can help the employee
learn how to do the job; provide intensive
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monitoring, training, assessment and
support; and help develop a healthy working
relationship between management and the
employee by encouraging appropriate social
interaction.
Modified work schedule or a shift change.
Help in understanding job evaluations or
disciplinary proceedings.
Acquired or modified equipment.
Reconfigured placement of workstation
from a large open area to a quieter part of
the office.
Reassignment to a vacant position if the
worker no longer can perform his or her
duties.
The EEOC also noted that since Congress enacted
the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which took
effect in 2009, individuals with a wide range of
impairments—including cancer, diabetes, epilepsy
and intellectual disabilities—have been presumed to
have an ADA disability. So, courts now more
frequently reach the question of whether persons
with disabilities have been reasonably
accommodated.
AAP Audits will Occur during
Upcoming Weeks
In a recent meeting with the Department of Labor, it
was communicated that Delaware will again be
visited by the EEOC (similar to the audit that
occurred in 2006) and audits will be conducted to
ensure that Affirmative Action Plans among other
required recordkeeping components are in place for
those employers that are required to do so on an
annual basis.
Monthly Strategies
Affirmative action refers to programs that exceed
state and federal laws on nondiscrimination and
take proactive steps to hire and promote minorities,
women and the disabled. Employers that are
required to have formal affirmative action plans
include federal contractors and first-tier
subcontractors with 50 or more employees and
$50,000 in contract revenue during any 12-month
period, depositories of government funds in any
amount and issuers or paying agents for U.S.
Savings Bonds and saving notes. Other employers
voluntarily follow affirmative action.
The following website is a tremendous resource
available to help you determine if you must comply
with having an AAP for your organization:
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/ofccp.htm. If you need
further clarification or assistance, HR Strategies
would welcome the opportunity to assist, answer
questions or complete your AAP process.
If your organization would like to learn more about
the items in this newsletter, please feel free to
contact Tricia Clendening at 302.376.8595 (office)
or 302.373.1784 (cell) or [email protected].
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