prohibited ground of discrimination

Federal Court clarifies that the prohibited ground of “family status” includes “childcare obligations”

February 19, 2013 Simon Heath Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, 0

Do employers have to accommodate the “childcare responsibilities” of their employees to the point of undue hardship? The Federal Court has confirmed that in the federal jurisdiction the answer is yes subject to the requirement that the childcare responsibility be a “substantial parental obligation”.

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Older workers and declining performance

July 5, 2012 Stuart Rudner Employee Relations, Human Resources, Human Rights, Union Relations, 0

When mandatory retirement was eliminated, I noted that this change might create some interesting HR issues for employers of older workers. In the past, employers were often in a position to tolerate declining performance, comfortable in the knowledge that the employment relationship had a fixed “end date.” As a result, they could allow the employee to work out their last few years and retire with dignity.

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Protection for pregnant women strengthened by Ontario and British Columbia courts

August 17, 2010 Earl Altman Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights

In a decision released on July 19, 2010, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario held that an employee who was fired because she was pregnant had been discriminated against on a prohibited ground…