Serving
Saskatchewan
Loraas
WASTE AND RECYCLING EXPERTS
Commercial
Rural
Construction
LEED Program Leaders
Recycling
Saskatoon
306-242-2300
Regina
306-721-1000
Moose Jaw
306-691-2850
North Battleford
306-445-3900
Kindersley
306-463-3008
Human rights
Don’t hire him; he’s in a wheelchair. Don’t hire
her; there’s no way she can lift the gravel pail.
Don’t hire him; his religion won’t let him work
on Saturday. Have you ever heard statements
such as these? Discriminating between candi-dates
occurs all the time. But you cannot dis-criminate
on categories protected under human
rights legislation. Provinces may differ slightly,
but the more common categories of prohibit-ed
discrimination are sex/gender, religion, race,
marital status and disability. Other key concepts
are bona fide occupational requirement (BFOR)
and undue hardship. A BFOR is necessary for the
performance of the job. You may be required to
accommodate regardless, unless it is clearly an
undue hardship (which is very loosely defined).
The Canadian Human Rights Act, as well as each
provincial act, provides very clear guidelines for
the legal operation of your business. Information
is easily obtainable at www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca
or the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code at
www.shrc.gov.sk.ca.
Last is the fact that most of these laws are
complaint based. That means you are on-ly
called on the carpet if someone complains.
If your organization is subject to an investiga-tion
or challenged under these laws, fines and
restitution are only one concern. Time, emo-tions
and impact on your operation’s reputa-tion
must also be considered. So, smart HRM
recognizes labour laws are a reality and con-ducts
strategic and ethical HRM within them.
Hopefully this article has increased your aware-ness
of the laws, however, it isn’t meant to pro-vide
legal advice, so read your acts, standards
and regulations and carefully seek further help
if you have additional questions.
Pat Varga is an associate of Knibbs/associates
Sourcing People and Knibbs/associates HR
Consulting. Both organizations provide HR and
employee recruitment services to large and small
businesses. Pat is a professional HR consultant
with many years’ experience in the field, and
a proud Navy veteran, which has resulted in
her advocating for veterans for many years.
Leah Knibbs is the owner of Knibbs/associates
HR Consulting and a partner in Knibbs/
associates Sourcing People. She is a professional
HR consultant with a farming background,
as well as many years’ experience in the
field and teaching at the university level.
Hopefully this article has stimulated
more questions – feel free to contact
Pat at pat@knibbs.ca or Leah at
leah@knibbs.ca for further discussion.
52 Think BIG | Quarter 2 2016 | saskheavy.ca
/saskheavy.ca
/www.shrc.gov.sk.ca
/www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca
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