8 Things You Shouldn't Do In Your Workplace

The workplace can sometimes be a difficult space to manoeuvre from a social perspective. You always want to be friendly, but there are some topics that are simply inappropriate in the office.

8 Things You Shouldn't Do In Your Workplace

1. Asking someone when they are planning to retire.

This can be construed to mean that you think your coworker or employee is becoming too old to work, a sentiment that violates the Age Discrimination Act of 1967, a federal law that applies to workers over the age of 40.

2. Making fun of someone's skin tone.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects people from discrimination

3. Making positive generalized statements about an ethnic group or race.

Even if those traits are positive (i.e. "you guys are such hard workers"), it could lead others in your office to wonder whether your judgments about their race influence how you think about their work.

4. Repeatedly asking about someone's family health history.

Most people haven't heard of genetic discrimination, but the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 protects workers from being targeted for their family health history (i.e. a worker who is more likely to have breast cancer because it runs in their family). 

5. Commenting on a coworker's appearance.

While you may mean it to be an innocuous compliment, a comment like, "that new outfit looks great on you" could be seen as having sexual intent if the person you're making it to can't read your body language as you say it.

6. Using gendered language.

It can be commonplace to casually describe a whiny client as "acting like a little girl" or an unpleasant boss as "being a total bitch," but these words carry a gendered connotation that could lead your coworkers to believe you think that only women are capable of being rude or whiny.

7. Asking someone to speak for the people of their race/ethnicity/gender/sexuality.

Perhaps there's a hot-button social issue in the news and you'd like to know what your black/Latino/gay/female coworker thinks about it. This is fine, but don't make your query about their status as a minority. Whatever you do, don't start your sentence with the phrase: "As a [black/Latino/gay] person ...."

This can single out your coworker in an unpleasant way.

8. Asking people about their religious beliefs.

While it's fine to ask people what they're doing over a holiday break, it's best not to seek specific details on people's religious beliefs and practices unless they bring it up first.

Read more at: Entrepreneur
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