No employee should ever have to face discrimination in their workplace, but unfortunately there are many employees across Canada that deal with this every day. Thankfully, there are ways for employers to be proactive in preventing discrimination in their workplaces and there are protections in place to provide assistance to employees who have experienced discrimination in the workplace and beyond.

The Ontario Human Rights Code governs provincially regulated employers in Ontario. The Canadian Human Rights Act governs federally regulated employers across Canada.

The OHRC and the CHRA are pieces of legislation that prohibit any discrimination based on the protected grounds. The grounds are similar but not the same for provincial and federal.

Discrimination is any action or decision that is unjust in the treatment of people based on the above stated grounds. Discrimination can be intentional or unintentional, but no matter the motive, any reason for discrimination is indeed discrimination and it is a breach of the human rights laws. In the workplace, if the employer or a co-worker treats an employee poorly through an action or decision that is related to the prohibited grounds listed above, then it would likely be considered discrimination in the workplace under the human rights laws.

Employers:

Employers have an obligation not to discriminate, or allow discrimination to occur, within their organization. Training employees on how to act appropriately in this regard is very important because the more informed employees are on what discrimination is and how it affects people then the higher the likelihood that discrimination will decrease within the workplace. At SDLaw we have an online, self-paced webinar on Human Rights Sensitivity Training which employers may find helpful for their employees that are in positions of either Upper Management or Middle Management.

Employers have other obligations concerning human rights in the workplace as well. For example, employers have the duty to accommodate the employee upon request to the point of undue hardship if an employee is in need of accommodation based on any of the protected grounds. We usually see accommodations arising when employees who have disabilities need some assistance to be able to best perform in their position. If you are an employer or an employee who would like to learn more about accommodations, please reach out to our firm.

Employers may also have to defend claims of discrimination within their organizations. If you are an employer who requires a defence, you can contact our team of lawyers for advice and assistance throughout the process.

Employees:

Employees should be able to enjoy a workplace that is free from discrimination. If you are an employee who believes you may have been discriminated against within your workplace you may have a claim under the Ontario Human Rights Code or the Canadian Human Rights Act depending if your employer is provincially or federally governed. Bringing forward a claim may seem like a daunting or intimidating process, but our team of lawyers are here to help if you would like to pursue such a claim.

Reach out to our firm at 705-268-6492 for more information on human rights in the employment law context or for assistance from our team of lawyers.