Skin deep: How DEI initiatives may be excluding plus-size workers

Conversations focused on creating diversity and inclusion at the workplace typically center on ending discrimination that employees face based on race, gender and sexual orientation. But what about weight?

Individuals clinically catergorized as overweight or obese made up 42.4% of the U.S. population in 2020, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half of that demographic are active contributors to the workforce, according to CareerBuilder, though the corporate landscape is often unaccommodating for workers of a certain size.

“Plus-size is one of the last populations that has been seen or heard out there [in the workforce],” says Kara Richardson Whitely, extended sizing advocate and consultant and author of Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds. “So when it comes to employers connecting with that audience, they’re missing out on a pool of talent that may not feel welcomed.”

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According to a 2018 LinkedIn study, obsese workers are paid roughly $2,500 less than thinner colleagues, and half of employers are less likely to hire overweight workers than thinner prospects.

“There are two factors,” Richardson Whitely says. “One is that employers don't often see the worth of someone who's plus sized. But then there's also an internal conversation for somebody who is plus-size, and their own self-worth and willingness to advocate for themselves often falls short.”

Employees who are overweight or considered obese are often stereotyped as lazy, unmotivated and less competent than other employees, according to the International Journal of Obesity. Overweight workers are susceptible to being reduced to harmful stereotypes about their demographic.

“In my journey of wellness, I've had to really focus on my own self-worth because for so long, I beat myself down because I felt like I wasn't worthy of opportunities of being paid well,” says Richardson Whitely, who has faced her own share of discrimination due to her weight. “The sky wasn’t the limit, simply because I was heavier than most people.”

Before shifting to a career in advocacy and motivational speaking, Richardson Whitely was a journalist for many years, and recalls witnessing what she now identifies as office-sanctioned microaggressions, such as “Biggest Loser”-style competitions among employees, encouraged by employers.

“That kind of stuff happened a lot,” she says. “There was a time when I did lose a significant amount of weight and it was the only thing that people wanted to talk to me about. But now I typically talk about my three climbs of Kilimanjaro — showing somebody in a larger body doing extraordinary things is more helpful.”

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Beyond perception and stereotypes that can keep plus-size employees from advancing in the workplace, there are physical barriers, too. Office furniture is often not accommodating to larger individuals, dress codes may be more strictly enforced, and even healthcare benefits and programs may be more limited when it comes to supporting the health of plus-size employees.

The solution is to dig into the facts within an organization: explore pay discrepancies and consider how they relate to the person’s physical appearance; ask employees about their comfort at work, and create an environment where that dialogue is encouraged; expand your DEI initiatives and trainings to expand its definitions of diversity.

”That fine balance is achieved with inclusion and leadership training,” Richardson Whitely says. “That fine balance is achieved with showing, not telling. Having respectful representation of people of all sizes in inclusion training, reminding people not to talk about their bodies so much because that it's not a topic for work conversation.”