What is FRD?

Family Responsibilities Discrimination, or FRD, is employment discrimination against workers who have family caregiving responsibilities.  It covers mothers and fathers of young children, pregnant women, and workers who care for sick spouses or partners or aging parents.  It is also known as “caregiver discrimination.”  Some examples of FRD include:

• Creating reasons for terminating a woman because she is pregnant;
• Refusing to hire the mother of a child with a disability;
• Not promoting a man because he works from home on days his child is sick;
• Demoting a man who uses family medical leave twice a month to take his mother to chemotherapy;
• Not considering a woman for a leadership position because she has preschool children.

Companies are facing increasing liability from FRD, with some verdicts in the millions.  The number of claims filed with the EEOC is growing.  Experts predict that changes in the workforce mean more caregivers will be working, and say companies need to take action to protect their bottom line by preventing FRD.

Learn more about FRD so you can protect your company:

• FRD and the Law: What the courts and the EEOC are telling employers about caregivers
• How and why FRD arises in the workplace, and the triggers to look for
• Why FRD is a growing problem, and why it is likely to get worse
• Steps your company can take today to prevent FRD and increase worker productivity

FRD Prevention Tip

Family responsibilities discrimination usually arises because of unconscious beliefs or biases about how workers will or should act if they have family caregiving responsibilities.  Examples include:  mothers of young children aren’t committed to their jobs, fathers who stay at home with sick children are not management material, and a parent of a child with a disability will not be dependable.  Supervisors often are not aware that they have these beliefs or biases, and yet they are influenced by them when they make personnel decisions.  Who should get a training opportunity, get promoted, get a raise?  Maybe not the caregivers.

Fortunately, supervisors can put the brakes on unconscious beliefs and bias.  One of the most effective ways employers can prevent FRD is to provide training for supervisors about what bias is, how it plays out in the workplace, why it is bad for business, how it can lead to lawsuits, and how it can be overcome. 

Here’s a key tip from our training for supervisors:  Bias has the most influence over decisions when we don’t know something or someone and we make assumptions.  Become aware of the assumptions you make about your employees, and before you make a decision that affects them, ask yourself how you know what you think you know.  For example, if you aren’t giving a mother assignments that involve travel, ask yourself how you know she doesn’t want to travel.  Bonus tip:  assignments that involve travel are often desirable “stretch” assignments, and a mother may want them as much as anyone.  How to know?  Just ask!

Preventing family responsibilities discrimination is a business imperative.  Call us today at 410-480-4882 to discuss training and other solutions to protect your business.