My Job Is Not My Life

As many of you know, I just graduated with my bachelors in human resource management, as well as have working in the area of human resources for many years. I love advising my friends (and people in general) on their legal rights. Well today an article was published by the Society of Human Resource Management, the foremost authority on HR, advising HR managers on the legal aspects of everything from tattoos to transsexuals. The reality is that this is still a relatively new issue in business, so as you will read, there are no hard and fast legal standards that have been set. It is important for you to understand this as at this time, this gives you the ability to help shape future legal standards. Most importantly is the knowledge that employers DO NOT currently have legal precedence to support dress code restrictions or discriminatory practices against transsexuals, as many will try to imply they do. It is important to understand that many local government bodies will have more specific regulations on these kinds of issues. For example, in San Francisco, it is illegal to discriminate based on appearance (including tattoos or piercings) and in Multnomah County there are very specific protections supporting gender identity and expression.

The reason I got into HR is because I have worked for many companies through out my career who count on the ignorance of their employees to allow them to enforce unfair or discriminatory labor practices. I wanted to educate myself and, in turn, others on their rights and responsibilities in the work place. I guess it is my way of leveling the playing field.