CASUAL LEGAL: A Refresher on Human Rights in the Workplace

A Refresher on Human Rights in the Workplace

By Lauren Chalaturnyk

Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP

AMSC Casual Legal Service Provider

Under the Alberta Human Rights Act, all employees are protected from discrimination in the workplace. Discrimination can arise based on a number of what are referred to as “protected grounds”. These grounds include, but are not limited to:

• age
• religious beliefs
• gender
• gender expression
• physical or mental disability
• family status

Simply put, employers cannot discriminate in hiring practices, employment policies, continuing employment, or pay, on the basis of any of the protected grounds listed in the Alberta Human Rights Act.

Despite these protections, sometimes employers are required to impose hiring policies or conditions of employment that are inherently discriminatory. For example, some jobs have physical requirements that may discriminate against certain individuals with physical disabilities. For example, it may be a necessary requirement of certain public works jobs to perform strenuous physical labour. If an employer is able to prove that the physical requirement is necessary for the performance of the job (it is a bona fide occupational requirement) then the employer will likely not have violated the Alberta Human Rights Act.

However, employers also have a duty to accommodate employees. If an employee raises a disability concern with their employer or alleges some other type of discrimination, an employer has a duty to accommodate that employee to the point of undue hardship. This does not mean that the employer has to fundamentally alter their business or policies to accommodate the employee, but an employer should make best efforts to create a work environment that the employee can function in. For example, an employee that is a single parent and is unable to find evening childcare may not be able to work night shifts. In that situation, the employer may need to transition that employee to day shifts; otherwise, the employer may be discriminating against this employee on the basis of family status.

As a best practice, employers should record all steps taken and attempts made at accommodation. If the employee files a human rights complaint, it will be much easier for the employer to explain the efforts they made towards accommodation if those steps are recorded in some way.

If you receive a human rights complaint from an employee, the complaint will likely be investigated and may be sent through one or more of the streamlined processes at the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC). The AHRC will likely make some attempts to avoid a full hearing of the complaint; however, if the parties cannot come to a resolution, then the complaint will be referred to a hearing and the AHRC will make a determination on whether the employee has been discriminated against contrary to the Alberta Human Rights Act.

To access AMSC’s Casual Legal Helpline, AUMA members can call toll-free to 1-800-661-7673 or email casuallegal [at] amsc.ca (casuallegal[at]amsc[dot]ca) and reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please contact riskcontrol [at] auma.ca (riskcontrol[at]auma[dot]ca), or call 310-AUMA (2862) to speak to AUMA’s Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of the AUMA can access the Casual Legal Service.

DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information only and is not intended to provide legal advice. You should seek the advice of legal counsel to address your specific set of circumstances. Although every effort has been made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated.