In this episode of the DEI Minute, Jamey addresses the impact of recent executive orders from the Trump administration on employee resource groups (ERGs) in the workplace. The discussion opens with an important legal update—a federal judge's preliminary injunction that temporarily blocks certain aspects of these orders, particularly as they pertain to investigations of organizations running DEI programs. Despite ongoing challenges, Jamey discusses how both DEI initiatives and ERGs remain legal and essential, offering practical advice for organizations striving to maintain these groups amid legal uncertainty.

The episode dives deep into how ERGs support organizational culture and employee well-being, highlighting their role in fostering inclusion, professional development, retention, and recruitment. Jamey outlines actionable steps for businesses to safeguard and structure their ERGs to ensure compliance with current and potential future regulations. By clarifying ERG purposes, ensuring voluntary participation, and separating ERG activities from hiring or promotions, companies can uphold the immense value these groups provide.

To learn more or connect with Jamey, visit: www.equity-at-work.com

Key Topics Discussed:

• The origins and evolution of employee resource groups (ERGs)
• Difference between ERGs and affinity groups
• The value and impact of ERGs for individuals and organizations
• Current legality of DEI and ERGs in private companies and agencies
• Risks and misconceptions around ERGs and DEI compliance
• Actionable steps to keep ERGs both effective and compliant:
• Clear policies and definitions
• Voluntary and open participation
• Separation from hiring and promotion practices
• Professional behavior standards
• Legal responsibilities around harassment and discrimination
• The importance of informal peer connection spaces
• Importance of tailored legal guidance for organizations

I'm Jamie Applegate, Senior Director of DEI at EquityAtWork, and this is your DEI minute, your go to podcast for leaders looking to navigate the ever evolving landscape of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Whether you're just starting out with DEI or looking to sustain your long term successes, each episode will provide you with.

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All right, before we get started, we want to make sure that we share some context. We're going to be talking about the Trump administration's executive orders on dei, which Michelle discussed in a previous episode, but there is some updates to it. A Feb. 21 decision by a federal district judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction that blocks some aspects of these orders. So this injunction is part of a lawsuit brought by the City of Baltimore and three other groups. It applies to federal agencies and businesses that contract with the federal government, and it states that having the Department of Justice investigate companies simply for having DEI programs likely violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution. So keep that in mind as we're talking through this episode. We're going to talk about employee resource groups on this episode, and we're going to talk about them as if there was no injunction.

So what to do if the executive orders are allowed to move forward? If there are things like investigations of companies for their DEI programs, if there are issues related to businesses that contract with the federal government and even within federal government agencies? So we're going to talk about employee resource groups. They're often called ergs, and they are involuntary groups within a company in which employees with a shared characteristic come together to connect with each other, discuss shared experiences, network, engage in professional development for themselves, lead professional development and other events for the larger organization, and identify barriers to their success and advocate for solutions that will best support their retention and growth within the company. So common ergs are centered around racial and ethnic groups. So some common ones are a black employees group, a Latino or Hispanic employees group, an Asian and Pacific Islander employee group. Gender groups are common, especially women employees with disabilities, young professionals or older professionals, LGBTQ individuals. And a very common one is veterans. One we sometimes see is religious individuals. That's usually implemented in a larger group with members of many religious faiths coming together to learn and share about their beliefs and discuss the intersection of their religion and their work life.

So you often see sort of an interfaith group. You don't typically see sort of single religion groups. Some organizations also have something called affinity groups or clubs that are based on a shared interest, such as outdoor activity or a specific sport or environmentalism or community engagement and volunteering. For some organizations, they don't differentiate between those two. They just say these are employee resource groups or these are affinity groups. For the purposes of this podcast episode, we're going to define employee resource groups as based around a shared personal characteristic, and we are going to define affinity groups as based around a shared interest. And we are not focusing on affinity groups in this episode. We are focusing on ergs as those are the things that will be or would be impacted more clearly by the early executive orders from the Trump administration.

So before we get into how to support ERGs within the context of those executive orders, it's important to discuss why ERGs emerged and why they are valuable for employees and organizations. So ERGs emerged in response to racial tensions in the 1960s. They were intended to create a space for all members of a given race to gather together, to advocate against discrimination and for more fair corporate policies. Over time, these expanded to include other groups of people who shared various characteristics, who also wanted to connect with each other to identify barriers to their success and advocate for solutions that would improve their experience in the workplace. Employee resource groups are valuable for so many reasons. They help employees feel included and have a sense of belonging at the organization. It provides them with the space to be with people with whom they share a characteristic and with whom they likely share experiences, both personal and professional. ERGs also provide professional development opportunities both for people with the shared characteristic and for the larger organization who can learn more about that group and their experiences.

Employees who have access to ERGs feel more connected to their employers, which in turn boosts morale, employee engagement, and job satisfaction. ERGs can be a space where employees feel truly seen and supported, which can help ensure retention. ERGs can signal to prospective talent that the organization is a welcoming and inclusive place where everyone can thrive. And ergs can also help with reputation, which can help with early stage and mid career recruitment. Having ERGs is a clear indicator to diverse individuals that this organization is a place for them to take their talents and skills. All right, so we have a very brief history of why ERGs exist. There were policies in situations that were clearly unfair and unjust, and this was negatively impacting people from specific groups. And we understand the value that ergs bring to our organizations.

Employee sense of belonging, job satisfaction, professional development, recruitment of retention, organizational reputation. The list is long. The Current executive orders are predicated on the idea that DEI and DEI programs like ERGs give an unfair advantage to people based on a personal characteristic such as race or gender. That is flat out not true. True DEI is just what its letters represent. It is diversity. We acknowledge and celebrate our differences and we understand that diverse experiences and perspectives make us innovative and improve our ability to achieve our goals. Equity we understand that each person is different and needs different things in order to be successful in inclusion.

We place a high value on employee engagement and on our people feeling a sense of belonging. They want to work here and be a part of this team. True DEI does not give an unfair advantage to a specific group of people. True DEI makes sure that everyone has the same access to opportunity and that no one is denied access to opportunity based on any part of their identity. So now let's talk about ergs within the context of the Trump administration's executive orders. To start, as Michelle mentioned in a previous episode, diversity, equity and inclusion is still legal and employee resource groups are still legal. There's nothing that prevents companies from supporting groups centered around the experiences of a group of people who share a specific characteristic. Current laws and Trump's executive orders do nothing to impede any company's ability to stand up and maintain employee resource groups.

The only caveat to this is within the federal government, presidentially appointed leaders of federal agencies have been instructed to eliminate employee resource groups. We know that there is an injunction against some of this. While we would say that this is short sighted and harms employees, it is not illegal and it is within the purview of agency heads to make these kinds of decisions about workplace operations. But the private and public companies, the non governmental actors that are eliminating ergs are doing so of their own volition. They are not legally required to, and they are likely doing so because they are either afraid of unwanted attention from government agencies or because they want to be seen as playing ball with the current administration and to avoid being called out by the government and facing reputational harm. The decision to eliminate ERGs will harm employee experience, which will in turn harm organizations. But how do we move forward? So here we're going to talk about six key things that organizations can do to make sure that the ERGs remain and are legally compliant. So one clarify your company's policies around ERGs.

What is their purpose, why do we believe in them, and how do they support all employees? Consider the all there to be in caps and bold ergs support employee engagement for all employees. What constitutes an erg and what constitutes an affinity group. Is our language clear and consistent about what ergs are and what they are not? And are we clear that ERGs are voluntary and unrelated to hiring and promotions? It is critical to make that clear because that is where the Trump administration is looking for things. It is hiring and promotions decisions. 2. Be explicit about three key components 1. Who can attend? Be clear that all ERGs, regardless of their focus, are open to all employees. 2.

Is this about preferential benefits? Be explicit that ERGs again have no relation to formal recruiting, hiring, retention, and promotion processes. 3. Is this required? Make it clear that participation in ERGs is voluntary and that participation or non participation in any ERG activity will not lead to any adverse consequences. And be clear that any event put on by an ERG is a voluntary learning opportunity and does not constitute formal or required professional development. Big Number three. There is nothing that prevents a given employee, group or event from having a specific focus. Again, these are voluntary groups that are open to everyone and these are voluntary learning events that are open to everyone. And these groups and learning events are unrelated to recruiting, hiring, retention, and promotion.

But just as it is appropriate for an optional presentation on the company's budget to focus on the budget, it makes sense for an optional event during National Women's History Month to focus on women. It is appropriate and legal, for example, to have that event during National Women's History Month that features a discussion on the barriers faced by women in stem fields. 4. Companies should establish and enforce expectations around professional behaviors in the workplace. If people attend this hypothetical Women's History Month event and want to interrupt or heckle, that should constitute a violation of a company's code of conduct. It is disrespectful and it is unprofessional and it should lead to disciplinary consequences. 5. Companies are legally required to prevent and respond to instances of harassment and discrimination.

Interrupting or heckling at a Women's History Month event could constitute harassment of individuals based on their identity as members of a protected class, in this case their sex or gender ident. Individuals who do not have a shared characteristic cannot mistreat individuals who have the shared characteristic and if that characteristic is their protected class, such as their race or gender, that can constitute harassment and potentially discrimination depending on the situation. And if a company does not respond, they can be found to have fostered a hostile workplace which can have serious legal consequences for the organization. And finally, number six, employees should be reminded that it is okay to and then in fact it is encouraged for them to connect with their peers. Employees are allowed to form connections and friendships with their peers. Employees should be encouraged to build connections with each other as that can help with employee engagement and employee sense of belonging. Employees can connect with whichever teammates they would like. If a black employee wants to convene a call with other black employees, there should be nothing to stop them from doing that.

These connection spaces can be critical spaces where people can talk to teammates with whom they share a characteristic and whom they trust. I want to make a big asterisk note on this comment. These should be informal spaces, they should be employee led, and they should be in no way affiliated with a company sponsored ERG or its events. And a quick note here. If an employee who does not share the characteristic complains that they are being excluded, I would mention that this is just like going to get lunch or chatting at the water cooler. Not every informal conversation is for everyone and not everyone gets to be invited. It's okay to have a close friend at work and to have someone that you are simply friendly with. Totally appropriate.

So there you have it. As of right now, DEI is still legal and ERGs are still legal. It will likely require clarifying some language and adjusting how your employee resource groups are operated. But ergs have just too much value to be eliminated. They mean too much to your employees, which means they mean too much to you. Ergs bring so much good to the workplace, and the companies that make adjustments and maintain their ergs will reap the benefits of continued employee engagement and employee sense of belonging. As a note before we end this episode, all of this guidance is just that, general guidance. It is not specific to any workplace or industry or specific organization.

As you apply it to your workplace, please make sure you connect with your legal counsel for more situation specific guidance. As always, if you're working through how to continue your DEI work or how to support ERGs in this new environment, we're here to help. Please send us an email or connect with us on our website. Thanks so much for listening. That's a wrap.

I'm Jamie Applegate and that's your DEI minute for today.

Thank you for listening.

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