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Posts Tagged ‘discrimination’

Human Rights Tribunal barred from hearing application: no forum-shopping allowed

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal recently examined an application before it and an earlier statement of claim made in court by the same person, and concluded that the claims were virtually identical. They were based on the same facts, made the same allegations and sought similar remedies…

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Tags: barred from hearing application, Civil court, Disability, discrimination, duplication of claims, employment law, forum-shopping, human rights code, human rights tribunal, ontario, Ontario Human Rights Code, reprisal, Return to work, sex, short-term disability leave, statement of claim, termination, wrongful dismissal
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »

Adoptive mothers not allowed maternity leave

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Under employment standards legislation, birth mothers receive a total of 52 weeks of leave when they combine maternity (17 weeks) and parental leave (35 weeks), and are entitled to receive a total of 50 weeks of EI benefits (15 weeks maternity, 35 weeks parental) for that period. However, the same benefits are not available to adoptive mothers, who only receive 37 weeks of parental leave and 35 weeks of EI benefits. Now a new movement to challenge the law to provide equal EI benefits to adoptive parents is gaining momentum…

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Tags: Adoptive mothers, Adoptive parents, biological mothers, birth mothers, canadian charter of rights and freedoms, discrimination, EI benefits, Employment Insurance, Employment Insurance Act, employment law, Employment Standards legislation, federal court of appeal, maternity leave, maternity leave benefits, parental leave, parental leave benefits, physiological and psychological experience, pregnancy and childbirth, pregnancy leave, Section 15(1) of the Charter, Supreme Court of Canada, Tomasson v. Canada (Attorney General)
Posted in Benefits, Employment Standards, Human Resources, Payroll | Make a Comment »

Reverse discrimination: is it just an attitude?

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

Reverse discrimination is not a legal term but a socially constructed idea that describes a particular phenomenon; it is a side effect of employment equity programs, as they are called in Canada; “affirmative action” programs in the United States. Reverse discrimination in employment is perceived to have occurred when the majority (or a member of it) is denied an opportunity because the law forces an employer to hire a person from a minority group.

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Tags: affirmative action, discrimination, employment equity programs, employment law, minority group, policies and procedures, policy, procedure and practices, reverse discrimination, the majority
Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources, Human Rights | 1 Comment »

What is reverse discrimination?

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Two men are holding hands and occasionally kissing while waiting in line at a driver licensing office. A person waiting in line approaches the men calling them “fags” and telling them their behaviour is “disgusting”. The same person attempts to engage others waiting in the line to join in the demeaning discourse…

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Tags: discrimination, employment law, harassment, Human rights complaint, obligation to intervene, poisoned work environment, responsibility to intervene, reverse discrimination, right to be free from discrimination
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights | 4 Comments »

Do your managers and front line workers have accurate info about human rights issues?

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Do your managers and front line workers have accurate facts about human rights issues? A number of conversations I have had with workers lately inform me that many people allow their emotions to overwhelm the facts. The misunderstandings that flow from this emotional response can lead to costly violations of the law for your organization.

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Tags: belief system, costly violations of the law, discrimination, Education Act, emotional responses, employment law, front line workers, harassment prevention policy, individual beliefs, indoctrinate, Lord’s Prayer, managers, Muslim community, oath of citizenship, ontario, public schools, religion, religion-centered student meetings, religious groups, school boards, training, Varsity Christian Fellowship, workforce, workplace human rights policies
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights, Training and Development | 5 Comments »

Clinging to past knowledge can be costly

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Twice in the last month while conducting training sessions, I have had a workshop participant insist that their workers could NOT file a claim directly with the HRTO because the workers are members of a union. The workers must, they have insisted, file a grievance and settle their human rights claim via the labour relations process. A review of the law reveals the above is simply NOT the case.

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Tags: Barker v. SEIU, discrimination, employment law, grievance, hrto, human rights code, knowledge, labour relations process, ontario, Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, racial discrimination, Rysinski v. Aecon Industrial, training
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights, Union Relations | Make a Comment »

Sick days or personal days?

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Employers are often at a loss as to how to ensure employees who take sick days are really sick and not simply abusing the system. They are often scared to ask for doctor’s notes, but also scared that if they don’t, the abuse will become rampant. I often encourage employers to consider abandoning the notion of sick days altogether, and simply provide a fixed number of “personal days”, which eliminates the implicit or explicit requirement that an individual be sick in order to have time off.

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Tags: Absenteeism, abusing sick days, act of bad faith, Disability, discrimination, doctor's note, duty to accommodate, employment law, Honda v. Keays, managing absenteeism, personal days, policies and procedures, sick days, sick leave policy, time off to take care of personal responsibilities, vacation
Posted in Employee Relations, Employment Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Privacy and Security | 3 Comments »

Does over-sensitivity lead to harassment? The preventive value of respect

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

“Excessive claims of workplace harassment are a sign that our society has become far too sensitive and it really needs to stop.” This is the message I received from workshop participants this week during a group discussion on the topic of the prevention of workplace harassment and discrimination. But is it true?

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Tags: Bill 168, discrimination, employment law, harassment, harassment prevention, healthy workplaces, human rights code, illness, lost time, offensive speech, OHSA, Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, over-sensitive, respect, sexism, stress, workplace harassment, workplace violence
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights | 2 Comments »

ATP holders not allowed to smoke medical marijuana in liquor licensed establishments

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Although it was clearly discriminatory on the prohibited ground of disability, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal recently found it could not allow an applicant to smoke his medical marijuana in liquor-licensed establishments. This discrimination could be justified because…

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Tags: accommodation, ATP, Authorization to Possess Marijuana, chronic pain, Disability, discrimination, duty to accommodate, Liqor License Act, liquor license establishments, marijuana, medical marijuana, Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, prohibited ground of disability, Regulatoin 719, sidestream marijuana smoke, undue hardship
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »

AODA: Who let the dogs out? Saying ‘yes’ to all service animals

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

You may have read the recent story about a blind rowing champ who was asked to leave the premises of an Esso gas station store. Victoria Nolan attempted to enter the premises with her guide dog when she was promptly told to leave the store. Ms. Nolan is not new to this problem, and she contacted the Toronto police who seemed to have extracted some kind of apology from the employee. An Esso spokesperson stated that the company tells retailers to allow service animals onto the premises. Apparently, there was a communication breakdown when instructing this employee about the topic of service animals.

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Tags: accessibility, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, AODA, Blind Person’s Rights Act, discrimination, Esso, fines and penalties for non-compliance under the AODA, guide dog, Service animals, Victoria Nolan
Posted in Accessibility Standards, Standard for Customer Service | 3 Comments »

Can I be disciplined for off-duty behaviour?

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

“I am at a party on my day off and a coworker hurls racial insults at me or makes sexual suggestive comments to me.” Am I protected by my employer’s harassment and discrimination policy? Likewise, if I am the one doing the hurling or suggestive commenting, am I subject to discipline under my employer’s policies?

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Tags: Bill 168, canadian employment law, discrimination, Dismissal, employee discipline, employment law, harassment, HR issues, off-duty acts, off-duty conduct, off-duty hours, policies and procedures, policy manual, prevention workshops, terminations, workplace code of conduct, workplace harassment, wrongful dismissal
Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources, Human Rights | 4 Comments »

Mandatory retirement has been eliminated − is anyone listening?

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Old habits die hard. The Human Resources industry is obviously having a hard time abandoning the notion that 65 is the accepted age for retirement. Since amendments to the Ontario Human Rights Code in 2006, employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees based solely on age. Prima facie compelling retirement at age 65 is a breach of the Code.

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Tags: 65 is the accepted age for retirement, age, age discrimination, bona fide occupational requirement, discrimination, employment law, human rights code, Human rights complaint, human rights tribunal, mandatory retirement, retirement at age 65, Workplace policy
Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »

Duty to accommodate disability case sent back to Human Rights Tribunal

Friday, September 16th, 2011

The tribunal that decided the case of alleged discrimination against a part-time paramedic with multiple sclerosis who was shifted to a part-time ambulance driver position (at the paramedic’s pay rate) left some loose ends, according to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The Court sent the case back to the tribunal to decide if the employer reasonably accommodated the employee, even though he was not able to perform important paramedic duties.

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Tags: accessibility, accommodation process, assistive devices, assistive technologies, BFOR, Disability, discrimination, duty to accommodate, employment law, human rights tribunal, multiple schlerosis, paramedic, Physical disability, resonably accommodated employee, Supreme Court of British Columbia, undue hardship
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »

Should employers be entitled to require that their employees have a certain ‘look’?

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

Recently, I posted a discussion topic in The Canadian HR Law Group on LinkedIn, which I moderate. It turned out to be one of a few recent topics that generated substantial interest and comment. As a result, I thought I would revisit the issue here, and I hope to hear from all of the First Reference readers.

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Tags: discrimination, dress code, employee relations, employment law, HR policies
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights | 1 Comment »

When aggression and the workplace collide

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

Aggression sometimes occurs in the workplace. That is a fact! And when conflicts are left unresolved, employers have employees resigning or taking tremendous amounts of sick leave to deal with these issues, or the aggression crosses the line into assault or battery, or you receive a human rights or occupational health and safety complaint.

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Tags: aggression, bullying, discrimination, employment law, gender, harassment, harassment free workplace, hostile work environment, Human rights complaint, occupational health and safety complaint, policy and procedures, racial, religious or sexually charged discrimination, training, workplace
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »