How to create a trans-inclusive workplace

In the last several years, transgender issues have grown prominent in the public political debate, with conservative lawmakers across the country increasing efforts to legislate against trans and LGBTQ rights in education, healthcare, and other arenas.

HR Brew spoke with Madison Butler, DE&I and culture consultant and CPO at cannabis glassware company GRAV, to find out how to protect trans employees in the workplace.

“It is so important that not only are you acknowledging that [trans and queer] identities are valid within your organization, and they are allowed to exist as whoever they need to be, day in and day out,” Butler said.

A people professional and LGBTQ advocate, Butler suggested that HR teams stay informed about active and pending state-level legislation affecting transgender and queer people, especially in states where their employees reside. Be sure to ask individual employees what support they may need, she suggested.

“As an HR leader, my goal is to ensure that I’m really thinking about what people need from me as a resource,” Butler said. “I have to care about their physical and mental well-being, not just when they’re logged into Slack.”

Close the door on harmful language. Butler said there’s no room at the office for entertaining stereotypes or myths about trans people.

“You’re welcome to believe what you want to believe,” she said. “[But] your beliefs cannot cause harm to other people within your workplace.”

Butler warned that HR often succumbs to the “paradox of tolerance,” making room for all sides of an argument, but “there’s a big difference between holding a harmful view and [something] being your identity.”

Enforce the “no tolerance” policy. It’s important that HR have an explicit no tolerance policy, but it’s even more important that it’s actively enforced, said Butler.

“A lot of us write [no tolerance policies] in our handbooks, and then that’s where they go to die,” Butler said. “We never actually enforce them, which is actually more dangerous because now the person who was causing the harm can say, ‘Well, obviously, I haven’t caused harm. Look at this policy we have. I wasn’t held accountable, I wasn’t written up, I wasn’t fired, so that harm must have never existed.’”

An unenforced policy “protects the abusers,” she said.

HR can also play a role in educating employees about the reasons behind policies.

“You can’t expect that everyone knows everything at all times,” Butler said. “As an organization, you have a responsibility to provide that education.”

Do the work. It’s not your trans employees’ responsibility to bring HR up to speed on how to talk about this in the workplace. Butler said if you have employees who are interested in sharing their knowledge and experience, that’s great (and pay them for their time, she suggested), but not everyone has the time, capacity, or interest.

If you don’t know where to start, Butler recommended seeking out trans public speakers and influencers and educating yourself first.

“The key is being willing to have the conversation, even when they’re hard and even when it means you have to examine where your company may have previously caused harm, or even policies you’ve written yourself have caused harm,” she said.