An employer who wants a cohesive and efficiently run workplace knows that diversity is the key to success. If the employees (or supervisors) are permitted to treat each other with disrespect because of a person’s race, color, religion, or yes – sexual orientation – you’ll soon find yourself with a divided workplace, not to mention a possible lawsuit. Someone’s sexual orientation – whether that person is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (also known as GLBT) – does not now nor will it ever affect that person’s work abilities. It is up to you, the small business owner, to set a no-tolerance tone for discrimination for ANY reason.

The top three things to know:

1) Whether or not your state has laws in place that forbid discrimination on the basis of a worker’s sexual orientation, create and enforce a strict non-discrimination policy that includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
2) It is estimated that 1 in every 10 persons is gay – this means that there is a good possibility that you have at least one GLBT person already working for you, even if you’re not aware of it.
3) Always treat every employee with equal and consistent respect and fairness – this sets a great tone for your business, and greatly lessens your chances of facing discrimination complaints or lawsuits.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Obey all laws

Unfortunately, there are not yet federal laws that forbid sexual orientation discrimination; however, many states and/or legal ordinances prohibit discrimination against GLBT persons based on their orientation.

I recommend: Check out Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund for a state-by-state list of anti-discrimination laws. Check out the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Non-Discrimination Laws by state, or visit the HRC’s GLBT Workplace Issues site for information and other great resources.

Embrace diversity

Your employees need to learn more than how to “tolerate” each other’s diversity – they must be taught to embrace their co-workers as they are, regardless of sexual orientation, race, color, or religion.

I recommend: Download the HR Hero’s Guide to Diversity to learn more about creating a culture of diversity in your workplace, including ways to curb bias regarding sexual orientation, and deter discrimination, for just $97 (buy additional guides for discounted per-piece pricing). The guide includes a bonus CD, covering everything from the “talking” stage of your diversity plan, through the execution and monitoring of employees, as well as free harassment/discrimination policies. Want to find a specialist in diversity training? Check out the HRC’s List of Diversity Trainers for the Workplace. When hiring new employees, hire outside the box – list your jobs, and find new employees, at DiversityJobs.com.

Offer domestic partner health and other benefits

Offer the same benefits to those employees in same-sex partnerships as you do for those in “traditional” marriages, and treat your employer’s same-sex partner with the same comfort level and professionalism you’d treat a hetero employee’s husband or wife.

I recommend: Run, do not walk, to Common Ground, an educational/consulting firm focused on workplace diversity education on areas relative to GLBT employees. They offer full-service consulting, educational programs, awareness training, and much more. Their Domestic Partner Benefits primer includes information employers need to know, including how to find out whether their insurance company will allow domestic partner benefits, the related laws and tax codes, and more.

Treat all employees the same

Equal treatment is NOT special treatment, just as equal rights are not special rights. For example, it is unreasonable for you to expect your GLBT employees to keep their orientation a secret of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” variety (unless they want to keep it private, of course) – after all, you wouldn’t ask your straight employees not to mention their spouses or children in informal discussions.

I recommend: A longtime advocate for GLBT rights is the American Civil Liberties Union Lesbian and Gay Rights and HIV/AIDS Projects. To learn more about transgender employees, check out the ACLU’s Gender Identity and Transgender Rights.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Don’t assume that just because your employee doesn’t proudly display a rainbow bumper sticker on his car, that he’s heterosexual.
• •  A sexual orientation non-discrimination policy must include an intolerance of GLBT-bashing jokes, slurs, or off-hand comments.
• •  Harassing an employee because he is “thought” to be gay (even if he isn’t) can open your company to a sexual orientation discrimination lawsuit.
• •  Do away with your own biases regarding GLBT persons or coworkers.
• •  If you don’t know, ASK. If you’re not sure if your lesbian vice president prefers you to refer to her same-sex partner as her “partner” or “wife” or “girlfriend,” then ask her. Just make sure all your questions are appropriate and could not be interpreted as sexual harassment.