BU354 Lecture Notes - Human Resource Management, The Employer, Canadian Human Rights Act
Chapter 4 – Legal Requirements and Managing Diversity
LO1 – Explain the impact of government on human resource management
Government Impact
→ Few challenges encountered by human resource departments are as overwhelming as those
presented by the government. They have a direct and immediate impact on the human
resource function.
→ The federal and provincial laws that regulate the employee-employer relationship challenge
the methods human resource departments use.
→ Many aspects of human resource management are affected by human rights legislation.
→ Federal and provincial governments often create special regulatory bodies, such as
commissions, tribunals, and boards to enforce compliance with the law and to aid in its
interpretation. They evaluate complaints and develop legally binding rules, called regulations.
→ legislation and regulations affect the employment relationship.
**How human resource specialist become involved is on page 159
Regulations → legally enforceable rules developed by governmental agencies to ensure
compliance with laws that the agency administers.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
→ Federal law enacted in 1982, guaranteeing individual equal rights before the law
provides:
• Freedom of conscience and religion
• Freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press and
other media of communication
• Freedom of peaceful assembly
• Freedom of association
**More on the specifics on page 160
→ most far-reaching legal challenge for human resource managers
Go back to the section for charter of rights and freedoms
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Human Rights Legislation
→ providing equal employment opportunities without regard to people’s rae, atioal or
ethnic origin, sex, etc.
→ No other laws rival the impact human rights legislation has on human resource
management.
→ Human rights legislation is a family of federal and provincial acts that have as a common
objective the provision of equal employment opportunity for members of protected groups.
Provincial human rights laws → all provinces have their own human rights laws with
discrimination criteria, regulations, and procedures.
LO2 The Canadian Human Rights Act
Canadian human rights Act → a federal law prohibiting discrimination
→ In areas not under federal jurisdiction, protection is given provincial human rights laws.
→ Eah of Caada’s proies ad territories – with the exception of Nunavut, which is still
under federal jurisdiction, has its own antidiscrimination laws, which are broadly similar to the
federal law.
Discrimination → an action or decision that treats a person or a group negatively for reasons
such as their race, age, sex etc.
• Direct Versus Indirect (systemic) Discrimination
Bone fide occupational requirement (BFOR) → a justified business reason for discriminating
against a member of a protected class. So schools controlled by religion are permitted to limit
their hiring to members of the specific faith.
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Systemic discrimination → any company policy, practice, or action that is not openly or
intentionally discriminatory, but has an indirect discriminatory impact or effect.
→ systemic discrimination is hard to detect and fight that is why the Canadian Human Rights
Commission (CHRC) has taken specific steps to define and detect the causes and sources of
indirect or systemic discrimination.
Race and Colour
National or Ethnic Origins
→ illegal for human resource decisions to be influenced by the national or ethnic origins of
applicants or of their forebears.
Religion
→ A perso’s religious eliefs ad praties should ot affet eployet deisios. A
employer has a duty to aoodate a eployee’s religious praties, uless those praties
present undue hardship to the employer.
→ If a eployer does ot ake a reasoale attept to aoodate orker’s religious
practices, he or she can be found guilty of violating the human rights Act.
Age
→ a recent HSBC survey revealed that about 17 % of Canadians report that they will never have
sufficient funds to retire.
→ phased-in retirement program (where employees reduce their time at work over a year or
two) has been very successful in the company.
Sex
→ an employer may not discriminate against a pregnant employee who refuses to work
eause of a risk to the perso’s health ad safety.
→ it is discriminatory to reserve some jobs for men only or women only.
Sexual Orientation
Gender Identity
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Document Summary
Chapter 4 legal requirements and managing diversity. Lo1 explain the impact of government on human resource management. Few challenges encountered by human resource departments are as overwhelming as those presented by the government. They have a direct and immediate impact on the human resource function. The federal and provincial laws that regulate the employee-employer relationship challenge the methods human resource departments use. Many aspects of human resource management are affected by human rights legislation. Federal and provincial governments often create special regulatory bodies, such as commissions, tribunals, and boards to enforce compliance with the law and to aid in its interpretation. They evaluate complaints and develop legally binding rules, called regulations. Legislation and regulations affect the employment relationship. **how human resource specialist become involved is on page 159. Regulations legally enforceable rules developed by governmental agencies to ensure compliance with laws that the agency administers. Most far-reaching legal challenge for human resource managers.
