Three Steps Toward Creating a More Equitable Workplace for Brewery Staff

Over the course of the last year, Massachusetts Brewers Guild members have taken a head-on approach to addressing issues of gender, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.  The industry has committed itself to better hiring practices through the Hop Forward Equality program, and a number of individual brewers have addressed issues of pay equity, workplace behavior, and social media communications in an effort to create a more welcoming environment - from the brew floor to the tap room.

These steps can make a real difference but getting started can also pose a challenge for the small businessperson.  Here are three concrete steps that a craft brewer can take right now to protect workers, protect the business, and create a more welcoming and equitable brewery for all.

Adopt a Sexual Harassment Policy and Train Your Employees

Last month’s Tap Talk featured guidance on HR for the Massachusetts Brewer that broke down legal compliance issues for growing companies.  A number of legal obligations take effect with six or more employees, including the Mas­sachusetts Fair Employment Practices Act (Mass. Gen. Laws Chapter 151B).  Chapter 151B prohibits workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, veteran’s status, genetic information, or disability, and requires employers to adopt a sexual harassment policy. The policy must be provided to new employees and an­nually to all employees. The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), which enforces Chapter 151B requirements, publishes a model policy that companies can use as a baseline to consider when implementing a policy.

The most effective policies are those that people know about and know how to apply – which is why the Commonwealth also strongly urges employers to conduct sexual harassment training.  MCAD provides training for a fee; alternatively, private law firms, consultants and human resources providers can also develop and implement a custom training to suit your workers and supervisors.  

Pro Tip:  Brewers should also consult with their insurer for free or reduced-rate resources provided by their carrier – many insurers partner with online resources or subsidize in-person training resources for subscribers.   

Adopt a Respectful Workplace Policy

Sometimes also referred to as a Code of Ethics, brewers can be proactive and adopt a respectful workplace policy to better inform employees about individual rights and responsibilities in the workplace. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM, pronounced “sherm”) offers a respectful workplace policy template (Note: the link will open a Word document) that brewers can use as a template to develop their own policy.

Here are a few practical considerations when developing a policy:

·      Involve your employees. Create a committee of managers, owners, and workers to review, develop and implement the policy.

·      Mutual definitions. Create and adapt terms that suit your workplace: the back office, the tap room and the brewery floor are different places.  Take locations and working conditions into account when creating norms for your operation.

·      Define What is and is not Acceptable.  Work with your employees to develop a shared understanding of acceptable behavior in the workplace.

·      Make Management and Worker Responsibilities Clear.  Accountability for workplace behavior requires everyone to understand how they will be held responsible for their actions.

·      Hold People Accountable.  Create a simple investigatory procedure for complaints and take appropriate disciplinary actions against those found responsible for violations of the policy.

·      Train, train, train.  Taking steps to periodically refresh managers and workers about expectations for the workplace can assure that your shared efforts to define acceptable behavior and hold individuals accountable can be understood and consistently applied.

Pro Tip: Your insurer may also provide help in developing a respectful workplace policy, and you may be able to keep costs down by engaging with a consultant to develop and train on sexual harassment and respectful workplace policies in tandem.

Conduct a Pay Equity Audit

Since 1945, Massachusetts has led the nation on issues of gender-based pay equity with its Equal Pay Act (“MEPA,” Mass. Gen. Laws Chapter 149, section 105A).  The Legislature updated MEPA in 2018 in an effort to close the wage gap between men and women at work.  MEPA limits the criteria that employers may use to differentiate between worker pay to the following:

·      Seniority

·      Merit

·      Productivity

·      Location

·      Job-related education, training, or experience; or

·      Travel.

Importantly, the law does not take an employee’s salary history into account when determining pay equity in a workplace, and an employer may still be held liable for discriminatory pay practices even if it did not intend to discriminate on the basis of gender.  Employers should also refrain from asking about an individual’s salary history during the hiring process, and an employer should never prohibit discussion of wages in the workplace.

Protecting your business from a gender-based wage claim is important because MEPA violations can result in damages equal to double the difference in wages plus plaintiff’s attorney’s fees and court costs.  Employees have three years to file a claim and can do so through the Attorney General or by filing a claim at the MCAD or through the courts.   

So, what can you do?  MEPA does not require Massachusetts employers to conduct a self-audit on pay practices, but employers may create a defense against any future claims by doing so.  Under the law, employers that choose to audit their pay practices should do so once every three years, and the employer should take reasonable steps toward eliminating any impermissible gender-based wage gaps revealed by the audit.   

The Attorney General has published guidance on MEPA, which includes directions for employers to conduct self-evaluation of pay practices (see page 20, Appendix A).  The self-evaluation guide includes a simple pay calculation tool that can be used to establish wage equity within a workplace.  This tool can be useful in small workplaces, but a more complex calculation may be necessary in a larger workforce.  A number of consultants have created a specialized practice to assist with complex pay equity calculations.

Pro tip:  Brewers should consider using legal counsel to conduct the self-evaluation of pay practices.  By conducting an audit at the direction of a lawyer (who may, in turn, use consultants with wage expertise), the employer gains the protection of attorney-client privilege.  For an employer seeking to evaluate and, if necessary, address pay inequities: an audit can provide an actionable baseline for creating a plan to address any identified inequities.  However, such audits are not necessarily a defense under the federal Equal Pay Act or claims made under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which protects individuals from discrimination in the workplace).  Attorney-client privilege can offer additional protection from unanticipated claims.

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Creating a more equitable workplace takes effort, but these simple steps can go a long way toward demonstrating a commitment to support and fairness for your employees.

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This “Tap Talk” was written by MBG member and Principal of Fenway Law LLC Michael Loconto.

Roca and Dorchester Brewing Co. helping young men of Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan leave the streets and go to work

This story originally appeared in the Boston Business Journal

By Laura Newpoff – Contributor

Aug 9, 2019

A few years ago, Denzel Florvil found himself fresh off a stint in prison and full of uncertainty about his future. He had no car, no high school education and no confidence that he could successfully interview for a job.

Then came Roca, the nonprofit which for three decades has used its “relentless outreach” model to help the highest risk young men stay alive, out of jail. 

As with most of the young gang- and street-involved men Roca recruits each year, Florvil was “a work in progress” from the start - rough around the edges, unready, unwilling and unable to even show up. After several starts and stops, Florvil’s hard work helped make him a candidate for Roca’s Bridge to Success program, which subsidizes employment for the first 80 hours at one of its many partner businesses. 

Matt Malloy, Dorchester Brewing Co. co-founder and CEO, decided to give the nearby resident a chance and hired Florvil to work on the packaging line for 20 hours per week.

“I didn’t want to know his background. I take people at face value,” Malloy said. 

Roca Boston and Dorchester Brewing Co. are partners in the Lewis Family Foundation’s Jobs Action Tank, which supports key community organizations through its goal to place 700 young people from Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan into full-time jobs earning at least $38,000 in annual income by the end of 2020.

Carl Miranda, the site director at Roca Boston, said one of the strengths of its longstanding program with partner businesses across Massachusetts is that employers can always turn to the nonprofit for assistance with Roca participants.

“Denzel had some hiccups here and there,” said Rajon Brooks, Roca Boston’s employment manager. “Instead of firing him or writing him up, the employer can use us as their support network. For someone like Denzel, it may be easier hearing constructive criticism from me as opposed to the employer trying to redirect him.”

Roca works with men aged 17 to 24 with a previous history in jail, with gangs, in violent street activities or drugs. Miranda describes it as focusing on a small group of young people with an incredibly disproportionate impact on violence in the city: those who need relentless outreach because they are not ready, willing, or able to participate in any other programming available. 

The “relentless” part of Roca’s four-year intervention model means not taking “no”’ for an answer. Roca youth workers knock on doors and show up wherever a young man is, whether that’s at his girlfriend’s house, a local hangout or prison to get them to engage in the program. 

The program helps young men through building relationships for the purpose of behavior change, engaging businesses and institutions as partners, offering stage-based life skills, educational and employment programming and performance-based management that rigorously tracks data and evaluates outcomes.

In 2018, Roca served 942 young men, and was able to keep 78% of them engaged in the four-year model. 88% of graduates had no new arrests and 66% held jobs for six or more months, an impressive outcome given the many challenges young people at Roca face and a 26% unemployment rate in Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan. While 76% of young adults in the nation go back to jail within three years of release, young people at Roca are re-incarcerated at a much lower rate of 33%. 

‘Part of the family’ 

Dorchester Brewing’s Malloy said the partnership with Roca is in keeping with their goal of supporting the neighborhoods of Boston and their people, no matter their background. A side benefit is it will help his company with an ongoing challenge of trying to build a high-quality diverse staff.

“We’re very much about hiring locally and trying to give people a chance,” Malloy said. “Very often, people in Dorchester still get redlined and the neighborhood is featured on the news for violence. But it’s wonderfully diverse, which is why I moved here.”

He said Florvil has thrived at Dorchester Brewing Co. In early July, Florvil celebrated his one-year anniversary at the brewery, where he works full time and was recently promoted.

Brooks called the partnership a “win-win.” Roca was able to find employment for one of its men and the brewery was able to hire someone with a diverse background from its neighborhood. 

He said Florvil now has a car, pays rent at an apartment and is working toward completing his high school education. “Education typically leads to employment, but this happened the other way around,” Brooks said. 

Florvil said, “the job has allowed me to focus on my education.” 

Florvil is considered a success story, but Miranda stresses that Roca allows for failure in its model.

“Many young men are going to struggle, and the best partnerships understand there will be challenges and they can turn to us for support,” he said. “We incorporate that so when men stop showing up or don’t follow through, we don’t just give up on them. That’s the time we chase them more.”

Interested in getting involved, or have a successful partnership story to share that focuses on hiring young people from Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan into full-time jobs? Visit the Lewis Family Foundation’s job page for more information.

The vision of the Lewis Family Foundation is that young people from Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan live in and reinvest their service, capital, and intellect to ensure that their neighborhoods continue to thrive and are places of opportunity and access.

Laura Newpoff is a freelance writer with The Business Journals Content Studio.

This feature is a part of a the MBG’s Inclusion & Diversity Success Story Series with the goal to share best practices, recruitment strategies, and event & program ideas that members can bring home to their breweries. Does your brewery or business have a story that they’d like to share? The MBG’s Diversity Committee wants to hear it! Reach out to MBG Executive Director Katie Stinchon at katie@massbrewersguild.org for more information.

All Styles Welcome at Night Shift’s Lovejoy Location

Brewery owners remove barriers and foster inclusion and community for all in their taproom 

When the founders of Night Shift Brewing were opening their sister location, Lovejoy Wharf in downtown Boston, they wanted to ensure that its environment was welcoming, inviting and reflective of the community and neighborhood around it. 

The space tells a story -- not only of the company’s history through its origin mural and rich artwork throughout – but every detail was thought through — including a neon sign that hangs above a nook by one of the bathroom areas. The sign reads, “All Styles” which the owners say references genders as well as beers. It also indicates the brewery’s unisex restrooms.  

“It was a fairly easy decision to incorporate this into our new build-out,” says Michael Oxton, co-founder of Night Shift Brewing “One of our brand's core values is inclusivity, and this was a very clear way of creating an inclusive customer experience at our new spot.” 

Feedback about the all-gender bathroom stalls has been overwhelming positive, with a little bit of confusion thrown in here or there. “Sometimes we’ll be asked where the men’s room is, or you’ll see a customer hesitant to enter then as they re-read the sign they’ll audibly say “oh right – got it!” and continue into the restrooms,” says Michael.  

The Lovejoy Wharf location also goes above and beyond to ensure that families and new moms feel welcome. The space provides a nursing room and a changing table — amenities typically not found at all breweries. 

“Our staff is made up of young families and new moms -- we’ve all been to a place that doesn’t have a changing table and it’s a nightmare,” says Michael. “We wanted to remove any barriers possible to ensure everyone feels comfortable in our second home. We are optimists at Night Shift and believe the world is moving in a positive direction more often than not. If we can help move it there a little more quickly, all the better.” 

This feature is a part of a the MBG’s Inclusion & Diversity Success Story Series with the goal to share best practices, recruitment strategies, and event & program ideas that members can bring home to their breweries. Does your brewery or business have a story that they’d like to share? The MBG’s Diversity Committee wants to hear it! Reach out to MBG Executive Director Katie Stinchon at katie@massbrewersguild.org for more information.