Transition and advising your employer

[Guest Jenny_W]

Obviously, TS people have some rights. Whether they are acknowledged by employers is a whole different discussion.

However, does anyone know whether I have an obligation under Australian legislation to advise my employer (or prospective employer if I'm being interviewed for a job) to tell them that I am TS and I plan to transition in XX months? I think it would be unfair to be accepted for a job as male and then a few months in, start transition. However, I also think that a job should not be affected by gender.

My intention at work is to start HRT without telling my employer. I don't want to raise a red flag and give them an opportunity to fire me. However, could this backfire? If I'm honest now, would it be better than saying 'surprise' in 6 months time when I can't / no longer want to hide the physical and mental changes? (btw, the mental changes have already happened and I'm just waiting for my body to catch up).

I don't want to:

1. Lose my job now before transition

2. Be told during transition that everthing would have been OK if I had been honest from the start.

Yep, cake and eat it please

Jenny

[Guest Tamar]

Jenny,if you find the answer,please let us know. Hugs.

[Drea]

I can't speak to law there.

As far as the right thing to do for the best outcome, I would it depends if you are talking about your current employer or if your seeking a new position (prospective employer)

For existing employer, I would lump it in with any medical issue. Unless there is some law that tells you that you have to advise your employer if you have a medical problem I wouldn't think it necessary. Similarly starting treatment shouldn't require any action. The time to deal with employer is when you know for sure you will be making workplace changes. As such you don't want to rush things with employer so things happen so fast, but reasonable heads up on the order ofseveral weeks to a few months might be in order.

If one is starting a new position the story is a bit different. In such cases I would suggest that one either be up front or hold off for at least a year as far as workplaces go to get oneself established. This doesn't mean one can't start treatments such as therapy or hormones, but as far as comming out at work and changing public roles in the workplace, doing so before getting established if one hasn't been up front about it may leave employer feeling like they were blindsided. Such generally isn't the best recipe for employment stability.

[Carolyn Marie]

I agree with Drea. Whenever possible, I think its a good idea to give an employer as much notice as possible, so that education and training can be done, if the employer is of a mind to do that. There are resources available to assist you (general info, not Australia-specific) when you are ready.

HUGS

Carolyn Marie

[VickySGV]

Bosses and managers are people too, ask yourself how you would feel if you were the manager/supervisor and an employee did what you are going to be doing 1) if they told you up front and 2) if they dumped the surprise on you. Do you trust your immediate boss as a team leader? If they are happy and your work is at or above acceptable level, test the water out.

As a manager where I worked, I had to have some idea of the general health of my employees since I had to approve medical leaves, and schedule work around times they would be off. I was also the one that my employees came to if they were having issues with other employees such as in one case, diabetic lesions that gave off a foul odor at times. I let my manager know when I began HRT, not because I was going to transition then, but because of the possibility it would affect my temperment, and that my employees and others could observe subtle physical changes in me. I trusted my boss, and in fact I had to let her boss know because she did not take my confidence to the next level just then, and went on extended leave herself. (Skiing accident)

I had protection by law, but it was the human interactions one on one that helped the most. Being on the HRT did improve my attitude and helped in my work relationships and productivity, so no one could beef.

I did not actually transition on my job since I was so near retirement, but was out for the six months before I left and only a single person out of 50 had a problem, and that person figured (wrongly) that if I got fired, she was in line for my position. She got told by two levels up on my bosses that if she kept her attitude up and it would be her leaving prematurely before I left on schedule.

[Guest Jenni_S]

Whenever possible, I think its a good idea to give an employer as much notice as possible, so that education and training can be done, if the employer is of a mind to do that.

You know, when I read this, it occurred to me that I don't even know what sort of education or training they would do. My employer never did any of it, after I had my chat with the upper management. I'm rather curious, what do they do?

[VickySGV]

Whenever possible, I think its a good idea to give an employer as much notice as possible, so that education and training can be done, if the employer is of a mind to do that.

You know, when I read this, it occurred to me that I don't even know what sort of education or training they would do. My employer never did any of it, after I had my chat with the upper management. I'm rather curious, what do they do?

There are a number of organizations that have very good programs that they can provide to employers on the subject of GD/GV as well as the GLB segment. They cost the boss something, but may save money and headaches in the long run. The for profit organizations bill themselves as Labor Law or Workplace Relations consultants. A not for profit organization I know about is "Out And Equal" which although based in California, makes presentations nation wide. Google them, and you can see what I mean.

[Guest BrenGirl]

This is something I'm still not sure about. I do want to give my employer some heads up, but I'm not ready to disclose anything yet. Eventually, hormones are going to make it necessary. For right now, I'm kinda waiting until I'm forced to, and then see how things play out.

[Guest Jo-88]

Bren I think that is probably the best bet, having a good job is so important I would wait until it is absolutely necessary to come out at work. In most states it is not illegal to fire someone for being trans... so keep that in mind and protect yourself. It may even be wise to have your bank account padded before coming out just in case you lose your job over it, that way you will have the resources to support yourself until you can find something new.

[Drea]

Eventually, hormones are going to make it necessary.

Not really, only you will make it necessary.

Whenever possible, I think its a good idea to give an employer as much notice as possible, so that education and training can be done, if the employer is of a mind to do that.

You know, when I read this, it occurred to me that I don't even know what sort of education or training they would do. My employer never did any of it, after I had my chat with the upper management. I'm rather curious, what do they do?

There are a number of organizations that have very good programs that they can provide to employers on the subject of GD/GV as well as the GLB segment. They cost the boss something, but may save money and headaches in the long run. The for profit organizations bill themselves as Labor Law or Workplace Relations consultants. A not for profit organization I know about is "Out And Equal" which although based in California, makes presentations nation wide. Google them, and you can see what I mean.

Regardless if any training I stand by the good to give notice.

As far as training goes, I figure that is something for one and one's employer to decide. Personally, given the wide degree of expression among TG and just how different trans experience their condition, I personally would favor representing myself rather than have some canned trans awareness training. Furthermore, given how some of these programs are more generic diversity training programes that focus more on LGB stuff more than trans, it seems even more reason I would prefer to represent myself. That way at least others understand where I am comming from.

[Guest]

Hi Jenny,

The computer ate my first post? I thought I'd answered, at least! Ditzy runs in the family...

So much of what you tell your employer depends on your projected timeline. If you can start hormones without notice and last a while before transitioning - perhaps a year - then it's probably best to leave the full disclosure until later. But, if you're planning on full-time in a short period - six months or less - that's probably something you should discuss up front.

I encourage everyone to be a perfect employee. Being trans can be a negative factor from your employer's standpoint, just because we're unknowns, unpredictable, high maintenance. So, it behooves us to make ourselves as valuable to our employer as possible. If you decide not to tell your employer about your transition plans, then making yourself a valued employee will carry a lot of weight when you do come out.

Best of luck to you!

Love, Megan

[Guest Jenni_S]

Hi Jenny,

The computer ate my first post? I thought I'd answered, at least! Ditzy runs in the family...

So much of what you tell your employer depends on your projected timeline. If you can start hormones without notice and last a while before transitioning - perhaps a year - then it's probably best to leave the full disclosure until later. But, if you're planning on full-time in a short period - six months or less - that's probably something you should discuss up front.

I encourage everyone to be a perfect employee. Being trans can be a negative factor from your employer's standpoint, just because we're unknowns, unpredictable, high maintenance. So, it behooves us to make ourselves as valuable to our employer as possible. If you decide not to tell your employer about your transition plans, then making yourself a valued employee will carry a lot of weight when you do come out.

Best of luck to you!

Love, Megan

Um, yes, I transitioned at work five years ago, about three months before hormones, actually. I wasn't waiting any longer. I was simply curious about what the training mentioned was. We really never looked at it, and me and the company did a "take it as it comes" approach. From what I saw at the site mentioned above, it seems to be a sort of specialized diversity training, is that right?

[Guest]

Hi Jenni,

There was no formal training on my job. I had the support of my boss, and on the day before transition, I sent out a brief letter to about 150 coworkers with one brochure attached, http://www.apa.org/topics/sexuality/transgender.pdf. I took the day off and completed name changes while my boss went around and talked to my immediate coworkers in small groups. Most of the people in my department already knew anyway. But, I work with many people that I see very infrequently, if ever. And, even among them, there has been nothing worth mentioning as a difficulty.

The personnel department had told me that they wanted to put on a house-wide program on diversity, and I might have welcomed that at the time, but, the low-key approach has the advantage of not mandating acceptance in the same way. I am actually glad now that there was no formal education, just because it didn't spotlight me so much, and the informal process worked so well.

Love, Megan

[Guest Jenni_S]

Hi Jenni,

There was no formal training on my job. I had the support of my boss, and on the day before transition, I sent out a brief letter to about 150 coworkers with one brochure attached, http://www.apa.org/topics/sexuality/transgender.pdf. I took the day off and completed name changes while my boss went around and talked to my immediate coworkers in small groups. Most of the people in my department already knew anyway. But, I work with many people that I see very infrequently, if ever. And, even among them, there has been nothing worth mentioning as a difficulty.

The personnel department had told me that they wanted to put on a house-wide program on diversity, and I might have welcomed that at the time, but, the low-key approach has the advantage of not mandating acceptance in the same way. I am actually glad now that there was no formal education, just because it didn't spotlight me so much, and the informal process worked so well.

Love, Megan

Oh Geesh, I thought you were replying to me earlier. The curse of having a common name! Sorry for stomping all over your original post!

I was thinking along the lines you were too. I mean, a big company meeting, and "the reason we're all here is..." and everyone looks at YOU. What my company did was put little notices about my "name change" in with the paychecks, which is how all the company news went out. If they had any questions, they were directed to me. It's about 100 people, so that may have helped. There were a few odd questions, too, but they all seemed genuine and curious, and not nasty in any way.

[Guest BrenGirl]

Bren I think that is probably the best bet, having a good job is so important I would wait until it is absolutely necessary to come out at work. In most states it is not illegal to fire someone for being trans... so keep that in mind and protect yourself. It may even be wise to have your bank account padded before coming out just in case you lose your job over it, that way you will have the resources to support yourself until you can find something new.

My state does have protection against me being fired, but I'm concerned my company might still try to find a way and just say it wasn't because of my coming out. Probably won't be dealing with this until next year though, so we'll see.

[Guest Jenny_W]

@Brengirl - same here. Very little protection that I can find. Even if there was legal protection, my company could say that it was 'performance related' which can be done in a number of ways. I guess I have to plan to lose my job at some point in time. This really sucks.

What am I supposed to do? Ignore everything and be depressed and then lose my job because I haven't got my mind on my work? NO!

I really wish people would learn some compassion.

Jenny

[Guest Jenni_S]

@Brengirl - same here. Very little protection that I can find. Even if there was legal protection, my company could say that it was 'performance related' which can be done in a number of ways. I guess I have to plan to lose my job at some point in time. This really sucks.

What am I supposed to do? Ignore everything and be depressed and then lose my job because I haven't got my mind on my work? NO!

I really wish people would learn some compassion.

Jenny

Now hold on here, who is saying you WILL lose your job? They may fire you, yes, but that's always a risk in any job. Look at this from another direction. Have you given them reasons to keep you? Would they value the work you do? Make yourself a valuable asset, and they're much less likely to fire you at the drop of a hat. I'm not saying they won't; again, there's always that risk, but getting things stacked on your side of the ledger is always a good thing for any job.