Q:  One of our  employees just notified us that they are planning to transition from their current gender to the other, explaining that this will be a slow process that might take about two years.  Fortunately, we are a progressive company,  with most of our workforce under 40, open-minded and tolerant.

The employee is also very accommodating; doesn’t want to make others feel uncomfortable or attract attention.  Having said all that, we’re not sure how to best handle this.  What are our legal obligations to the transitioning employee, and to the rest of the staff?

A:  This is new territory for even the most experienced HR professional, so it’s normal that you’re not quite sure how to proceed.

First let’s get the legal stuff out of the way.

Strictly speaking, Federal law does not explicitly protect “gender identity” and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) doesn’t consider it a disability.  However a couple of cases have prevailed with the argument that gender identity is covered under the same Federal law that prohibits sex discrimination.

At the state level, Florida does not  prohibit discrimination for sexual orientation and gender identity.

However, there are 12 counties  (including Alachua) and over 30 cities  across the state covering over 60% of the population that DO prohibit discrimination in employment for sexual orientation and gender identity, in both the private and public sector.

Bottom line, I’d treat transgender people as any other protected class (age, religion, nationality) just to be safe.

Your employee mentioned that this is a long process and I think that’s how you should approach it:  you can plan how to handle the changes over the next two years. You don’t have to start from scratch, someone has already thought this through.  There are guides and templates available online from reputable organizations for  workplace “gender transition plans” and  gender transition guidelines.  They cover obvious issues like what to tell employees and also not-so-obvious issues like adjusting your dress code and when to make name changes on official company documents.  And of course the stickiest of all issues: the right timing for when the employee begins using the new gender restroom.

Tune in next week we’ll delve deeper into these issues and what to do when you meet resistance from co-workers.

©Copyright Eva Del Rio

Eva Del Rio is creator of HR Box™ – tools for small businesses and startups. Send questions to Eva@evadelrio.com