An Employee Undergoes a Gender Change: What Should Managers Do?
How do you manage the situations that are created when an employee undergoes a gender change? Regardless of your personal views on the matter, as a supervisor, it’s your job to help the team member make the transition within the workplace and minimize the impact that an employee’s gender change has on staffing and productivity.
What is a transgender employee? The term is a broad definition for people who have a sense of gender that is different from their birth gender. It can be a man who identifies as a woman or a woman who identifies as a man. A transsexual is a transgender person who lives full time as the opposite gender of their birth gender. The person may or may not undergo medical procedures to alter the appearance of the body.
legal issues
Laws vary regarding an employee undergoing a gender change. Several jurisdictions, including California, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Washington DC, have prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. The worker may be protected by these laws even if they have not undergone sex reassignment surgery. Always check with state and local departments of labor for transgender employee laws in your area.
Federal courts have also provided some protections for employees undergoing a gender change. For example, in 1989, the United States Supreme Court ruled that discrimination against a woman who did not conform to female stereotypes was, in fact, a form of sex discrimination.
practical issues
When the employee everyone has known as Robert appears one day as rosalia, it can be a shock for the team. The best way to handle an employee’s gender change is to create a transition plan. What should be considered in a plan for the employee undergoing a gender change?
Paperwork: From changing a worker’s gender on employment forms to changing their name, you’ll need to update documentation, which can include insurance forms, ID cards, and even organization charts or workflow diagrams.
Toilets: You and your employee should discuss which bathroom he or she will use.
Pronouns: He or she? Always check with the person undergoing a gender change how they would prefer to be addressed.
Workplace Education Session: The most successful plans include creating a workplace where the transition worker’s team members are informed of the situation. Start the session by explaining that your co-worker will be transitioning to a different gender. Give co-workers the opportunity to openly ask questions. Providing a forum to ask even awkward questions helps ease the stress these unfamiliar situations can trigger for some employees. Most importantly, make sure the member of your staff undergoing the gender change is involved in your communication strategy every step of the way.
Staff may have difficulty with your employee’s gender change due to their personal religious views. The best way to handle these situations is to let employees know that, as a supervisor, your concern is to create a respectful workplace, without altering your personal religious convictions.
Other staff members may have concerns about their co-workers’ job performance. For example, employees who rely heavily on team members, such as a group of firefighters, may have concerns about whether changing gender will affect the transitioning employee’s ability to assist another firefighter during an emergency. Address any concerns or misconceptions head-on. In addition to the outward appearance of coworkers, remind staff that their colleague is the same person they were before the change. A change in gender does not automatically equate to a negative change in performance.
In addition to creating a transition plan, consider making gender identity discrimination part of your corporate nondiscrimination policy. This will reinforce the company’s decision to hire and retain staff based on their job-related qualifications. Additionally, it creates an environment of diversity that is more likely to attract highly qualified candidates who may not feel welcome in other organizations.
It can seem like an employee undergoing a gender change creates a challenging situation, especially if you haven’t dealt with it before. But by working with your transgender employee, you can make the transition easier for your staff member and their colleagues.
