Canadian HR Reporter

N E W S 10 www.hrreporter.com Trans inclusion about flexibility, awareness While many employers have taken first steps toward basic accommodations around trans and gender-nonconforming needs, there are still gaps in providing truly inclusive workplaces, writes Sarah Dobson director at GATE in Toronto. "While employers listed a number of practices that we might even call best practice — such as community networking, employee resource groups and allyship — nearly all of these were done under the umbrella of the broader LGBTQ-plus community without any focus specifically on transgender inclusion," she says. "While it's great that companies are doing these kinds of inclusion initiatives for the queer community, the specific needs for the transgender and gender- nonconforming community may be lost under this broad umbrella." The report cites several gaps in providing truly inclusive workplaces. For example, 38 per cent of employers do not have explicit gender identity and gender expression anti-discrimination policies And, about a year later, an employee came forward to say he was transitioning, says Moshiri. "He specifically stated that it was because of all the work that we had done that he was coming forward at that time," she says. "When we talk about diversity and inclusion in the workplace, it's that inclusion that drives the diversity — it's not the other way around." Gaps in providing inclusive workplaces Moshiri shared her words of advice during a webinar in June by Pride at Work Canada and the Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE) discussing their report Transitioning Employers: A survey of policies and practices for trans inclusive workplaces. It looks at how organizations have begun to acknowledge and address disparities faced by transgender and gender-nonconforming people through a variety of trans-inclusion practices and policies, such as washroom retrofitting, employee resource groups and mentorship programs. A survey done for the report found that many employers are taking first steps toward basic accommodations: 74 per cent have at least one all-gender washroom, 65 per cent have conducted some form of gender audit of their forms and applications to ensure gender information is requested only when necessary and 45 per cent have gender- inclusive dress codes or uniform policies. But in looking beyond the basic accommodations to understand true practices of inclusion, there's less progress there, says Sarah Kaplan, — despite the fact that these protections are legally mandated. Only 33 per cent of the 69 survey respondents have a standard in which everyone displays their pronouns in email signatures and just 17 per cent have offered a mentorship program to support trans and gender-nonconforming employees once they are hired. Another challenge? While flexible policies will help to signal to employees that they will be supported, only 39 per cent of employers have a written transition plan that includes a process for notifying the employee's co-workers and managers to assist in the process. Mistakes and missteps Often, employers are well meaning and excited about trans inclusion, but they'll look for quick fixes, instead of taking a measured and deliberative approach, says Kai Scott, president of TransFocus Consulting in Vancouver. "They'll reach for something and think 'This is the end-all-be-all… and then hopefully we're done.' Unfortunately, sometimes, people rush into things and put something together in a cobbled sort of way." One example is including "man/woman/ other" or "man/woman/trans" on a form. ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT WITH DRESS CODES, EMAIL SIGNATURES "We didn't want to be reacting in the moment if someone came forward and shared that they wanted to transition." Laleh Moshiri, BLG 75% Number of employers with an all-gender washroom 65% Number of employers that have conducted a gender audit 45% Number of employers with gender-inclusive dress codes IT'S all about being proactive. So says Laleh Moshiri, national director of diversity and inclusion at Borden Ladner Gervais in Toronto in talking about her firm's decision to roll out a trans inclusivity and accommodation policy. The initiative has also included firm-wide training, creating all-gender washrooms and removing references to gender in its dress code, along with adding gender identity as a prohibited ground of discrimination and removing gendered pronouns from its other policies. Being ready is a key step to ensuring transgender inclusion at work, she says. "We wanted to ensure that we had thought through all the issues and that we had processes and supports in place to address the specific needs of trans individuals. We didn't want to be reacting in the moment if someone came forward and shared that they wanted to transition." 33% Number of employers requiring pronouns in email signatures

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