Take steps to avoid human rights disasters In most discrimination cases that go to court, an employee's complaints were ignored: Problem may be hidden
| Marilyn Linton | |
| Financial Post |
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
A court ordered a company to pay one of its employees $30,000 after management made him put Christmas decorations on display. The case is one of Stephen Hammond's favourite examples of why business owners and managers need to brush up on Canada's human rights legislation.
Mr. Hammond, a Vancouver lawyer, is a trainer and consultant who provides businesses with practical advice so they can avoid human rights disasters. He is also the author of Managing Human Rights at Work: 101 practical tips to prevent human rights disasters (Harassment Solutions Inc., 148 pp., $24.95).
Many employers today, he says, are surprised to learn the extent to which courts, human rights commissions and tribunals can find a company responsible for what goes on in the workplace.
In the above example, the British Columbia drug store employee, a Jehovah's Witness, had refused to put out six poinsettia plants on the grounds that his religion did not celebrate Christmas; that he, therefore, didn't want to promote it; and that, in his 16 years of employment with the company, he never had to do it before.
"Because it took but 10 seconds for the supervisor to put out the plants and because the employee hadn't been asked to put out any Christmas decorations in the years before, the tribunal ruled that the drug store had to make accommodations that were short of undue hardship," Mr. Hammond explains.
No matter that the controversial case was criticized as political correctness gone amok. "People can moan all they want, but the Supreme Court of Canada and other courts are making it very clear that they are not only moving in this direction, but also going even further than what people expect," Mr. Hammond says.
A former manager of labour relations for the University of British Columbia, Mr. Hammond gained a reputation for his knowledge and communication skills around human rights workplace issues. "The courts say that minor inconvenience is the price we pay for religious freedom in a multicultural society. I interpret the fact that the manager had to put out the poinsettias as not so important as upholding someone's very important religious freedom."
Human rights legislation is quasi-constitutional in this country, he adds. "That means that if the human rights legislation comes into conflict with any other piece of legislation, the human rights law prevails."
The courts, through the Canadian Constitution's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, are broadcasting a clear message: If you do harm, you will pay. Mr. Hammond says businesses that come to grips with this and start to look at their work practices will not only be seen as keeping up with changing times but will also flourish within Canada's diverse market.
That means policies need to be in place, and they need to be followed to the letter. It also means owners and managers need to become familiar with human rights legislation and be aware of what the courts are requiring. "Smaller companies, in particular, have a challenge because of the many things they are concentrating on in just trying to make their day-to-day operation a profitable one," he says. "The challenge for these organizations is that they might get caught off guard or not realize that one of their supervisors is violating someone's basic rights."
If all this were so basic, Mr. Hammond would not be in business. "Workplace human rights are difficult because they go against what we consider to be normal practices. For example, the whole notion of something called 'reasonable accommodation' is that you really have to look at people who might be a minority of the population. Our whole culture is structured around things like Christmas off, Easter off. But in fact we are a country that is open to all religions, and people from other cultures are saying, 'We don't want you to ditch Christmas, we just want you to give some consideration to the things that are important to us.' That's the kind of thing that a lot of people in the workplace are asking for. And from the Supreme Court down, they are giving it."
Companies are becoming increasingly vigilent about the possibility of sexual harassment. Mr. Hammond says today this can include an employee having to view provocative pictures on the wall or hear dirty jokes in the lunchroom. It also includes treating women negatively while the men around them are treated positively. The umbrella term is "a poisoned work environment."
Mr. Hammond says in many cases that reach the court, an employee has complained to his or her boss about discrimination, but the employer did nothing: "The employer has a legal obligation to make sure employees have a harassment-free, discrimination-free workplace."
Depending on the provincial, territorial or federal human rights legislation, harassment can be about age, sex, race, gender, colour, creed, religion, ethnicity, and pregnancy.
Managers often assume their businesses are safe if they stay away from obvious harassment headaches such as asking an employee for sex; they think they're home-free because they would never tell an applicant that they do not hire immigrants.
However, some problems are not as obvious and may never be apparent to a manager. Mr. Hammond says human resources departments need to give a company's managers the basics, and managers need to apply policies properly and with common sense.
"Having been in the labour, human resource and human rights business for more than 20 years, I was always called in after the mistakes and disasters took place," he says. "Ask yourself if you are doing the right stuff. If you are not, you may be liable."
A quiz to test your human rights awareness is available at www.stephenhammond.ca
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