Affirmative Action and Employment Equity - Canada
|
|
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action is not a precise legal term in Canada; however, it may be taken as referring, in a general way, to establishing a program for the preferential hiring of qualified candidates who are members of groups protected by human rights legislation.
Employment Equity
Employment equity is related to the concept of affirmative action. The Employment Equity Act (the "Act") applies to most federally regulated employers, which include:
- Private sector employers that employ 100 or more employees in connection with a federal work, undertaking or business such as a bank, an airline, an inter-provincial transportation company, a telecommunications company, etc.
- Federal public sector government departments which are set out by statute (Financial Administration Act, Schedules I and IV, and V (where the department employes 100 or more employees)).
- In specific circumstances, public sector employers, such as the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Act requires employers to identify and eliminate barriers against persons in designated groups that result from the employer's employment systems, policies and practices. These designated groups are women, aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities (including physical and mental) and members of visible minorities. The Canadian Human Rights Commission enforces the Act, which can conduct workplace audits to ensure compliance.
Employers achieve employment equity by collecting information and conducting an analysis of their workplace to determine the level of representation of persons in the designated groups in each occupational group in that workplace. Employers then amend their employment systems, policies, and practices to identify and remove employment barriers against persons in those designated groups.
The Act requires employers to institute positive policies and practices and make such reasonable accommodations as will ensure that persons in these designated groups achieve a degree of representation in each occupational group in the employer's workforce.
Employers must also create and implement an employment equity plan. If the employer's workplace is unionized, the employer will be required to consult with the union when completing their plan.
The Act does not require employers to:
- Impose quotas.
- Hire or promote unqualified individuals.
- Take measures to implement employment equity which would cause the employer undue hardship.
- Hire or promote public sector employees without basing the hiring or promotion on merit, in cases where the Public Service Employment Act requires hiring or promotion to be based on merit.
- To create new positions in the workplace.
The Employment Equity Act is a specialized piece of legislation. If an employer believes that the Act applies to their workforce, they should seek the assistance of a qualified lawyer within the employer's jurisdiction.
Login to read more.
|
|
|
|
|