The British Columbia Human Rights Code protects people from discriminatory conduct and harassment in the workplace. It applies to people you employ, people who apply for employment with you, and those working as contractors in your workplace. The Human Rights Code impacts how you advertise jobs and make hiring decisions, how you dismiss, pay, and administer benefits, and generally how you manage your workplace.
“Protected Characteristics”
Under Section 13 of the Human Rights Code, workers are protected from discrimination in employment on the basis of “protected characteristics”, particularly:
- Race;
- Colour;
- Ancestry;
- Place or origin;
- Political belief;
- Religion;
- Marital status;
- Family status;
- Physical disability;
- Mental disability;
- Sex;
- Sexual orientation;
- Gender identity or expression; and
- Age
Discriminatory Conduct
Discriminatory conduct includes:
- Refusing to hire someone;
- Refusing to continue to employ someone, i.e. dismissing them; and
- Discriminating regarding employment or any term of employment
The third category of discriminatory conduct is almost unlimited in scope. It covers differences in pay, giving preferential hours to certain employees, differential inclusions in a compensation plan, mandatory testing, or workplace harassment. All discriminatory conduct is prohibited unless the employer has a “bona fide occupational requirement”, or legitimate business reason, for the discriminatory practice.
Duty to Accommodate
Employers have a duty to accommodate employees’ protected characteristics in the workplace. Sometimes this is as simple as allowing a pregnant employee to arrive a bit late because of morning sickness. However, it can be as complex as providing a team of sign language interpreters for a resident doctor who is Deaf. The extent to which you need to accommodate depends on what is “undue hardship” for your business.