Employment Discrimination and Employment Equity

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Employment Discrimination and Employment Equity
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Chapter Seventeen Objectives

• Understand the challenges faced by certain groups
  in the labour force
• Discuss the notion of discrimination and the
  legal bases for protection against discrimination
  in Canada
• Provide two different meanings of discrimination
  and give examples of how each might be committed
• Explain the purpose and functions of employment
  equity
• Define the key elements of pay equity and its
  relationship to employee equity
• Elaborate on issues in employment discrimination
  and equity

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Chapter Seventeen Outline

• Challenges in the Labour Pool
• Discrimination
• Issues in Workplace Discrimination
• Employment Equity
• Pay Equity
• Summary

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Introduction to Chapter Seventeen

• The chapter addresses
• Minorities Native people, women and people with
  disabilities
• Legal and ethical implications of discrimination
• Obligations of employers to ensuring workplace
  equity for all groups

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Challenges in the Labour Pool

• Four Designated Groups
• Women
• Aboriginal or First Nations People
• Individuals with Disabilities
• Visible Minorities

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Discrimination

• Legal Protection
• Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
  (Constitution Act of 1982)
• The Canadian Human Rights Act (1977)
• The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC)

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Discrimination

• Expanded Meanings of Discrimination
• Direct Discrimination or Disparate Treatment
• A law, rule or practice which on its face
  creates harmful differential treatment on the
  basis of particular group characteristics.
• Indirect Discrimination
• Systemic Discrimination

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Issues in Workplace Discrimination

• Sex Discrimination
• Moving into Professional/Managerial Positions
• Sexual Harassment
• Age and Religious Discrimination

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Employment Equity

• To eliminate employment barriers for the four
  designated groups identified in the Employment
  Equity Act
• Redressing past discriminations
• Improving access for all designated groups
• Fostering a climate of equity in the organization
• Implementing positive policies and practices

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Employment Equity

• Employment Equity Planning in the Organization
• Step 1 Senior Management Commitment
• Step 2 Data Collection and Analysis
• Step 3 Employment Systems Review
• Step 4 Establishment of a Work Plan
• Step 5 Implementation
• Step 6 Evaluation, Monitoring, and Revision

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Pay Equity

• Legislation Issue
• Illegal for employers to discriminate against
  individuals on the basis of job content
• Principle Issue
• Equal pay for equal work
• Equal pay for work of equal value or comparable
  worth

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Equal Pay Program

• Program Objective
• To eliminate sex-based wage discrimination in the
  federal jurisdiction
• Program Overview
• Employers are responsible for implementing equal
  pay
• Step 1 Education
• Step 2 Monitoring
• Step 3 Audit or Inspection

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Selected Key Terms

• Designated groups
• Disparate treatment
• Employment equity
• Pay equity

• Preferential treatment
• Reasonable accommodation
• Reverse discrimination