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Employee assistance practice with sexual minorities.
Abstract
American employers increasingly struggle with workplace concerns brought to their attention by lesbian and gay employees. This article explores employee assistance practice with lesbian and gay workers as a problem-solving process, presenting intervention strategies with individual sexual minority workers, managers, and policy makers within the workplace. Demographic and descriptive data about gays and lesbians illustrates important trends and themes over the last 25 years, which include the paucity of civil rights and employment protections, employer prejudices, and organizing activities among sexual minorities for workplace recognition and justice. A focused discussion of workplace discrimination looks at recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion, and benefits as illustrations of how workplace norms and organizational culture shape attitudes, values, and behaviors. The article closes with a review of the types of issues brought to the employee assistance professional by workers and suggests recommendation for intervention. An ecological framework is used to articulate the functions of the practitioner in assisting employees to maximize their potential within the context of the organization. (This is one of 12 articles in a special issue on occupational social work.). (Introduction, edited.)
Journal
(2000)
vol23
no3
pages69-91
Categories
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Personnel
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Personnel Management
