Affinity Groups in the Workplace: Managing the Legal Risks

Summary

This practice note addresses how to manage the legal risk associated with employee affinity groups (also known as employee resource groups (ERG) or employee networks) and provides guidance on creating employee affinity group policies. Employee affinity groups (i.e., employee groups formed around a shared personal characteristic or experience) are an increasingly common feature of the modern workplace. See Aaron M. Glassman and Myron Glassman, The Use of Affinity Groups by Fortune 100 Firms, 17(2) Journal of Business Diversity 1 (2017) (noting that 66 of the Fortune 100 firms mentioned affinity groups on their websites).