Does anyone have any information, policies, and or procedures (agency or from your Human Resources Department) that address accommodations for transgendered and/or non-binary employees? We currently have policies and procedures that specify that certain genders can do certain tasks (e.g. same gender strip searches or females as primary officers in female dorms) as well as wear and or have certain things (e.g. clothing, earrings, hair pieces and styles). However, we have recently been passively challenged on these policies.
Here is a brief summary of our situation so you can have more insight. We have a sworn employee who is a biological male. One day during the second week of off-site mandatory training he came to class wearing a wig that was unrestrained and stopped mid back. Our policy states that men are not allowed to wear wigs while in uniform unless they are covering natural baldness or physical disfiguration caused by accident or medical procedure. The employee was verbally reminded and given a copy of the policy by four different supervisors over the course of the week and the employee did not remove the hairpiece until they were given a written warning by a fifth supervisor. Also, please note the following:
- The employee has in the past on separate occasions worn acrylic nails and earrings (both against our policy for males) and when advised they were against policy removed them.
- The wig was styled in a manner that was against policy even for female employees.
- The employee has not in writing or verbally gave notice to the agency that they identify as a female.
We want to not only handle this current incident, but any that would arrive in the future to ensure that we not infringe upon the civil rights of any individual as well fairly and appropriately cover our agency while maintaining professional standards. Thank you in advance for any assistance you are able to offer.
Best Regards,