A person’s human rights apply to every part of their life – from their interactions with other people or with the government, and even to their workplaces. Laws are enacted to protect the rights of people in their workplace and provide liabilities and penalties to persons who violate such rights.
What are human rights in the workplace in Canada?
Human rights in the workplace ensure that all employees and workers in every workplace are treated fairly and equally. It prohibits employers from discriminating against or harassing employees and their customers or clients based on certain grounds.
This set of rights is separate from basic labour standards, rights of unions and collective bargaining, and occupational health and safety. These rights and laws complement each other to protect all Canadian employees.
In Canada, the laws that govern human rights in the workplace are found both at the federal and provincial/territorial levels:
Federally regulated workplaces:
Provincially regulated workplaces:
- Ontario: Human Rights Code
- Québec: Charter of human rights and freedoms
- British Columbia: Human Rights Code
- Alberta: Human Rights Act
- New Brunswick: Human Rights Act
Employer’s duty
Under these laws, the employer has the duty to ensure that the workplace is free from any discriminatory practices. An employer violates these laws through these acts:
- Direct or indirect violation of the human rights law
- Constructive discrimination as shown by the acts of the employer
- Authorizing, condoning, or ratifying any discriminative practices in the workplace
Duty to Accommodate
Watch this video to know more about the duty to accommodate according to the laws on human rights in the workplace:
Consult with a lawyer in your area to know more about the legal duty to accommodate. If you’re in Calgary, for example, you can contact a Lexpert-ranked workplace human rights lawyer in Alberta.
Vicarious Liability
Vicarious liability states that the employer can be held liable for the discriminatory acts committed by its employees, or even by third persons. To prevent liability in this case, employers must show that they have done everything in their power to prevent such discrimination or unequal treatment from occurring.
Directing Mind
Human rights violations, or charges of discrimination and harassment, apply not only to employers. They also apply to an employee’s co-workers and their managers or supervisors. Managers and supervisors, up to the top officers of the company, will be subject to more scrutiny under the “directing mind” principle.
These “directing minds” of a corporation or company share the responsibility of ensuring a discriminatory-free workplace environment. Otherwise, they may also be held liable, in relation to their vicarious liability with their employee.
What are considered as human rights violations in the workplace in Canada?
There are two areas of discrimination under the laws on human rights in the workplace:
- Discrimination based on certain grounds
- Discrimination based on labor standards
Prohibition against discrimination based on certain grounds
It’s against the law to discriminate on these grounds:
- Age: i.e., against a young or an older person
- Race-related: ancestry, citizenship, race, language, place of origin, ethnic origin, color
- Conviction: for an offence under Canada’s Criminal Code or under a provincial law where pardon or record suspension has been granted
- Disability: physical, developmental, mental, and learning disabilities
- Genetic characteristics: includes the refusal of a request to undergo a genetic test or to disclose its results
- Marital status: married, single, widowed, divorced, separated, common-law relationships
- Family status: biological and non-biological relationships, or same-sex and opposite-sex families
- Pregnancy: pre-conception fertility or infertility treatments until childbirth, recovery, and breastfeeding; including abortion, and miscarriage
- Religion: all faiths and beliefs e.g., spiritual faiths or practices of Aboriginal cultures
- Sex- and gender-related: sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression
Discrimination may happen at all stages of employment:
- During the hiring process and termination of employment
- In the ordinary course or day-to-day operations in the workplace
- Any work-related activity (e.g., training, promotions, discipline process, etc.)
These grounds are not exclusive to each other and may even overlap or intersect. For example, a young Black person who was not born and raised in Canada may be discriminated on the grounds of race, citizenship, and age.
A person may also experience discrimination even if that person’s circumstances do not fall under any of these grounds. For example, under Ontario’s Human Rights Code, the right to freedom is violated when discrimination is based on a person’s association with another who falls under the categories listed above.
Exceptions
These laws have certain exceptions. For instance, it would be non-discriminatory if the unequal treatment of an employee would prevent any undue hardship on their part.
While discrimination is assessed on a case-to-case basis, any unequal treatment not caused by any of the grounds mentioned above are generally considered as non-discriminatory.
Prohibited discrimination based on labor standards
In relation to labor laws, another violation of human rights in the workplace is the discrimination regarding the basic benefits of employees by their employers.
This includes discrimination on the employee’s:
- Salaries, wages, and other financial compensation
- Pension funds and insurance contract
It also includes denying employment based on these benefits, or when these benefits became conditional upon employment.
Read these three examples of human rights violations in the workplace based on their severity and the damages awarded to the plaintiffs.
What are the three basic workplace rights in Canada?
There are three basic rights that every employee or worker in Canada enjoys:
- Right to Information
- Right to Participation
- Right to Refuse Dangerous Work
These rights are based on laws on occupational health and safety and human rights in the workplace. They apply to federally regulated and provincially regulated workplaces.
While these rights are enforceable against employers, certain responsibilities are also placed upon employees for the exercise of these rights to be valid.
Where can complaints on violation of human rights in the workplace be filed?
In Canada, complaints for violation of human rights in the workplace can be filed depending on whether your workplace is federally or provincially regulated.
For federally regulated workplaces, complaints can be filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission through its online complaint form, email, or by mail. The Commission will forward your complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which may hold hearings and decide on your case.
As for provincially regulated workplaces, complaints may be submitted to your provincial human rights commission or human rights tribunal, whichever is applicable. In Ontario, complaints may be filed with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.
Know more about human rights in the workplace. For any violation of these rights, consult with Lexpert-Ranked workplace human rights lawyers in Canada.