The City and County of Honolulu is taking steps towards being more inclusive and addressing biases for city employees and residents.
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi signed Bill 25 into law Thursday, which not only encourages anti-bias behavior in government agencies, but also requires all employees to undergo diversity training.
The training will include topics such as tools for a safe work environment, approprite responses to discrimination, methods on how to document and report unlawful acts, and more.
“We are here to send a message to our city employees and the community at large: whatever your background, we see you, we value you and we welcome you. We’re here to protect our employees and make sure they can do their best work each and every day,” said Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam in a press release on Thursday.
The protocol will be incorporated into city training starting next year, and training will be required at least annually according to the measure.
In Thursday's release, Blangiardi said it's critical for city employees and officials to “lead by example in embracing and celebrating” differences in opinions, perspectives and backgrounds.
