DE&I and the facial difference community

While much is being done among HR leaders to prioritize workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), few supports are in place for individuals with a facial difference.

AboutFace, Canada’s facial difference charity and advocacy organization, is working to change all that.

“Unfortunately, there is a significant gap in awareness about facial differences across all aspects of society,” says Danielle Griffin, executive director at AboutFace. “In the workplace, lack of understanding or awareness can result in mistreatment, judgment of a person’s abilities, intrusive or hurtful questions or comments, limited career progression, and bullying and harassment.”

The facial difference community

A person with a facial difference is someone whose appearance has been affected by a congenital, acquired, or episodic condition or syndrome. Facial difference is not recognized within Canadian human rights legislation; therefore, support, awareness, training and education around systemic barriers and biases directed toward the community is notably absent from workplace policies and initiatives.

Canadian employers do, however, have a legal obligation to adjust policies and practices to promote inclusion and enable full employee participation. For those in the facial difference community, this duty to accommodate includes a reasonable adjustment of workplace conditions to ensure people who are otherwise fit to work are not unfairly excluded because of hearing, speech, vision, or mobility challenges.

A survey conducted by AboutFace finds that only one-third of people with a facial difference identify as disabled.  With more than two million people in Canada living with a facial difference, that could leave as many as 1.3 million Canadians without entrenched, specific rights, safeguards, or key protections in the workplace.

“HR polices and training tend to be based on legislative requirements, and facial difference is not recognized as a specific category,” says Pauline James, founder and CEO of Anchor HR, and partnering advocate for AboutFace. “As well, facial differences are often not identified in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, making it more difficult for organizations to quantify and address ongoing challenges.”

Prevailing misconceptions and their consequences

People with a facial difference are often met with a range of workplace behaviours rooted in negative stereotypes and erroneous beliefs. According to research conducted by AboutFace, this can include staring or gaping by co-workers (51 per cent); difficult or uncomfortable experiences during recruiting (50 per cent); lack of opportunities or career progression (43 per cent); bullying or harassment (36 per cent); denial of facial difference, also known as erasure (35 per cent); and, not feeling seen or heard (31 per cent).

Alim Somji, a real estate and construction executive living with a facial difference, says making the right first impression in professional settings can be difficult.

“So much of the working world is reliant upon making that first impression when you meet somebody,” he says. “People from our community have a lot of difficulty with the interview process because recruiters are generally not prepared to have that conversation or see someone with a facial difference. It’s tough.”

Somji says that by mentioning facial difference in job postings and employee manuals, employers can help bring awareness to the issue and contribute to its being normalized.

Karen Hyndman, a paralegal for the Canadian federal government, says that, in her experience, most employers have not had much exposure to the issue.

“There are preconceived notions about our physical and mental abilities because of our facial difference,” she explains. “Coworkers need to understand we may be different on the outside, but we’re not actually any different than them.”

Hyndman feels that with the right workplace training, HR leaders, employers and employees can learn to recognize and address unconscious biases: “People think unconscious bias doesn’t exist, but it absolutely does. We all have unconscious biases. We may say that we don’t but, in reality, everyone does.”

Facial differences and workplace best practices

Griffin agrees that unconscious bias concerning facial differences should be addressed across employment training, resources, policies, and procedures, and feels workplace protections for people with a facial difference should be enacted alongside current protections provided to other equity-seeking groups.

“There needs to be better representation of people with facial differences in the staff at organizations across Canada generally, and in things like advertising, employee handbooks, and training modules,” she says.

Do your DE&I initiatives include provisions for the facial difference community? To learn more, register to participate in An Introduction to Facial Differences in the Workplace, a free educational webinar hosted by AboutFace.

Download free resources to help you implement recruitment best practices, employment accommodation, and employment advocacy supports at AboutFace.