Genetic discrimination

Equality when you are born this way … Not the same way

June 11, 2019 Piccolo Heath LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, 0

When it comes to employers navigating human resource issues and relationships with their employees, the concept of equal versus identical is even more obvious. For employers, “equal” does not mean the individual employees are all the same, but that they be given the same opportunities.

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Update on genetic discrimination provisions in human rights legislation

November 8, 2017 Christina Catenacci Employee Relations, Human Resources, Human Rights

Canada is on its way to including genetic discrimination provisions in its human rights legislation. Since March 2017, some interesting developments have occurred.

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Genetic discrimination provisions in human rights legislation: Will Ontario be the first Canadian jurisdiction?

March 8, 2017 Christina Catenacci Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Recruiting and Hiring, Union Relations

Canada is on its way to including provisions in human rights legislation that prevents discrimination based on a person’s genetic characteristics. The issue is that a person can experience discrimination and harassment simply because of something that may be—something that has the potential of happening. Employers must be aware that human rights legislation is in the process of evolving to include provisions to prevent this type of discrimination, and this will apply in the workplace as well.

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It’s in our DNA: Bill S-201 and genetic discrimination

February 29, 2016 Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security, Union Relations

When dealing with requests for accommodation, employee absenteeism and other medical circumstances, employers are routinely faced with the challenge of balancing employee privacy interests against the operational interests of the business when determining how much medical information and what kind of medical information employers can request. The analysis typically centres on the issue of what is reasonable in the circumstances, with diagnostic information being considered to be a clear delineation point as to what employers may request and not request. At the Canadian Senate in January, the question of the protection personal health information took on a new angle, centering around an individual’s right to privacy in respect of their personal genetic information.

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Genetic testing in the workplace: The new face of discrimination?

September 15, 2015 Vey Willetts LLP Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Privacy and Security

The human rights landscape in Canada is shifting and society’s view of which personal characteristics deserve protection has changed dramatically. This is the result, in part, of technological advance. New technologies can offer great economic benefit but can simultaneously expose individuals to new forms of discrimination.

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Genetic discrimination in the workplace

November 24, 2009 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Human Resources, Human Rights

I first wrote about genetic discrimination in the workplace in August of 2004. At that time, I compared it to the movie Gattaca, in which a man tries to hide his “imperfect” genetic makeup so that he can enjoy a way of life and secure a job reserved for people without “flawed” genes. Although Gattaca is science fiction, the movie’s plot is not that remote from present-day reality.

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