Ontario Human Rights Code

Recent case assessment direction and “creed”

September 25, 2019 Kevin Sambrano, Sambrano Legal Services Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Recruiting and Hiring, 0

The Halton District Catholic School Board posted a job advertisement for a contract position. The applicant replied to the advertisement, and when he was not selected for the position he filed a complaint at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario alleging discrimination on the ground of creed.

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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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Four proposed prohibited grounds of discrimination

November 5, 2018 Christina Catenacci Employee Relations, Human Resources, Human Rights

On September 26, 2018, a private member’s Bill 35, Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2018 was introduced and received first reading in the Ontario legislature. The goal of Bill 35 is to add immigration status, genetic characteristics, police records, and social condition as prohibited grounds of discrimination in Ontario’s Human Rights Code.

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HRTO confirms co-op student’s right to pursue interests

April 23, 2018 Kevin Sambrano, Sambrano Legal Services HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Uncategorized

Co-op students may be covered by the “Code”, and should be afforded the same inalienable rights as all other employees during a potential interview or co-op placement.

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Improving accessibility standards for employment

April 2, 2018 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Accessibility Standards, Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Integrated Accessibility Regulation, Recruiting and Hiring, Standard for Employment

The Ontario government is updating the accessibility standards for employment to make employment more accessible to people with disabilities.

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Sexual harassment and Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2018 Lisa Stam, Spring Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring, Training and Development

Employers need to be aware of the sexual tensions at play in an office, or risk being held liable for failing to address a poisoned work environment. For example, if two co-workers had a relationship and then broke up, and one is now showing revealing photos of the other around the office, this likely creates a poisoned work environment for the depicted employee. Though a manager may be tempted to deem the matter personal, the employer has an obligation to protect the employee.

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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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Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

November 2, 2017 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Corporate Immigration, Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: a recent policy statement released by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, a proposed increase to administrative monetary penalties under Bill 148 and consequential and technical changes to regulations made under the Employment Standards Act if the proposed Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 is passed.

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Adding new prohibited grounds in Ontario Human Rights Code

October 12, 2017 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights

Private member’s Bill 164, Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2017, introduced on October 4, 2017 in the Ontario Legislature would amend the Ontario Human Rights Code (Code) to include four new prohibited grounds of discrimination including, social condition, police records, genetic characteristics and immigration status.

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Parental obligations in the workplace

September 8, 2017 Lisa Stam, Spring Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Wages and Compensation

For many of us who are parents, September feels like the real New Year. Workplace issues can arise with respect to shifting childcare obligations, as kids transition from summer schedules to school schedules. Employers may be met with requests to accommodate worker childcare obligations or requests for time off and should be prepared with respect to how to handle these issues both practically and legally.

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A primer on undue hardship and frustration of contract

August 29, 2017 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

This blog post provides a primer on the state of undue harship and frustration of contract under Ontario’s Human Rights Code.

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Definition of disability and the Ontario Human Rights Commission

July 29, 2016 Christopher Lytle MA CDS Accessibility Standards, Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Recruiting and Hiring, Standard for Customer Service, Standard for Employment, Standard for Information and Communications, Training and Development

When creating policies that make statements about accessibility, attempts should be made to view disability as a social system instead of a schedule of impairments in order to align an organization’s forward movement with principles of Human Rights. Also, the time is long past due for an evaluation of how intersecting identities can create unique accessibility and accommodation needs.

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FAQ: Family status and child care difficulties #learnthelatest

June 27, 2016 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Training and Development, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

At the June 2, 2016, Ontario Employment Law Conference, during the Q&A session, we received numerous questions on topics covered at the conference but could not address them all. From time to time, till the next conference, we will be posting and answering some of these questions on the blog.

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Ontario Court of Appeal upholds decision to reinstate disabled employee with 10 years back pay: Will human rights litigation ever be the same again?

June 7, 2016 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Accessibility Standards, Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Integrated Accessibility Regulation, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Penalties and Fines, Standard for Employment, Wages and Compensation

I predict a recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision will have a significant impact on human rights litigation. In particular, I suspect disabled employees will start asking employers to find or create alternative positions for them if they cannot perform their job duties because of a disability, and terminated employees will start asking adjudicators to reinstate them with full back pay.

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Disabled employee earning $22,000 per year awarded $110,000 damages

April 12, 2016 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Accessibility Standards, Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Standard for Employment, Wages and Compensation

Many employees now claim more than one type of legal damages in a wrongful dismissal case. This is particularly the case when the employee is disabled. The following case is a good example.

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