What exactly constitutes a ‘disability’? (Part III)
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
What exactly constitutes a “disability” under human rights legislation?
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Posts Tagged ‘human rights’
Slaw: Racial profiling and national security issues
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
With allegations of racial profiling in Arizona’s new immigration law abuzz throughout the media this week, it was interesting for me to come upon the speaking notes for a recent speech by the Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission; the speech brings the issue closer to home.
The stated intent of the Arizona law is to ensure the security and well-being of American citizens living in Arizona, by protecting them from illegal immigrants and drugs. The new law requires local and state law enforcement to question people they suspect are in Arizona illegally about their immigration status. It also makes it a state crime to be in Arizona illegally; meaning, immigrants unable to produce documents showing they are allowed to be in the United States could be arrested, jailed for up to six months and fined $2,500 US, and ultimately deported.
Back in Canada, the CHRC Chief Commissioner’s speech discussed a study that will examine Safety Management Systems, which consist in part of behavioural recognition techniques, a vital element of aviation security screening. It’s a whole other issue to racial profiling you might say, but it’s one that is similar and aiming at safeguarding national security.
Read the full article on Slaw.ca.
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Slaw: Can Quebec Bill 94 withstand any Charter challenge?
Friday, April 23rd, 2010
While Canada perceives it’s role as one of accommodating all forms of religious expression in a neutral manner, Quebec has decided to apply a more restrictive and formally secular approach. At a general level, this means the official separation of church and state. However, this proposed policy of secularity (bill 94) clashes with the religious traditions of many recent immigrants to Canada. To summarize, Bill 94 would require anyone providing or receiving government services to do so with their face uncovered for reasons of identification, security and communication. This includes services from hospitals, schools, universities, and daycare centres that receive provincial funding.
Read the full article on Slaw.ca.
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Terminating an employee with a disability (Part II)
Monday, April 12th, 2010
Is it possible to terminate an employee who suffers from a disability and not commit a human rights violation? I recently read a case that made it clear that employers can do so when there is a justifiable reason to terminate not involving the disability, or after all efforts to accommodate the employee have been exhausted. But employers must be able to show this with evidence.
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Slaw: Canadian Human Rights Commission’s controversial ‘anti-hate’ policy
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
The Canadian Human Rights Commission recently posted a policy on its website concerning how it interprets and applies section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) when it receives an inquiry or complaint. The purpose of section 13 of the Act is to balance Canadians’ rights to equality and freedom of expression with respect to hate messages, as protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The parliamentary record indicates that section 13 was initially included in the legislation to address activities of individuals and groups who used the telephone system to disseminate hate messages. In December 2001, parliament amended the CHRA by adding section 13(2), which makes it clear that Internet hate messages come under the jurisdiction of the commission.
Read the whole article on Slaw.ca.
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Collecting human rights-based data – yes you can!
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) recently launched a new guide that provides information and advice on collecting human rights-based data in a wide variety of sectors across Ontario. The guide, Count me in!, aims to dispel fears of collecting human rights-based data, and provides a plain language, common-sense framework for collecting said data in a way that can build trust and encourage proactive solutions.
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Employees with disabilities – accommodation strategies (Part I)
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Accommodating employees with disabilities to the point of undue hardship under human rights legislation can be a complicated task. It’s important to make sure the accommodation process goes smoothly and the employee can focus on working as efficiently as possible, but employers may not be sure about what kinds of questions to ask disabled employees in order to meet their needs.
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Mandatory retirement still a working issue for employers
Friday, March 19th, 2010
A brief analysis of Nilsson v. UPEI, one of the most recent cases on mandatory retirement and human rights discrimination based on age.
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Reinstating employees after pregnancy leave
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Employers might not be clear on what happens after a female employee returns from her pregnancy/maternity leave of absence. Does the employee have to be reinstated to the exact position once she returns to work? Is it acceptable to place the employee in a different yet similar position? What if that position does not exist any longer? What if the employee must be terminated for other reasons not having to do with the pregnancy?
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Racism in the news; racism in the workplace
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Anyone who thinks that the days of individual and systemic racism in Canada are behind us should think again. It might not be nice to think about, but across the country, Canadians and visitors to Canada face racism every day.
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Workplace human rights: Before we really know for sure …
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Recently, I was sitting on a bench in the park near my home. Regular readers know that I spend lots of my spare time in this beautiful park and I derive many “a-ha” moments of inspiration there. Anyway, this day I sat down and noticed that there were a number of empty soft drink containers littering the area around the bench. Soon after I sat down on the bench, a young child walked by, stopped in front of me and began pointing at all the empty pop cans.
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Overt racism in the workplace – it’s still here
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
I think most people recognize that racism—even overt racism—is still a factor in Canadian culture, but these strategy and news item make it clear: we’ve come a long way and can now openly say that racism exists and is something we want to eliminate; but we have also a long way to go yet before the Canadian dream of a multiculturally diverse society moves beyond mere tolerance toward true acceptance and equality.
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Now is the time to arrange training
Friday, January 29th, 2010
I have been busy at the HRPA Annual Conference and Tradeshow this week where I had the pleasure of presenting, “Protecting Your Organization from the Workplace Bully.” I can report that, based on the buzz among HR Professionals and decision makers I have talked to, employers are really aware of their obligations and challenges under the amended Occupational Health & Safety Act. Employers, for the most part, also have a renewed interest in reaching up and pulling down from the shelf, those plans for training in the areas of harassment prevention!
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Disclosing persons with a history of violence
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
The Ontario Occupational Health and safety Act violence and harassment prevention provisions (Bill 168) require employers to provide information, including personal information, about a person with a history of violent behaviour if:
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Why all the fuss about workplace bullying?
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
In 1988 a man applied for Worker’s Compensation due to the stress of being teased, at work, about his appearance. His claim was denied. Almost 20 years later another man made a similar claim, a claim that was allowed; Worker’s comp paid up. Change was on the horizon.
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