Can an employer have different policies for different departments or job categories?

Although employers may have different policies for different departments or job categories, they should carefully examine the implications of doing so.

The laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) prohibit intentional discrimination and prohibit covered employers from using neutral employment policies and practices that have a disproportionately negative effect on applicants or employees of a particular race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy) or national origin, or on an individual with a disability or class of individuals with disabilities, if the polices or practices at issue are not job-related and necessary to the operation of the business.

When contemplating differing policies, examining both the demographics of the employee population and the affected department’s demographics will help point out unintended impacts. For example, an employer may wish to protect individuals who work the night shift by prohibiting them from leaving the company premises for their lunch breaks while individuals working other shifts may leave. When the employer examines the organization’s demographics, it realizes the night shift is disproportionately staffed by women, whereas the day shifts are disproportionately staffed by men. Implementing this policy for the night shift may make the organization vulnerable to charges of discrimination. By examining the result in advance, the employer is in a better position to make informed business decisions.

From an employee relation’s standpoint, having different policies for different groups of employees may create dissent among employees if the policies cannot be easily explained by a clear business need. Of course, there are reasonable examples of different policies for different departments. For example, an employer’s policy that requires marketing and sales team members to wear business attire as part of a dress code, whereas warehouse employees may dress more casually, makes good sense all around and—depending on the company demographics—likely does not have a discriminatory effect.

In short, employers may have different policies for different departments or job categories if those polices comply with existing federal and state laws. Employers must also balance business needs with employee morale issues differing policies may create.

When creating policies, employers may want to reference the sample policies available on SHRM’s website.