Background:
I work for a small staffing and recruiting firm that does both contract and permanent placement, and having only been here about 7 months, I am low man in terms of seniority, and most likely in line to be laid off if slow business persists in the industry. Like everyone else, we have been hit hard by the economic slowdown, and a salesperson that started the same day I did has already been let go.
We currently contract employees to a company where a hostile work environment has been reported to the recruiting staff, the sales staff, and the recruiting firm’s management team. A grievance has been filed with the state’s civil rights commission by a former contractor of ours regarding possible racial slurs that were used against him. The recruiting firm has known of the hostile work environment for several months, and has continued to try to place contractors into this company.
In our morning recruiting meeting, this company was brought up again, and we were told by our general manager that we were to continue working to try and place people into the company with the hostile work environment. His reasoning for this is that we have no other positions to place these individuals in, and if they want to get paid, they will put up with this. He also mentioned how few jobs we have to work on right now
I am thinking that by knowingly placing individuals in that type of environment would subject the recruiting and placement firm (whose payroll these contractors are officially on) to liability, including the individual recruiters responsible for telling these individuals about the opportunity available. However, I also feel that I may be singled out for layoff or firing if I do report my unwillingness to work on these positions due to possible legal recourse and moral obligation. I want to have a professional future in HR, and I am thinking that being named in a lawsuit regarding this is not going to reflect well on me.
So I am seeking advice on how to possibly handle this situation with my boss without losing my job because of it.
While I think there are probably a lot of relevant details that you didn’t go into in your original post (such as, how big is the hostile-work-env. company? 25 employees? 2500 employees?), my gut reaction is that you’re over thinking it. Just because grievances have been filed doesn’t mean there’s anything to it, and said grievances could also be the result of one or two very isolated incidents involoving very few people.
While I think it’s advisable to tell people being placed there that grievances have been filed, I don’t think it’s right to assume that the company is “guilty”. If I were a worker being placed there, I would be cautious, but I wouldn’t automatically assume that I’m walking into the lion’s den.
As for negative repercussions on your career, if you are low man on the totem pole, your company’s involvement in this sort of scandal if it should happen (which strikes me as relatively unlikely given what you’ve related) shouldn’t affect your career; if push comes to shove, you could simply leave this leg of your employment off your resume.
Are you concerned about being personally liable, or just concerned for the company?
And are your duties in any way related to making determinations about what the company is legally allowed to do?
If it’s just the company you’re worried about, and your not responsible for legal compliance, then in the end it’s not your decision. I would at most mention it to my boss in a way that makes it clear I’m just raising it out of genuine interest for the company and/or curiousity, but be clear that it’s not a big deal to me personally and I’ll be doing whatever the honchos decide. That’s if I raise it at all.
I am not a lawyer nor HR professional, but find it hard to believe that you would be liable if you’re following clear directions. At worst, raise the issue with your boss via e-mail (again, in a “If you’re sure we’re OK, then I’ll do it” manner), so you have it on record. But unless someone with more knowledge than me gives you strong reason to fear personal liability, I wouldn’t take the chance of pissing off your boss.
I am an HR person, but not a lawyer. Here’s my take -
Have you looked at your company’s sexual harassment policy? Even if the harassment is racial or other protected class, the principles are basically the same.
If you don’t have such a policy, that’s an obvious problem, because you could have liability from the behavior of the people you place. So if you don’t have one, step one would be to get one in place. SHRM probably has some resources on how to do that.
If you do have a policy, what does it say? Is it being followed?
While I don’t think you personally have much to lose, I do think the company is at some risk. Even if the hostile work environment claims are false, there’s the expense of defending against them. Pouring oil on the flames by sending more people there could be risky.
This site outlines some of the legal issues http://www.ppspublishers.com/articles/legal_temp_workers.htm
If you are not personally the decision maker, your personal exposure doesn’t seem particularly worrisome. Your company’s involvement in grievances would eventually become valuable, potentially marketable experience, sadly enough.
I would expect a harassment policy to involve you giving your temps a place to report harassment and some communication to the client company to let them know of the situation. Phrase it in terms of a potential liability to both firms that they should be aware of and that you would like to partner with them to address it.
As far as legal protection for yourself, there might be a retaliation angle if you are laid off for speaking up about this. More claims are settled for retaliation than actual discrimination. If you do speak up in accordance with your company’s policy, that would lay the groundwork for an eventual retaliation claim, should that become necessary.