This webinar is brought to you by

CLEONet
www.cleonet.ca
CLEONet is a web site of legal information
for community workers and advocates who
work with low-income and disadvantaged
communities in Ontario.

About our presenter

Jessica Michael is a staff lawyer at The Community Advocacy & Legal Centre
(CALC), a non-profit community legal clinic. CALC serves low income residents of
Hastings, Prince Edward and Lennox & Addington counties. The clinic (formerly
known as Hastings and Prince Edward Legal Services) is currently staffed by
lawyers, community legal workers, law clerks and support staff and is funded by
Legal Aid Ontario. Jessica joined CALC in 2004, working primarily in the area of
housing law. Her clinic work currently focuses on employment law, human rights,
workers compensation and CPP disability. She received her law degree from
Dalhousie University. Jessica was called to the Ontario Bar in 2004.

Human Rights
In Your Workplace

Ontario Human
Rights Code
General Overview

Every person has the right to equal treatment with respect

to employment without discrimination and the right to be
free from harassment in the workplace because of:

Race
Ancestry
Place of origin
Colour
Ethnic origin
Citizenship
Creed

Sex
Sexual orientation
Age
Record of Offences
Marital status
Family status
Disability

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Definitions

Discrimination: To treat someone unfairly, deny a benefit,

exclude, impose obligations, disadvantage, etc. because of
a characteristic or perceived characteristic under the Code.
Intent is not necessary to prove discrimination.
Harassment: Offensive behaviour, comments or insults
based on one or more of the grounds of discrimination in the
Code. Harassment also occurs when people say something
that they know will make you feel uncomfortable.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
General Overview

If the discrimination or harassment is not based on one of

the grounds, then the Code does not apply.
Even if the discrimination is based on one of the grounds,
the Code allows for certain types of discrimination. For
example, an employer can discriminate against a person if
the discrimination is reasonable and bona fide.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
General Overview

A discriminatory standard or practice is reasonable and

bona fide only if the standard or practice is:
(1) Adopted for a purpose that is rationally connected to the performance of the
job.

E.g. the employee must wear a hard hat for safety reasons.
(2) Adopted in good faith belief that the standard or practice is necessary to
fulfillment of that purpose.

E.g. the employer cannot institute a hard hat policy because he or she
wants to ban Sikhs from the workplace.
(3) Reasonably necessary to the accomplishment of that purpose.

To show that the standard or practice is reasonable necessary, the
employer must show that it is impossible to accommodate the affected
employee without undue hardship.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Race, Ancestry, Place of Origin, Colour, Ethnic Origin, Citizenship

Examples of discrimination based on race, ancestry, place

of origin, colour, ethnic origin, and citizenship include:

Not hiring a qualified person because he or she has an
accent.

Determining an employee is not a good fit because he
or she does not belong to the racial or ethnic majority.

Assigning or not assigning a job responsibility based on
racial stereotypes.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Creed (Religion)

You have the right to employment that respects your

sincerely held beliefs and practices.
You may have religious needs such as prayer breaks,
religious days off, and dress requirements.
If you ask your employer to meet these needs, they must be
met unless your employer can show that it would be too
costly or would create a health or safety risk.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Sex and Sexual Orientation

Examples of discrimination based on sex and sexual

Orientation include:

Not hiring or promoting a woman because she is
pregnant or plans to have a child in the future.

Considering an aggressive male employee to be strong
while considering an aggressive female employee to be
bitchy.

Asking a gay employee not to talk about his or her samesex partner even though straight employees are allowed to
do so.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment means comments or actions based on

sex or gender that are unwelcome to you or should be
known to be unwelcome. They may include humiliating or
annoying conduct.
Like other forms of harassment, sexual harassment usually
requires a course of conduct.
However, a single significant incident may be sufficiently
offensive to be considered sexual harassment.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Sexual Harassment (contd)

Both women and men have the right to be free from sexual
harassment. Sexual harassment includes unwelcome
sexual contact and remarks, leering, inappropriate staring,
unwelcome demands for dates, requests for sexual favours
and displays of sexually offensive pictures or graffiti.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Age

Protection from age discrimination only applies to people

who are at least 18 years old.
There is no age maximum on the right to freedom from
discrimination in the workplace on the basis of age.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Record of Offences

When you apply for a job, you cannot be asked whether you
have any kind of criminal record.
It is, however, legal to ask whether you have been convicted
of a federal offence for which you have not received a
pardon.
You may be asked during an interview whether you are
bondable, if that is a requirement for the job.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Marital Status and Family Status

Marital Status means the status of being married, single,

widowed, divorced, separated, or being in a common-law
relationship.
Family Status means the status of being in a parent and
child relationship.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Disability

Disability means any degree of physical disability, infirmity,

malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily
injury, birth defect or illness. Disability also includes
mental illnesses, developmental disability, drug and alcohol
dependency.
However, temporary illnesses that everyone experiences
from time to time such as the common cold or the flu are not
considered to be disability.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Employment and Disability

If you have a disability, you have the right to be provided

with equipment, services or devices that will allow you to do
your job, this is your employers duty to accommodate.
Employers can only decline to accommodate if they can
prove that accommodation would amount to undue
hardship. This is determined by examining:
The costs of the accommodation. It is important to note that the mere fact that
the employer will have to spend money is not undue hardship.
Whether outside sources of funding can help alleviate the costs
Any effect on the health and safety of others.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Employment, Medical Examinations

Employment-related medical examinations or questions,

conducted as part of the job screening process, are
prohibited. Medical examinations to determine the ability to
do the essential duties of a job should only be used after a
conditional offer of employment has been made, preferably
in writing.
Medical examinations that have no demonstrable
relationship to job safety and performance have been found
to be a violation of employee rights.

Ontario Human
Rights Code
What To Do If You Are Harassed or Discriminated Against

Tell the person who has acted offensively that the behaviour
is unacceptable, and ask the person to stop. If this is difficult
to do alone, ask a friend to join you.
Keep a written record of:

What happened
When it happened
Where it happened
What was said or done and who said or did it
Who saw what happened
What you did at the time

Ontario Human
Rights Code
Punishment for Exercising Rights

If you believe that your rights under the Code have been
violated, you may contact your local community legal clinic,
consult a lawyer of your own choosing, file a human rights
application with the Human Rights Tribunal, or file a
grievance under your unions collective agreement to
protect your rights.
You cannot be punished or threatened with punishment for
trying to exercise these rights. Any attempt or threat to
punish you is called a reprisal.

Contact Us
Our Service Area and Contact Information

Legal Aid Ontario funds a number of free community legal

clinics throughout Ontario for people living on a low income.
To find the clinic closest to you, visit:
http://www.legalaid.on.ca
You can also find us in the Yellow Pages.

This webinar was brought to you by

CLEONet
For more information visit the Human
Rights and the Charter section of CLEONet
at www.cleonet.ca
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