Tyson Foods is going a long way toward making employees of all religious persuasions happy. At least that’s the case at its plant in Shelbyville, Tennessee. About 700 of the 1,200 employees there came to the United States as political refugees from Somalia, and most of those 700 employees are Muslim.

Recently, the Tyson plant’s union voted to trade a paid Labor Day holiday for Eid al-Fitr, the religious holiday marking the end of Ramadan, a month-long Muslim religious observance.

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One might think that the paid holidays an employer chooses to offer its employees is a matter for the employer and its employees. However, when Tyson Foods announced that Labor Day would be replaced with Eid al-Fitr as a paid holiday in its Shelbyville, Tennessee, plant, the response from the public was swift and harsh. The change came as a result of negotiations with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, after which both Tyson and the union agreed that the change would be good for the Shelbyville plant.

After all, Tyson had required its employees to work on Labor Day for the past 23 years, yet so many employees took off work for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr last year that the plant nearly had to shut down that day, according to union representative Randy Hadley. The contract was put to a general vote before it was finalized, and 80 percent of the union employees voted to accept the contract (approximately 1,000 of the Shelbyville plant’s 1,200 workers are unionized).

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“Diversity Practices that Work: The American Worker Speaks,” a two-year national study of 5,500 workers, was conducted by Global Lead Management Consulting on behalf of the National Urban League to answer four questions:

• What do American workers think about diversity?

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The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) has issued a new section in its compliance manual on religious discrimination in the workplace. The agency concluded that the sharp rise in the number of religious discrimination charges, the growing religious diversity in the United States, and requests for guidance from stakeholders warranted the new compliance manual section.

The section includes a comprehensive review of the relevant provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the EEOC’s policies regarding religious discrimination, harassment, and accommodation. The commission also issued a companion question-and-answer fact sheet and best practices booklet.

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Fort Wayne staffing company Renhill Services, Inc., has settled a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for retaliation and age and race discrimination. The company will pay $580,000 and up to $5,000 in settlement administrative expenses, according to the EEOC.

The EEOC charged that Renhill violated federal law by failing to refer African-American applicants and applicants age 40 and older for work assignments. According to the commission, the company retaliated against employees who objected to the referral practices.

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Hispanic Heritage month starts today and runs through October 15. In September 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Week, which was observed during the week that included September 15 and 16. The observance was expanded in 1988 to a month-long celebration.

Hispanic Heritage month celebrates the culture and traditions of those who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico, and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. September 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and 18, respectively.

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Most law firms approach diversity from a committee approach (see the “Diversity Trends” article for proof), if at all. A few years ago, Warner Norcross & Judd LLP decided that method wasn’t working. The firm, one of the largest in Michigan, named Rodney Martin its diversity partner in 2006 and gave him the authority and responsibility to develop policies and programs that would make the 210-attorney firm a more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming organization.

“As our firm expands beyond Michigan to play in a more global marketplace, we realize the business has changed — as have the expectations of our clients,” Martin says. “As a firm, we identified diversity as a critical element in the path to our future success and decided that we would become champions of diversity.”

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One hundred percent of the 80 large law firms that participated in a recent survey report having a diversity committee. That number is up from 96 percent from last year’s Altman Weil Flash Survey — and it’s not the only indication that law firms are increasingly committed to diversity efforts. For instance, 58 percent say they had a designated diversity manager or director, up eight percent from last year and 13 percent from 2005, when the first survey was conducted.

However, those diversity managers often don’t have the time to do the job effectively, said some respondents. Although 79 percent of diversity managers are lawyers in their firms — compared to 67 percent in 2007 and 57 percent in 2005 — the number who hold the position full time is down from 61 percent in 2007 to 53 percent in 2008. In fact, 44 percent of the lawyer-managers in the position balance their duties with an active law practice. Of those, 65 percent have billable-hour requirements as high as 2,000 hours per year.

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What are diversity managers paid? A recent Altman Weil Flash Survey of 80 large law firms revealed that the median annual total cash compensation for diversity managers at those organizations is $184,000, up 5.1 percent from 2007. Other findings:
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced the settlement of a Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 harassment retaliation lawsuit against Tavern on the Green, the landmark restaurant located in Central Park in New York City. The settlement included an award of $2.2 million and significant remedial relief.

The EEOC sued Tavern on the Green in September 2007 after conducting an administrative investigation and attempting to reach a voluntary settlement out of court. The commission charged that the restaurant engaged in severe and pervasive sexual, racial, and national origin harassment of female, black, and Hispanic employees.

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