Читать книгу Employee Management for Small Business - Lin Grensing-Pophal - Страница 52

The Canadian Human Rights Act regulates discrimination against employees who come under federal jurisdiction. Other employees are covered by the human rights code of their specific province.

The Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, sex, marital status, family status, disability, and conviction for which a pardon has been granted. The Act further states that if a complaint is based on pregnancy or childbirth, the discrimination shall be deemed to be based on the grounds of sex.

However, under the Act it is not a discriminatory practice to —

• refuse, exclude, specify, or express a preference in relation to employment if based on a bona fide occupational requirement;

• refuse or terminate employment because an individual has not reached the minimum age for legal employment by law or under regulations;

• vest or lock in pension contributions if the terms and conditions of a pension fund or plan established by an employer provide for the compulsory vesting or locking in of pension contributions at a fixed or determinable age;

• discriminate on a prohibited ground of discrimination in a manner that is proscribed by guidelines issued by the Commission; or

• grant a female employee maternity leave.

According to the Act, it is also not a disciminatory act to terminate an individual’s employment because that person has reached normal retirement age for employees in similar positions. However, there are provincial regulations which declare mandatory retirement to be discriminatory in some areas of Canada (e.g., British Columbia, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, Manitoba, Sasketchewan, Northwest Territories, Nunavut). In these areas, provincial regulations override the Canadian Human Rights Act. Be sure that your province does not have such regulations before terminating an employee on this basis.