Respectful and inclusive leadership for managers

For managers, team leaders and senior leaders: make fair, criteria-based decisions, handle accommodations and complaints well, and build an inclusive team in ways that comply with current federal and state law.

For: People managers, team leaders, project leads and senior leaders in US organizations, and the HR partners who support them

  • 2 contact hours
  • 8 modules
  • 10 interactives
  • 4 job aids
  • Updated October 11, 2026

What you will be able to do

  • Explain how managers' decisions and conduct create employer liability under federal EEO laws, and identify when individual managers can face exposure.
  • Make hiring, promotion and pay decisions using documented, job-related criteria that comply with EEO laws and state pay transparency requirements.
  • Apply structured practices that reduce the influence of bias on evaluations, assignments and day-to-day decisions.
  • Respond to accommodation requests and complaints promptly and correctly, and prevent retaliation.
  • Distinguish inclusion practices that are lawful after the 2025 federal changes from those that create discrimination risk, and lead with respectful communication.
  • Document people decisions effectively and build a practical team action plan.

This inclusive leadership training is built around the decisions managers make every week: who gets hired and promoted, how pay is set and explained, who gets the stretch assignment, how performance is rated, what happens when someone asks for an accommodation or raises a complaint, and how team practices make people feel they belong. Each decision is tied to the law that governs it, including Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Equal Pay Act and state pay transparency laws.

It is written for leaders, not lawyers. You follow a fictional surveying and engineering firm headquartered in Montana with offices in Colorado, Washington and Illinois, so you see how the same decision can carry different obligations in different states. You practice with branching scenarios, a pay-range decision tree and a 90-day action plan template.

Inclusion practices changed after the 2025 federal executive orders and EEOC and Department of Justice technical assistance on diversity-related discrimination. This course explains, neutrally and accurately, which practices create legal risk, which remain lawful and effective, and why the strongest approach is the same either way: open opportunities, clear criteria, consistent treatment and respectful conduct.

What you’ll be able to do Monday morning

  1. Write down the criteria for your next hiring, promotion or stretch assignment decision before you look at candidates.
  2. Check whether any open role you manage is posted in a state that requires a pay range, and confirm the range with HR.
  3. Make sure development opportunities on your team, such as mentoring, training and visible projects, are open to everyone who meets the criteria.
  4. When someone mentions a medical condition, pregnancy or religious need affecting work, start the accommodation process with HR that day.
  5. Treat any concern about unfair treatment as a complaint, and check with HR before making any decision affecting the person who raised it.

Curriculum

8 modules · 32 lessons · about 2 contact hours

01Why does the law treat a manager's decisions as the employer's decisions?Free preview16 min
  1. How does manager conduct become employer liability?
  2. What makes someone a supervisor in the eyes of the law?
  3. Can individual managers be personally liable?
  4. What does this mean for how you lead?
  • Self-assessment: Leadership practices self-check

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

02How do you make hiring and promotion decisions that are fair and defensible?18 min
  1. Why do criteria have to come first?
  2. Why should promotion opportunities be open?
  3. How did the crew chief decision turn out?
  4. What should you avoid asking or considering?
  • Spot the issue: Review a promotion recommendation memo

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

03How do you set and explain pay lawfully, including under pay transparency laws?18 min
  1. What do the Equal Pay Act and Title VII require?
  2. How do pay transparency laws work?
  3. What should a manager do about pay day to day?
  4. What about salary history and conversations about pay?
  • Decision tree: Does this posting need a pay range?
  • State rules selector: Pay transparency rules by state

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

04How do you keep bias out of everyday decisions?17 min
  1. What does the evidence say about bias in decisions?
  2. Which shortcuts most often distort manager decisions?
  3. How did Vashti's calibration change?
  4. What can you do in meetings and daily work?
  • Sort activity: Behavior-based or biased?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

05How do you handle accommodation requests and complaints without creating retaliation?18 min
  1. When does an accommodation request start, and what is the interactive process?
  2. How should managers respond to complaints?
  3. Why is retaliation the biggest risk for managers?
  4. How do religious accommodation and age issues show up for managers?
  • Branching scenario: A manager's week

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

06What does lawful inclusion look like after the 2025 federal changes?18 min
  1. What changed in 2025, and what did not?
  2. Which practices create legal risk?
  3. Which inclusion practices remain lawful and effective?
  4. How should managers talk about these changes with their teams?
  • Ethics dilemma: The women-only mentoring program

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

07How do you lead respectful conversations and stop problems before they grow?16 min
  1. What are the early warning signs, and why do they matter?
  2. How do you intervene in the moment?
  3. How do you hold respectful conversations about difference and disagreement?
  4. How do you build belonging on a hybrid or field team?
  • Branching scenario: The comment at the briefing

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

08How do you document decisions and build a 90-day team action plan?16 min
  1. What does good documentation look like?
  2. What are the most common documentation mistakes?
  3. How do you build a 90-day action plan for your team?
  4. When should you stop and ask for help?
  • Spot the issue: Review a manager's documentation file
  • Matching activity: Turn goals into 90-day actions

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

Final assessment: 23 questions, 75% to pass, then your certificate

Try it now, no account needed

A manager's week

A branching scenario from this course. Your choices are not saved.

Free sample activity

A manager's week

You manage a 12-person team. On Monday, a team member tells you that a medication change makes her dizzy in the mornings and asks whether she could start at 10 a.m. for a month.

Inside the course

Practice activities

  • Self-assessment1
  • Spot the issue2
  • Decision tree1
  • State rules selector1
  • Sort activity1
  • Branching scenario2
  • Ethics dilemma1
  • Matching activity1

Job aids you keep

  • Inclusive and EEO-Compliant Manager ChecklistChecklist
  • Fair Opportunity and Inclusion Policy (Starter)Policy starter
  • Manager Decision Scenario WorksheetWorksheet
  • State Pay Transparency Quick-ReferenceReference sheet

Credit and approval status

Certificate of completion

This course awards a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours of instruction. It is not approved by SHRM, HRCI or any state agency, licensing board or continuing education accreditor, and it does not grant recertification credit today. Federal law does not require a specific manager training course; some states and cities require harassment prevention training for supervisors with specific content, and this course is not designed as that training. Check with your employer, state agency or certifying body whether this course meets your specific requirement.

Pathways we may pursue include SHRM professional development credit recognition and HRCI recertification credit pre-approval. Neither approval exists today; the course page will show an approval only after it is granted.

Our full approvals list

State notes

Federal EEO laws set the floor everywhere. For managers, state law differs most in four areas:

  • Pay transparency: a growing number of states and cities require pay ranges in job postings, disclosure on request or notice of promotion opportunities. Examples verified for this course include Colorado (Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, from 2021), California (Labor Code 432.3, from 2023), Washington (RCW 49.58.110, from 2023), New York (Labor Law 194-b, from September 2023) and Illinois (Equal Pay Act amendments, from January 2025). Others include Maryland, Minnesota, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Hawaii and the District of Columbia, with more scheduled.
  • Salary history: many states and cities bar asking applicants about prior pay.
  • Protected characteristics and employer size: many state laws protect more characteristics and cover smaller employers than federal law.
  • Individual liability and supervisor training: some states allow claims against individual supervisors for harassment or retaliation, and several require supervisor harassment prevention training.

Use the pay transparency state block in Module 3 and confirm current rules with HR or counsel for each location where you hire or manage employees, including remote employees.

Questions about this course

Is this inclusive leadership training approved for SHRM or HRCI credit?

Not today. You receive a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours of instruction. We may seek SHRM professional development credit recognition and HRCI pre-approval in the future, and the course page will show an approval only if one is granted. Your organization can review the outline and objectives to decide whether it fits a leadership development plan.

Is diversity, equity and inclusion work still lawful after the 2025 changes?

Many inclusion practices remain lawful, such as broad recruiting, open mentoring, clear criteria and respectful conduct. Practices that make employment decisions or limit opportunities based on race, sex or other protected characteristics carry significant legal risk, as they did before, and federal agencies have emphasized this since 2025. The course explains the difference with examples.

Does this course cover state pay transparency laws?

Yes, at a manager level. It explains how pay range posting and disclosure laws work, gives verified examples from several states, and includes a state block you can use to check the rules for your locations. It is not a state edition, and pay transparency laws are changing quickly, so confirm current rules with HR or counsel.

Does this satisfy supervisor harassment prevention training mandates?

It is not designed to. States such as California, New York, Illinois, Connecticut and Delaware set specific content, length or interactivity requirements for harassment training. This course covers recognizing harassment early as part of inclusive leadership, but our harassment prevention course is the better fit for state-mandated training.

How long does it take, and how am I assessed?

Plan on about two hours for seven modules, scenarios, short knowledge checks and a 23-question final assessment drawn from a larger bank. You need 75 percent to pass. Most questions are management scenarios, so you will need to apply the course content.

Can I use the action plan and templates?

Yes. The manager checklist, inclusion policy starter, scenario worksheet and state pay transparency quick-reference are yours to adapt. Have HR or counsel review any policy language before adopting it.

This course is general education and training awareness from CE Courses Hub on respectful and inclusive leadership and equal employment opportunity. It is not legal advice and does not replace your employer's policies, the law of your state or city, or advice from a qualified employment attorney or HR professional. Completing it earns a certificate of completion for the stated contact hours; it is not approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency or accreditor unless an approval is shown on the course page. Check with your board, employer or state agency whether this course meets your specific requirement.